Photoshop Post-production tips: Clone and Heal instead of Smudge and blur! (Part Two)

In this post, I will just quickly go through the similar technique as the previous post - Healing instead of Cloning
but I will be focusing on how you can treat the skin without having to go through skin-softening treatment etc.
By just healing the blemishes and making the skin look more uniform, you beat the need of making it all smooth/soft and like the person is wearing a heap load of make up.

Before

Here's a picture of a good friend of mine :-D. It's not terribly shot and he actually looks ok. The only decent example I could find that had not been photoshopped yet.

What I'll be doing is getting rid of the few blemishes, the lines/folds in his forehead and the slight creases at the top of his cheeks, near his eyes.

After

Notice the skin looks a lot more uniform, minimal to no blemishes and you have to make sure you make it good, but keep it realistic. So, in light of that, I left the curve around the mouth that enhances the smile.
I used no skin softening plugin, no photoshop "actions" - purely the healing brush.
Here my good friend (pun intended) Matt looks a tad bit younger and wrinkle-free. His tan wasn't extremely affected either.
In a later post, I will mention some tips on editing the skin and keeping the tones natural and vivid.

If you're starting out in portrait photography, this "Healing" technique will save you some time as well as the stress to make things "perfect".


Had I used the blur and smudge technique, it would have worked...in making the poor fellow look like he belongs at Madamme Tussauds. Here's what you can't get away with anymore in the photography and retouching world:

At first glance it's sort of ok. But you then see there's something not quite right about his skin. Then you quickly notice it was edited (and not very well either).

The Verdict: 

Smudge and Blur isn't so great at dealing with skin matters in pictures, and it doesn't make the picture look natural either.