Damien Symonds

Google will give you heaps of hits.

Hi Aubrey, could you give me a closer crop of the area?

You can do those in Bridge too. Just sayin'.

I have called in the LR cavalry, and hopefully they'll be able to help you with your question. Take a deep breath and remember that your images are safe. They're still on your hard drive. And you can still use Bridge to browse and edit them any time you like.

Yeah, you have to keep going, so the edges of the shadows are completely soft.

I look forward to seeing how you go. Remember that this requires time and patience. Don't rush it. And be prepared to start over occasionally, if you mess up. It's not easy.

Oh yeah, it looks like utter shit.

Download the PSD I have to go out for a while, I'll check in and see what you think of it later.

Ok, so this?

Yes, it'll work. But gosh, a clean-processed black-and-white please.

Oh gee, you're missing out. You always must sharpen for output, whether print or web.

In your original description of your workflow, you didn't mention resizing and sharpening. Remember to NEVER let any automatic resizing happening, you must always do it yourself, to the exact pixel dimensions you require for whatever website you're intending, then sharpen accurately after resizing.

Then yes, use Save for Web. Under "Metadata" choose how much you wish to include.

Ok. How many photos do you typically export at a time?

And are you ok with that? The absence of security for your images, I mean?

Far from being a dumb question, this is actually quite a complex one. So many aspects to consider. Are you watermarking your photos?

You'll need a photo with dark hair, not blonde, and definitely without any sky (or any light areas at all) in the background. Or, can you find a different example photo which is more like yours? Then post your clean-processed black-and-white edit for us to apply the style to. (Your size is fine, by the way - the forum automatically shrinks oversized files, so you can't go wrong.)

Hi Nate, can you tell me exactly how you're exporting them? Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet. The Levels and Skin classes will blow your mind. And the Sharpening class will give you prints you've never dreamed of.

Hi Ashley, Spyders can be flaky like this. You'll probably have to do this: https://www.damiensymonds.net/2013/10/how-to-properly-re-install-spyder.html

Yes, I think the same method there too.

Ok, yep, the face one will need to be this method. Now may I see a 100% crop from her neck?

The Levels Class will rock your images in dozens of ways, but no, this is not a Levels Class thing.

Ok. The one on her cheek looks the hardest. May I see a 100% crop of that area?

First things first, have you assessed the problem, and ascertained how you'd prevent it from ever happening again?

Hi Suzanne, the handyman method will work fine for this. Make sure you work with a very low opacity brush, and plenty of patience. I used 3% for this: