Joeri's workflow
Sometimes people ask me how much time I need to edit a photo.
Well, it depends.
I very rarely only edit photos only in a RAW editing program like Capture One pro or Lightroom because these programs are not as powerful as Photoshop.
What if a woman has a bad skin? What if the eyebrows are not nicely plucked? What when she has a red skin because of stress? What if the dress is full of wrinckles?
After culling images (selecting the best) in Capture One (or FastRAWviewer) I drop the RAW files in the selects folder in Capture One Pro. This folder contains all the RAW files for editing purposes.
This is my workflow:
RAW editor (Capture One):
General exposure adjustments
Dodge & Burn using luminosity masks
White Balance correction
Skin color correction (equalize skin color only when necessary)
Edit width: Photoshop (16 bit)
Photoshop:
Copy the background layer (always)
Heal & clone distracting elements (also hair, nose hair, eyebrows,…)
Convert this layer to a smart layer
Liquify: Modify the dress and hair 'when needed.
Smoothen the background (only when using background paper)
FS 2.0: Smoothen hard skin edges & remove wrinckles on clothing (some fabric like satin)
Dodge & Burn: Make parts of the image darker or lighter
Give contour to the face and in general
Brighten the eyes a tiny bit but not always
Whiten the teeth when needed
Darken the eyebrows
Add glow (Highlights) like on the lips
Modify levels (midtones, shadows & highlights)
Dodge & burn more
Sharpen using a Highpass filter (except hair)
Modify color balance (too yelow, too red, …)
Add a touch of grain
Combine all layers to a smart layer (except the background)
Save as a PSB file (mot files are + 6GB)
Flatten image
SaveAs PSD
Final toch in Capture One:
Change general levels
When needed modify light with Luma masks
Color balance
Dodge & Burn (only small changes)
Export to JPG in several sizes
Here is an example of changing colors & luminosity in Capture One Pro.