As my Christmas gift to you, I’m giving away one of my best photo retouching secrets… how to smooth a furrowed brow! This comes in so handy for both newborn and family photo retouching. Sometimes kids are squinting in family photos or newborns have a furrowed brow due to the bright studio lights. This retouching tip helps your little clients look more relaxed.
Watch the retouching video below, step-by-step instructions are written below. If you’re already familiar with the basic Photoshop tools, skip to about the 2-minute mark in the video.
BTW, I call the Burn tool the Dodge tool twice (facepalm!). Sorry! Hope you still get the gist of it.
Understanding the furrowed brow and how it changes the face
Before retouching your photo, it’s best to understand how furrowing the brow changes the facial structure.
When we furrow our brows, our eyebrows pull out and also and down towards the inside (close to the nose).
This creates a highlight just over the brow, because light is now hitting the skin there more than before.
It also creates a dark shadow under the brow, especially in the corners near the nose. You’ll also get shadows between the brows and just above the highlight of the brow.
Here’s how to manipulate the light and shadows, while preserving skin texture, and how to restore the shape of the brow to a relaxed expression.
Step-by-step retouching instructions
- Choose the Dodge tool (looks like an all-white magnifying glass or white lollipop). The Dodge tool will lighten your shadows by increasing exposure.
- Set the Hardness of your brush to 0% at the top.
- Set your Exposure to around 15%.
- Brush over any dark areas (above the brow line, between the brow and in the corner of the eyes.
- Doing this will sometimes increase saturation in those areas as well. If that happens, choose the Sponge tool (hiding under the Dodge tool), set it to Desaturate at around 20% and sponge away the extra color.
- Next, choose the Burn tool (pinchy hand under the Dodge tool) to decrease exposure of your highlights. Paint over the tops of the eye brows to remove the highlight that was created over the brow.
- Finally, go to Filter, Liquify and use the Nudge tool with a largish brush to subtly push up the inside of the brows close to the nose. If you go too far, the baby will look surprised.
To watch more of my retouching videos, you have several options! Sign up to receive my blog by entering your email address in the right column up there, follow my Pinterest board devoted to my editing tutorials, and/or follow my YouTube channel (where the videos are posted first!). There are also links to other retouching videos in the Related Content section below. 😀
I’m now scheduling photo sessions for all of 2020! Check my availability and contact me today if you’re ready to schedule yours!
