Photoshop Liquify Mirror

[Apolonio Hicks]

Inthis how to video, you will learn how to liquify an image using Photoshop. First, open the image in Photoshop. Next, go to filter and select liquify. Use the forward warp tool to press pieces of the photo. Use the reconstruct tool to bring the image back to the original state. The twirl clockwise tool can be used to twirl pieces in the photo. You can adjust the pressure to twirl more. The pucker tool can be used to push sections into the image. The bloat tool can be used to pinch sections in the image. The push left tool will push the section the opposite way of the brush direction. The mirror tool can be used to mirror pieces in the photo. The turbulence tool can be used to push things away in the image. The freeze mask tool allows you to select an area that you do not want to distort or transform. If you brush an area with this tool and select another tool, the area selected will not be affected by the new tool. The thaw tool allows you to erase these masks. Now you know the basics of liquify.

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There have been many books written on the subject of face anatomy and how it impacts not only our perception of someone but our reaction to them as well. There are features we deem as authoritative, feminine, funny, somber, and so on. With over 7 billion people in the world we've got quite a few unique faces out there, and yet, certain features and proportions are universally and subconsciously interpreted as "appealing". As you can imagine, face anatomy is a crucial part of commercial photography, especially when marketing anything in the beauty industry.

In this article, I want to explore with you what some experts deem to be the "perfect" face anatomy, and how we can take a regular face that doesn't exactly conform to this standard and turn it into one that does using Photoshop's liquify tool. The image I have chosen to work with here is from a recent shoot. It is a 100% crop from a much larger image and it was just a lighting test, so the quality ain't the greatest. But because this image would have been discarded, it serves our purpose quite well. Also, keep in mind, that while I did do some minor skin correction and color adjustments, this is far from a retouched photo. I only hope to show you the direction this photo could take.

After many years of research and studies, some facial experts have determined this mask to represent what our brains deem as "beautiful". Everything from the proportion of the lips to the distance between the eyes has been precisely calculated. Makes it seem a little cold and robotic doesn't it? However, our brains really do like order and proportions, so it would make complete sense that a face anatomy which conforms to our ideas of order and good proportions would be deemed as "beautiful".

I won't get into all the nitty gritty here, because I want to keep this article somewhat concise, but if you follow the link I provide here you can read all about how this face anatomy was determined to be the "one". Keep your eye out for the very interesting tidbits about the golden ratio's in face structure, which as some of you may know, also apply to photography in general: _mba.htm

The face anatomy mask provided here can serve as a guideline to help you visualize the changes you need to make with the liquify tool in order to achieve a pleasing result. Many people will simply go ahead and slim the face without any regard for proportion. This can easily lead to unrealistic results that don't make the face any more pleasing then before we started. With this mask we can begin to understand face anatomy and make focused changes that will actually benefit our images.

This is where we see the biggest difference between our model and the face anatomy mask. Our model has a very wide jaw giving her a rectangular face. This face shape is good for portraying a strong and dominant personality but it can also be interpreted as mean and angry. By softening the jaw and bringing it in line with the face anatomy mask we instantly get a more feminine and friendly face. This is something that is extremely important in commercial photography because we want the face to be inviting and warm.

While we are changing the shape of the jaw, we also want to minimize the chin ever so slightly. Not too much, or it will be pointy, but as we soften this models wide jaw, we don't want the chin to become overbearing. The face anatomy mask has a good guideline with rings around the chin area to give you a sense of perspective and how gradual the slope should be. This is something you could further emphasize with dodging and burning to create the right protrusion of the chin and jaw area.

The nose should be kept as symmetrical as possible. You want to focus on slimming the bridge of the nose and straightening any curvature it may have. In our example here, the right side of the nose is ever so slightly higher then the left. The bridge is a little wide, and it curves slightly towards the right. The length of the nose however is right on point, so we do not need to make any changes there.

Our model happens to have a great pair of eyes. They needed very minor adjustments. They are perfectly spaced and the exact shape and size they need to be. We needed to make small adjustments to the eyelids, because the eye on the left has an eyelid that slightly droops at an angle steeper then the right eye. Again, we want to keep the eyes fairly symmetrical, so any glaring differences should be corrected.

The brows were left untouched because they slope at an angle that is just about perfect and they are also quite well placed. Things to correct here would be brows that slope too much (forwards or backwards), brows that are too small or too large, and brows that are too far apart or too close together.

The cheek bone placement for our example is perfect. You will notice, it is the line that protrudes and stops half way across the cheek, just under the eyes. That denotes where the cheek bone should begin to raise. On a very wide or very narrow face this may need some minor adjustment.

The lips are such a crucial part of face anatomy. They convey so much emotion. In our example, the lips appear a little wide, but more importantly they are down turned. This makes it appear as if our model is a bit sad. In order to correct this, we adjust the lip length and pulled their placement just a little lower to fit the face anatomy mask. We then straightened the lips and upturned the edges ever so slightly to get away from the sad expression our model was conveying.

The neck is a big focus area. We want to elongate and slim the neck. While this is not part of the mask anymore a slim and elongated neck is classier and more elegant then a short and wide neck. It also puts more emphasis on the face because the neck doesn't take up as much real estate in the image. In our example we had to slim the neck and we were able to elongate it by eliminating some of the excess under chin that we could see.

Not bad for a quick example. Sure further improvements could be made if one really had the time, but you can clearly see here that the liquify tool in Photoshop is extremely powerful when used properly and not excessively.

There you have it! I hope this little tutorial gives you all an idea of where to focus your liquifying corrections and the proportions we are supposed to aim for. Now that you've read all this, it is important I tell you that this is NOT the only way to do things. Unique facial features are beautiful and while this face mask has the potential to expose our primal instinct of what is beautiful, it also has the potential to turn things bland. Use your own judgement, because as the photographer, we see the world you choose to show us!

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Peter House is a commercial fashion photographer from Toronto, Canada. He shoots over 10,000 pieces of clothing every year for a variety of lookbooks. Clients range from small local boutiques to international brands such as Target, Winners, and Sears. In addition to that Peter runs one of the most popular rental studio's in the Toronto area.

I think the key here is subtlety. Certainly, the model wants to look like her, so its important that you maintain that aspect of her face, while improving it slightly. There is absolutely a science behind physical beauty, and if you're a fashion/beauty photographer, you look for that in your subjects. As shallow as it is, you need to use that science to your advantage and if that means altering things a little in photoshop, so be it.

Thank you Zach. Yes, I hope folks do realize this is all in moderation. This example is on the drastic side, more so meant as a guideline to proportions, but also a thought experiment on what we deem as "appealing".

I understand what is being said here, I haven't missed the point. But still... would it not be better to simply shoot the model from an angle that enhances her features? She is not unattractive by any means, but the base photo is taken from an angle that does not do her strong jaw any favours. Even if manipulation still come into play, such drastic measures wouldn't need to be taken... If you MUST have that angle... Why not hire a different model?

You are completely correct. The main reason I chose this particular image to work with was because it was shot at an unflattering angle. For the purpose of contrast it was easier to use something that would offer a more drastic difference. In a real scenario we would of course do everything to minimize post. Thanks for the input!

1. The client (a company) hires the models and you have to make them pretty. You often don't have a say in this and those models are often not Cindy Crawford. How you deal with that may affect whether or not this client will hire you again.

2. Your models are not sitting or standing still, they are not statues, so they move as you shoot. And often an image your client selects to retouch was not "shot at a better angle". How you deal with that may affect whether or not this client will hire you again.

3. You just never know to what degree your private client may ask you to "enhance" her photos. I work with female clients 99,9% of the time, trust me when I tell you that most women do want to look beautiful, and they don't care how subtle (or not) retouching makes them that. And, of course, how you deal with that may affect whether or not this client will hire you again.

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