Damien Symonds

You're really really going to need the sharpening class for these. Please don't delay, it's not a quick class.

Hmmm ... maybe f/5.6 was too shallow here. The lady in red is in excellent focus, but the people in back are a bit off. But don't worry, you got away with it. This will be ok.

What??? No, it's not the lens's fault! It did an amazing job in the light that you gave it.

Could you do a quick Exposure bump and noise removal on this one? I'm having trouble seeing.

This focus is great!

While it's not quite perfect, it's definitely passable.

Yeah, there's no need to have both, I don't think.

Yep. That's exactly the kind of stupid shit actions do. You don't need to duplicate the Background layer for that. Just add an adjustment layer (eg Levels or whatever, it doesn't matter) and change it to Screen mode. It does the same thing, with MUCH smaller file size.

For what purpose, exactly? I mean, what are the actions designed to do?

Ok, that's good. And your stupid actions? Are they adding extra pixel layers?

First of all, the size of the raw file never correlates to the size of the Photoshop file. If a flattened image is about 79MB, then we know that 79MB is the true size of each pixel layer in your file. And if your stupid actions add more pixel layers, they're adding another 79MB each time. Adjustment layers and masks add less size, but it still adds up. 511MB is very normal. Just to check, are you working in 8-bit?

Yeah, I don't know how to smooth that with Photoshop, sorry. I think Portraiture has a free trial period, so you can try it out. https://imagenomic.com/Products/Portraiture

https://www.damiensymonds.net/2013/09/grabbing-700x700px-100-crop.html

Yes, that's right. May I see a 100% crop of the skin?

The most regularly-suggested option is the Portraiture program. Have you ever tried it?

I'm so sorry, I don't have an easy way for this. It would have to be insanely painstaking cloning.

Hi @cathm, what else have you been working on lately?

Please read Modules 4 and 11 of the Raw Class again.

Hi @alyssamattphotography, you'll use the "Macs and Laptops" instruction set.

Hi @BrittanyCollins42, what kind of subject matter do you shoot mostly?

Hi @OrlaO, Brian will be along to give you some specific advice before too long. In the meantime, here's a thread I found: https://ask.damiensymonds.net/topic/23973-best-recovery-software-2019/

Have you successfully calibrated this screen with this calibrator in the past? I mean, is this a new problem?

And you're following my exact instructions here?

Where did you go, @fstoplife?