This is an image from right before the quarantine. I've been sitting on it for a while, wanting to learn some new retouching techniques. I finally got to it today. I'd love some feedback. Trying to take my retouching game to the next level. It's been a weakness in my work for a while now.
the lighting is really nice. Is she wearing some sort of covering on her shoulders? They look weirdly dark and gray compared to her chest and face. Your retouching looks decent although with a portrait from that distance at that resolution it's hard to see if any texture was left or over-smoothing was done. Please excuse me for asking, but - does she have arms? I'm not trying to be funny, because she genuinely looks like she doesn't have arms. However, if she just has them behind her back, I would rethink using this pose in the future :) hope this helps!
Hi Sennia. Thank you so much for your feedback. I appreciate all of it. Your work is fantastic so i appreciate your eyes on my work. All of the things you pointed out are legitimate faults with the image and I appreciate them.
The shadows in the shoulders came from my small soft box tapering off. Definitely not intentional. The skin is a little too smooth for sure. I just learned a new technique to smooth skin and I still have to master keeping it realistic. The pose was intentional. She does have arms but I thought the position was odd and almost grotesque, which influenced the color toning.