Kenna: Scarf

I really wanted to title this post, "Finding what works".

There's so much in PS that can be done. Just sharpening alone, there are like a million options. Smart sharpen, USM, Sharpen more, and my usual spatial separation sharpening... and within each of these a million options on how to do it right.

Today I opted for Smart Sharpening at 100% but instead of removing Gaussian Blur as I usually do (when I use SS), I removed Lens Blur. At the same % sharpening I got more pore detail which is reflected fully in this picture of Kenna. You can see she was getting a little cold with the fan turned on and blasting her hair because she was getting goose bumps.

Anyway, the point is to keep trying. I'm looking for a feeling. A look. A style. But it has eluded me for a long time and IMHO still eludes me to this day. It's what keeps me going... looking.

For this picture, I applied another gradient map, which I seem to be in love with these days. It was a blue-yellow-blue gradient map that's a default option in PS CS4. I used overlay blending at 9% and then applied another B&W gradient map normal blending at 49% to desaturate the image and drive through a little more contrast.

This image didn't take me long but it shows that certain elements of my retouching are surfacing as standards. There's a general look to my retouches lately. There's always a trendline to style and retouching for me. Looking through my portfolio on flickr, you can see a general set of trends over time. Sometimes they overlap, sometimes they are short-lived. I don't even really know how to describe this latest trend. I'll think about it some more and get back to you...

Camera: D3/24-70mm f/2.8G @62mm, 1/200th, f/9.0 ISO200

Strobist: See picture

Model: Kenna Cade

Makeup: Kelli Zehnder

Wardrobe: Michelle Green