How can I create soft, fairy-tale portrait skin while keeping the eyes and details sharp?
Asked 11/15/2018
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I’d like to understand how to achieve a portrait look similar to the examples: very soft, glowing skin and an overall dreamy mood, but with important details like the eyes still appearing sharp. Is this mostly done in post-processing, or is it mainly created in-camera through lens choice, aperture, lighting, and composition? What techniques should I look into for getting this kind of result?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
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Looking at this photographers’ other images, it is clear that she is initially positioning her subjects where she is able to take full advantage of the composition with the help of wide apertures and shallow depth of field on her 85mm f/1.8 lens with a full frame sensor to create the effect.
She also very clearly ensures that she only clicks in soft light; both Windows and outdoors or if she has setup a softbox, the same applies.
From the outset, she seems to be clearly setting up her vision and the composition for the soft mood of each image, in-camera before moving onto post processing.
In post, all I see is an appropriate level of blemish removal, skin smoothing and Dodge & Burning to make the image pop.
You will need to read up on the various methods of skin smoothing, but the effect can be initiated with a simple clone stamp tool, to frequency separation where you work on Texture and skin tone/Colour separately - https://photo.stackexchange.com/search?q=frequency+separation all the way to a high end Dodge and Burn https://photo.stackexchange.com/search?q=dodge+and+burn.
But for any of this post processing to work affectively, there will be a need for a solidly composed RAW Image which can be developed and enhanced and not just any ordinary image to be totally reconstructed.
Originally by user34085. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user34085
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
This look is likely created mostly in-camera, then refined in post.
From the examples, the photographer appears to build the soft mood first with:
- a portrait lens such as an 85mm on full frame
- a wide aperture for shallow depth of field
- soft light, such as window light, open shade, or a softbox
- careful composition and subject placement
That gives the dreamy background separation and gentle overall feel before editing starts.
In post-processing, the effect is usually finished with:
- blemish cleanup
- controlled skin smoothing
- dodging and burning to shape the face and add depth
The key is to smooth skin selectively, not blur the whole image. Keep eyes, lashes, brows, lips, and hair detailed while softening only skin areas. That’s how portraits can look soft yet still sharp where it matters.
If you want to study the technique, look into skin smoothing methods and dodge-and-burn retouching. But don’t overlook lighting and lens choice—those are a big part of why the final result works.
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