There are three things going on here that makes this photograph look like a painting. First, I used diffused window light with a dark background. All traditional studios of painters were designed with a north facing window specifically so they could make portraits of people with this kind of soft lighting. Second, I applied Portrait Professional to soften the skin and make the eyes of my model stand out. And third, I used Topaz Simplify which blends colors and introduces a painterly effect. In addition, I added a touch of makeup above the eyes using the brush tool on 15% opacity.
2 Comments
Feb 24, 2016, 10:55:32 AM
Jim - Hi Bob, This young lady who worked at my hotel in Venice was terribly shy and didn't want me to photograph her because she said she was not photogenic. I wanted to prove her wrong. After four days of asking, she finally agreed. I sent this to her and she really liked it, so I was happy.
Topaz has wonderful plugins, my favorite of which is Simplify 4. It's amazing what it does to pictures -- makes them like paintings.
Feb 23, 2016, 8:19:50 AM
Bob Vestal - Hi Jim, This image is a lovely portrait. I am starting to use Portrait Pro and so far find it rather impressive in its capability, as you demonstrate here. I think one has to be careful not to let the subject appear unnaturally perfect. I am not familiar with Topaz, but probably need to learn about it...Bob