Optimizing and retouching baby portraits(Photography)

            The photo looked rather brilliant on the camera display, but you were in for a disappointment on the PC. The background was not blur enough and diverted from the subject. In addition, the eyes glowed much more in real life.
THE PROBLEM: Baby photos are often snapshots. It is not really a time for a well thought-out set structure, illumination, etc. And even a large aperture is not suffi cient in a camera having an APSC sensor in order to get a completely blurred background of a close-up shot.

PHOTOGRAPHING DIFFERENTLY: A bigger blur in the background can be achieved if the baby is photographed at a longer distance and with a light tele-focal length. However, the photo situation does not permit this in most cases. Another problem - the bigger the focal length, the greater must be the shutter speed. In case of indoor shots, you must ensure additional lighting if you do not wish to fl ash in the baby’s eyes. However, it quickly spoils the daylight mood.
OPTIMIZING ON THE PC: Selecting the background takes up maximum time during image editing, especially if harsh edges are not available due to the narrow focus range just like in this case. You can make the basic choice with the magic wand, which you can then extend with a lasso by keeping the [Alt] key pressed. Do not waste your time on single strands of hair; you can do that later using a Layer Mask. Select ‘Select | Feather’ and a radius of 3 to 5 pixels. If you have the option, make the background blur with ‘Filter | Blur’ by using ‘Reduce depth sharpness’ repeatedly. Even ‘Gaussian Blur’ works well. Optimize the brightness, colors and contrast using ‘Image | Adjustments | Levels’. It is best if you make the correction in an Adjustment Layer; you can thus adjust the values later on. You can now touch up minor fl aws in the skin with the Stamp tool. You can simulate extremely clear skin this way. Duplicate the background layer, select ‘Filter | Blur | Make matter’ with values around ‘5’. Leave out the eyes and mouth with a Layer Mask. You can control the eff ect using the Layer Opacity. Finally, allow the baby’s eyes to sparkle. Select the eyes using the Lasso and Feather and increase the highlights and midtones using ‘Levels’.