Skin and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Start reading Skin on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies [Paperback]

Lee Varis
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Amazon Student

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $21.99  
Paperback $24.76  
Paperback, October 16, 2006 --  
Unknown Binding $33.64  
Shop the new tech.book(store)
New! Introducing the tech.book(store), a hub for Software Developers and Architects, Networking Administrators, TPMs, and other technology professionals to find highly-rated and highly-relevant career resources. Shop books on programming and big data, or read this week's blog posts by authors and thought-leaders in the tech industry. > Shop now
There is a newer edition of this item:
Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies 4.4 out of 5 stars (82)
$24.76
In Stock.

Book Description

October 16, 2006 047004733X 978-0470047330
Achieving accurate skin tones is one of the most challenging tasks in digital photography. Master this challenge with professional photographer Lee Varis as he covers a range of skin: women and men, young and old, various tones, in-studio and outdoors, tattoos, and more. His step-by-step tutorials and before-and-after illustrations demonstrate various techniques for topics such as digital-specific lighting challenges and what can and cannot be done in post-process.

A free CD-ROM accompanies the book and contains sample image files to use while following the tutorials, plus equipment recommendations and technical reference materials that enhance and reinforce the instruction.

Order your copy of this practical guide today and get a complete start-to-finish approach to integrating everything from posing models to shooting and retouching candid scenes.



Editorial Reviews

Review

A Hollywood photoillustrator with 30 years of experience, Varis has been published in National Geographic, Newsweek, and Fortune magazines. Far from a manual on fashion or nude photography, this is a comprehensive tutorial on how to photograph all types of people: young, old, and dozens of ethnic varieties. Varis supplements the book with a CD of numerous before-and-after sample image files and technical reference materials. He begins with a discussion of the right hardware and software and how to configure them, then teaches digital color management and lighting techniques as they apply to portraiture. He also provides in-depth chapters on retouching and special effects, including such techniques as skin smoothing, beauty retouching, screen diffusion, and depth of field effects. Highly recommended for serious students. (Library Journal, March 15, 2007)

From the Back Cover

What is the color of skin?

A practical guide to photographing people in the digital age

It's one thing to snap someone's picture. It's another thing entirely to capture the essence that made you reach for your camera in the first place. Now a top Hollywood pro shares his secrets for the digital capture of human skin in all its variety: young, old, male, female, different skin tones and ethnicities, with makeup or without—even tattooed skin!

Using step-by-step tutorials and stunning full-color examples, industry expert Lee Varis teaches it all: the basics of digital imaging, essential tricks to shooting indoors and out, how to light your subjects in any pose, and much more. Above all, you'll find out why the color of skin that's best for final output is almost always a departure from reality.

Topics include:

  • Starting with the right hardware and software settings
  • Developing your digital color "chops"
  • Mastering Rembrandt lighting and other basic techniques
  • Overcoming common digital skin problems, such as too much red
  • Adjusting skin tones to withstand nearby colors like green grass
  • Faking tattoos and photographing the real thing
  • Trimming the fat, lighting up the eyes, and filling in wrinkles
  • Adding soft focus, retouching, and other advanced Photoshop® techniques
  • Discovering what can and what can't be done in post-process

Follow the tutorials in the book with numerous before-and-after sample image files on the companion CD. You'll also find technical reference materials to enhance and reinforce your learning.

  • Know how to soften wrinkles and change shapes—and when not to!
  • Beautifully color-balance every skin tone
  • Brilliantly light any number of subjects in any location

Product Details

  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Sybex (October 16, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 047004733X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0470047330
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.9 x 9.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #474,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lee Varis is a photo-illustrator working in Hollywood. He has been involved in commercial photography for the last 30 years. He started working with computer imaging about 20 years ago and currently works with digital as well as conventional photography in conjunction with computer graphics to create images for use in print advertising.

Lee's work has been featured on movie posters, video box covers, CD covers, numerous brochures and catalogs. His creative imaging has been featured in National Geographic, Newsweek and Fortune magazines as well as trade journals like PDN, New Media, Micro Publishing News, PC Photo, Studio Photography, Rangefinder and Photo Electronic Imaging. Most of Lee's work starts off as photography that is manipulated in the computer using a wide variety of imaging software. Images are often re-combined with digital painting and effects or with additional photo elements to create digital images that transcend the original source materials.
Clients, art directors and fellow artists look for inspiration at Lee's web site:

http://www.varis.com

There he displays imaging work and a "Methods" section with practical imaging information.

Lee has also been involved with consulting and training activities for numerous corporate clients. He did two series of imaging seminars for Apple Computers that took him around the country to most of the major metropolitan areas and is currently active in seminar programs with PPA, APA and Julia Dean Photographic Workshops as well as a monthly "Photoshop for Photographers" workshop in Los Angeles.

Lee's latest book is 'Skin : The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies' with Sybex. This is a professional level how-to guide to all aspects of digital photography of people. The work offers intermediate and advanced Photoshop techniques as well as digital-specific photo techniques for digital photographers looking for the next level in expertise.

Lee wrote "Digital Photography for Creative Professionals" with Rockport Publishers in 2003. This is an examination of professional applications of digital photography for commercial graphic artists and art directors concentrating on workflow issues and creative solutions for graphics workgroups. He has also written articles for Design Graphics, PEI, PC Photo, Rangefinder and Digital Photo Pro.

As a fine artist, Lee has been working on a series of images based on the Tarot. Current progress on this project is on display at:

http://www.newmillenniumtarot.com

The future of imaging, and specifically photography, is clearly digital. Lee has a firm command of both traditional and digital techniques, giving him a clear advantage over the computer technician who is not equipped to make creative judgments and the conventional artist who lacks the skills necessary to realize the digital future.

Customer Reviews

Go get this book, and make some wonderful images! Matthew Vanecek  |  18 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
133 of 136 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Provocative November 30, 2006
Format:Paperback
It probably says more about me than the book that I found a title which applies to something that surrounds every person provocative. However, it's likely that advanced Photoshop users will find something provocative in this book

The book is aimed at photographers who know the basics of photography, including exposure, and the use of Photoshop including layers and masks. The author's emphasis is on portraits and people photography and how to get the most from photographs of these subjects. Although the author spends a little time looking at hardware like digital cameras and at basic portrait lighting techniques, his main concern is with post processing.

The author's stated aim is to fill the gaps left by other books, like the reproduction of dark skin. And he does this in many ways that I haven't seen before. For example he suggests better skin colors can be achieved by looking at the CMYK readings and applying a rule of thumb. (If you don't know what CMYK is, this book isn't for you.) Varis suggests that for Caucasians magenta and yellow should be of approximately equal value, with cyan a fourth to a third of the value. Images of African Americans should have a higher percentage of cyan and magenta. He then tells you how to make these adjustments. He also shows how to make tone and contrast adjustments for both color and black-and=white images.

The author devotes a chapter to retouching, showing the reader how to ease those wrinkles and even do a little tummy tuck in Photoshop. He also devotes space to special effects, but he emphasizes alteration of the image not to tell lies, so much as to give effect to the photographer's vision. There is also a chapter on preparing output for print.
... Read more ›
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
50 of 51 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Skin: Highly Recommended May 19, 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies

I just finished reading Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies, a wonderful book for Adobe® Photoshop® enthusiasts. Although I would only consider myself an intermediate user of Photoshop, I found Lee Varis' book immensely helpful, and I highly recommend it to all those who photograph people.

Chapter 1: Digital Imaging Basics is a brief introduction to digital imaging basics. It quickly covers chips and pixels as well as dynamic ranges. Furthermore, Varis covers JPEG artifacts, cameras, memory cards, computers and monitor calibration. He finishes the chapter with a discussion on Photoshop preferences.

Chapter 2: Color Management Workflow, and Calibration is as the title suggests. The first few pages provide a high level overview of workflow management. Then Varis discusses color and light calibration. I must admit, he does have a rather funky looking set up of test targets that include the GretagMacBeth 24 patch plus Styrofoam cutouts and black traps. Varis provides a lengthy and detailed discussion on his calibration method. He also mentions that he prefers 8 bit processing as opposed to 16 bit. Moreover, he comments on the popular expose to the right practice.

::::The idea is good theory but bad practice because the histogram cannot tell you where you are placing your tones with any precision, and it can't tell you whether the histogram is appropriate for the subject. (What picture goes with this histogram?
... Read more ›
Was this review helpful to you?
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book of Its Kind October 20, 2006
Format:Paperback
How many times have you taken a photograph that was "almost perfect"? You know what I mean. Either there's something in the background you didn't notice, a shadow or blemish on someone's face, or worse yet, it's the best photograph you've ever had taken of yourself, but your stomach was sticking out. As someone who has worked with Photoshop pretty regularly for a few years, I'm happy to say I can remedy most of those situations. Although I've used 'Photoshop for Dummies' and it has been helpful, 'Skin' offers suggestions most photographers never even though about. It was mostly through creativity and tenacity that Photoshop worked fairly well for me. It wasn't until I read 'Skin' that I realized I was working entirely too hard to achieve the effects I was after. Achieving appropriate skin tones is no longer guess work, eliminating or softening facial lines is a snap, and balancing colors throughout the photo has become a mandatory element. Trial and error is no longer a prerequisite in my photography. Author Lee Varis offers more information than I will ever use as an amateur. However, whether or not I ever incorporate all this information into my photography, it was fascinating to read about how easily it's all done. For me, the portrait "tricks" alone make this book worth while. I plan to keep it on my desk and use it every time I work on a photo.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Skin (deep?) August 3, 2007
Format:Paperback
Is this the complete guide to perfect (studio) lighting and skin (colour correction) retouching in Photoshop as the sub-title says? No it is not. Is this a book which gives you helpful tips with good examples for both lighting and correction and retouching on a medium Photoshop level, yes it is.

As many Photoshop book authors Lee Varis does not make clear for whom he wrote this book. It's not for the Photoshop newbie with a digital SLR who likes to get quick 'correct' skin colour with post processing (read Scott Kelby) It's not for the professional Photoshop user which aim is to get a complete picture of (digital) lighting setups in relation to post processing; the first chapter, digital imaging basics, is already a proof of that.

The book however starts very promising, with a foreword by the Queen of retouching herself, Katrinn Eismann (I would strongly advice anyone to read her book about restoration and retouching if you do not know it yet.)
Than Lee Varis makes a big mistake by starting about "digital imaging basics" in the first chapter, followed by the second mistake, chapter 2: "colour management workflow and calibation."
99% of people who do care about getting professional looking results with retoucning and lighting setups related to skin colour finished that "Scott Kelby level" knowledge years ago.

The third chapter gets into it. Still it does not go deep, at least not as deep with many more examples as I know for sure many people like me hope for. The middle of the book gives probable for many hungry skin retouching lovers the climax with chapter 6 (Retouching) and chapter 7 as the end. There is another filled chapter; chapter 8, but that unfortuntely goes back to Kelby level, with "Preparing for print"

Is the book worth it?
... Read more ›
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, not great either
It's quite clear that the author is not going to win any awards for his opinionated and dull writing style. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Benjamin
4.0 out of 5 stars Well written book.
I would recommend this to any hobbyist, or anyone looking for a workflow in say photoshop or editing programs that deal with skin tones. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dave Sattler
4.0 out of 5 stars Good job, Lee!!
Getting skin color right has been an issue. It's good to know you can get it right, and if you don't do it in camera, you can learn the right way to make it right.
Published 4 months ago by Burt H. Rich
4.0 out of 5 stars Very informative
It was helpful and I would recommend it, can not wait to see what the other books read like from him.
Published 4 months ago by wineguy3204h
4.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative
If you've ever read a Scott Kelby book and have been using Photoshop for a while, you will know about %80 of the material covered in this book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by DAVID MCKIBBEN
5.0 out of 5 stars Top notch
In the foreword of this book, renowned photographer Rick Sammon offers high praise for 'Skin', and this book does not disappoint. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Alan Shi
4.0 out of 5 stars Still use some of these tips
Great book even for the advances. I still use several of these techniques on every image I work on (I do photoshop for work) and it was all thanks to this book. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Ctown
5.0 out of 5 stars Immensely Indepth!
Great book, there are so many things to tweak and improve your digital post production here with! Well worth the price and the shipping weight!
Published 9 months ago by C. G. Tribbey
3.0 out of 5 stars Outdated and Limited Usages
Varis knows what he is doing - and he does it well. The problem I had though is that everything in the book feels a good 5 years out of date. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Talvi
4.0 out of 5 stars Skin Retouching Book
Great book, for the person who already is comfortable with Photoshop. Good technical information & straight to the point instructions. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Kailie A Dan
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews




Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category