This is a little late I know. And I also know that going to black & white makes the job a whole lot easier. However, I decided to work with the curves and threshhold adjustment layers to locate the white and black points for the purpose of adjusting the contrast. And this is the final result. I relearned a few things in the process...
There is also a little bit of personal philosophy behind this portrait. I am somewhat uncomfortable with changing a person's facial features, for example, in order to give the person a new look that doesn't resemble and/or reflect who they really are. Why? Because that kind of image distorts reality and creates a ficticious image and personality that only can exist in the imagination. If people attempt to create their physical and psycholgical personas in the image of something that can never really exist in them because it is not embedded in their genetic and/or psychological makeup, then they will probably experience some inner turmoil and conflict because in essence they are trying to become someone they are not programmed to be. I don't believe that a change in hairstyles, and/or skin tone for example necessarily fall into that category, but an actual transformation of the nose etc. in order to achieve a new look may be an attempt to engineer a change in the personality which may be best accomplished by other means. I realize that this is a controversial issue and that many people will claim that plastic surgery has made a very positive difference in their life....And it is hard to argue against personal experience. However, from my point of view, it is wise to be cautious with such radical approaches to personal physical transformation. Sometimes it is the heart that needs the most mending, and occasionally it is the easiest to overlook
when,for a price, a physical transformation can be quickly and efficiently achieved.
My personal preference would be to work with the physical/emotional strengths that a person possesses in an attempt to enhance their beauty...Accenting the positive
and watching the negative slowly disappear..
I will say however, that I do enjoy these threads created as exercises in artistic design because they give me and others the opportunity to develop our photoshopping skills while sitting at the feet of the masters. So this little diatribe is not meant to be an indictment of this thread and or the facial transformations created herein. It is simply a reflection of my views on the general topic of physical transformation.
