Photo Edit Tutorial #1

[graphic_rush]

Made using Photoshop CS4
We will be creating:



1. Begin with a cropped picture. I will be using this lovely picture of my friend, Brittany for this tutorial.



2. Duplicate your layer (Ctrl J), Filter > Render > Lighting Effects
Adjust your settings to fit this: 
The colors you want to use are:
First: #fcf9e9
Second: #f1f0e0







3. Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance
Input the following settings on midtones:

4. Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid color: 
set to lighten, 56 % fill




5. Create a new color balance layer, setting your midtones and cyan/red to -45





6. Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves
Make adjustments to your line like so:

The top marker should have these settings:



The bottom marker should have these settings:



7. Create a New Fill Layer again, this time using the color, #100d1f set to exclusion 100 %

8. If you find it necessary, you can brighten your image up a little but I decided not to with mine.

9. Make a new Color Balance layer.  (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance) 
settings: 
Midtones: 
Cyan - Red: 52
Magenta - Green: 0 
Yellow - Blue: -43

10. From here, your image is finished! Although, I added a few of my own touches.
I adjusted the hue/saturation, sharpened it, used the blur tool on 50 % strength to smooth the skin, and then made the image a bit darker.