When color grading your work, don't overlook the importance of targeting the skin tones in your workflow. Perfecting the skin color can drastically help your images, but how would you color grade skin?
With many things in Photoshop, there are several different ways to perform an action in editing. In this video coming from photographer Eli Infante, he shares three different techniques he uses to color grade his images to achieve nice skin tones. One thing to keep in mind is there's not one perfect setting, and it varies between different shoots. In some of his shots, he shows that he changes between different techniques he uses to achieve his desired results. You could find one method works for some shots, while others you may need to combine them all with a layer mask for more precise color toning on the skin only.
The three techniques shown are selective color, color balance, and gradient maps. As you watch the video, Infante talks through his process of each technique and how he uses them to change the skin tones in his photos.
How do you color tone your skin work? What's your favorite method? Let us know in the comments below!
In Capture One: Color Editor, Color Balance, Levels, and White Balance. Once in a while, maybe the RGB Curves.
Capture One is amazing, especially for colorwork!