Demon Themes wanted some help with a picture of his (or her, maybe she’s a lesbian) girlfriend. That’s exactly what I’m here for.

Before Photoshop, she looked like this:

After I was done playing with her, she looked like this:

I’m introducing a new feature called Detail Comparison so you can better compare the two versions. Check it out, it’s neat.

Thanks, Demon, for lending me your girlfriend.

Later,
Buikhu

Photo credit: Demon Themes

Today’s photo is way overdue. I’m not satisfied with the result but as I have very little time to spend on each project, it’s time to move on.

The original picture:

Current version:

I wasn’t exactly asked to make it look like a painting but I wanted to blur the line between reality and fantasy because I thought “Allie in Wonderland” would be a good title. No, I wasn’t high, I’m not into flying.

I want to apologize to the person who sent this photo. What happened to Alice in the story, happened to me. We realized Wonderland was not so wonderful after all.

I’m going to have to revisit this one in the future.

Will post again soon,
Buikhu

Photo credit: Ruthie

“Can you survive for 24 hours without your computer? The idea behind Shutdown Day is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate.”
http://www.shutdownday.org/

Whoever wrote that must think our computers are physically becoming a part of us. That’s an interesting theory and inspired me to design a Shutdown Day poster.

This is what I started with:

I decided to replace the belly button with a belly power button, remove the tattoo and colorize the image.
Here’s the result:

I have one question, though. How would you turn yourself on?

Anyway, I’m so participating! I promise I’ll shutdown my computer on 03 May 2008. You should, too.

Adiós,
Buikhu

Photo credit: Cherie Wren

Submit something.

I’m by no means anti-freckles but when it comes to photography, they can be tricky. The thing is, sometimes they look extremely good, sometimes not so much. A quick Photoshop freckle removal can save the day when you wish the model’s face was as smooth as a baby’s bottom.

Some other tweaking was involved as well, but the freckle removal made the biggest difference for sure.

That’s it for now. I think the picture speaks for itself so I won’t go on and on about the obvious. Remember to submit your photo for retouching.

Have fun,
Buikhu

Photo credit: Matthew Bowden

The moment I saw this picture I knew it had untapped potential. Initially, I went a bit crazy with the editing and ended up with a picture so flawless I swear I could smell plastic. Gone was the chemistry between the girls. Gone was the emotion. Damn it, I thought.

A mongoose can defeat a cobra so all hope wasn’t gone. It was just back to the drawing board. “This photo is about friendship so we don’t want to see two mannequins”, I said out loud. I was alone so I felt like a crazy person. Anyway, what we want to see is some skin. Umm, skin texture, I mean. That did the trick for the most part but I also had to get rid of the flimsy-looking necklace, fix their deformed faces and emphasize their eyes, among other things. There was one dilemma, though. I had to debate with myself over hair extensions. I won. No extensions were needed.

By the way, is it just me or does the girl on the left have some Teri Hatcher going on?

Have a nice day,
Buikhu

Photo credit: Scott Snyder

P.S. Due to server updates, my blog has been down for the past few days but everything should be back to normal again.

Now, submit a photo.

We all have pictures that make you go “meh”. It’s usually the 107th picture of your cat or one of the several poses against a while wall. Then then are those outright bad and embarrassing shots you wish didn’t exist but, for some unexplainable reason, do. You were most likely either drunk or naked… and some bastard had a camera.

What should you do with those pictures, delete them? No. Even the worst photos, the kind that would cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if ever published, should be saved and kept in a government protected, top-secret chamber. I’m not talking about way out-of-focus and overexposed material, that stuff belongs in the trash. I mean pictures that are bad because you look ridiculous.

What’s the point, you ask. The answer is digital recycling. Even bad photos may have elements that could be reused.
I would normally show you a before picture here but this time I’ll show you the final creation first.

You wouldn’t believe what kind of garbage this consists of, so see for yourself, if you dare. Oh, and if anyone asks you about my laundry day picture, you never saw it.

Later,
Buikhu

Photo credits: Me, Meral Akbulut, Aneta Blaszczy

P.S. A more tightly cropped version of the final photo can be seen here. I couldn’t decide which one was better.
I know the tattoo still needs some work so I don’t need to hear that from you. Other comments are welcomed.

Your turn.

Let’s keep this short. This was my to-do list:

Teeth: whiten, straighten
Eyes: brighten, widen, sharpen
Eyebrows: lift
Nose, chin, jawline: reshape
Skin: smooth out imperfections, add a soft glow
Make-up: touch up, intensify
Lighting: Remove unwanted shadows, create a mood
Background: clean up, crop

Good grief! The subject must be a real monster.

Nasty! Luckily, the real picture is a lot better:

At this point, you should be thinking: “She doesn’t need that much retouching!” No, she doesn’t. Not if you want to make the kind of people who read Cosmopolitan puke. So, let’s see her after the the Photoshop magic:

That should be good enough even for the readers of Cosmo. Nah. “She’s totally ugly. Her skin has, like, pores and stuff. Eww!”

Until I post again,
Buikhu

Photo credit: Janet Goulden who did not submit this photo and who I hope doesn’t get offended by this.

P.S. Remember to submit your photo.