This is an example of a wedding portrait retouch with a softened natural (non-stylized) look.
This original portrait was washed out, lacked color and differentiation. Some highlights clipped badly giving "blown out" areas with a loss of information. Overall the image looked underexposed and flat.
I initially worked in Lightroom, correcting for highlight clipping, and overall exposure. I then brought it into Photoshop as a non-destructive smart layer.
I immediately set up a levels adjustment layer, working on the underexposed tones. I then made slight repairs to recover some of the blown out highlights. Even with no information, I nudged it discreetly out of clipping range.
Using selective color adjustments I breathed life back into the temperature. I finished with a frequency separation, balancing facial tones, and removing blemishes, and removing fly-away hairs.
This is an example of a more straightforward retouch job, and it was easily accomplished in a short amount of time.
