Touch Up - S.O.P.

     I was taught by my mentors that a good portrait have the eyes as the doorway to their soul. If anything has to be focused it must be the eyes. Spot meter and focus on the eyes.  The photo on the left is pretty much right off the memory card.  It looks like a nice photo. I just wouldn't call it a portrait, just yet.  I know where the light is falling and its quality. Adobe Lightroom is my processing tool of choice, like a million other photographers, and for very good reasons.  I rarely use Photoshop for a portrait, since Lightroom has an easy to use spot remover for blemishes, and a easy to use "clarity" tool to soften skin texture a bit. 

       I start brightening the eyes including the top of the cheeks and up to the eyebrows, first.  Then, I'll add another layer of brightness across the entire face.  Lightroom also has a very nice vignette tool, which I apply to darken the perimeter. Sometimes, the teeth need a little whitening. I use the brush and desaturate about 80%. Teeth that are too white look weird to me... Then finally, I look at the neck's light value, which often ends up looking brighter than the face because it rarely gets tanned. I adjust tonality of the neck by lowering the exposure value in Lightroom. Re-crop to an 8x10 and it is now suitable for framing !