Portrait with dreamy effects ??

jbf wrote:

Here's my attempt at copying the style below. I'll qualify my attempt as follows:

• I've never attempted to create this style.
• I only had about 15 minutes to play.
• My editor is a free version of PS Elements.
• I started with the small jpeg posted.
  

So it's not as good as the image below, I know. I did learn some things in the attempt. First, here's roughly what I did:

• Color layer for the yellowish cast with some masking to maintain some of the distinct colors.
• Hue/Sat layer: increased saturation as well lightness for dreamy effect with some masking. I tried messing with the contrast, but the hue/sat lightness slider comes much closer.
• Added a vignette which doesn't look great. The other sample in the original post has more of a vignette than the one below.
• Smoothed the skin to remove the shadows. This is a noticeable difference between the original of this image and the sample image.
• Very slightly darkened and adjusted hue in a few places to make them pop like in sample.
• Blurred background to simulate depth of field.
  

There's obviously more to getting the dreamy effect than just adjusting the hue/sat lightness slider. Removing all shadows from the skin has more of an effect than I thought it would, even in my quick attempt. Bringing back some richness (lost during the creation of the dreamy effect) in the hair, the framing elements in the background, and some of the other areas with color keeps the image from looking completely washed out and draws the eye to the desired locations.

I like the effect as well. Thanks for posting the topic. I hope this helps a little,

jbf