I'm killing time while uploading some wedding images, so I thought I would show an example of a technique that I use. I've been experimenting with a few actions that I made for dodging and burning and/or "painting with light" in photoshop. Basically, I paint depth into objects to give them more feel. It works on skin to great effect if you are careful.

The image below is the original image. For the final, I put my d/b on it. I also added a texture to the wall behind, liquified the bride's body in a few places, cloned her breastbone, maybe a few other tweaks. But the thing that made the most impact was the d/b on her skin, dress, veil, and parts of the couch.

This shows the Paint With Light action that I've been using. It is essentially 4 blank layers inside of a folder which has it's blending mode set to "Hard Mix". You draw white or black on each layer and lower the opacity to 1 to 5% usually (sometimes higher). You may also review the effect you just created and lower the opacity of the entire folder. For this image, I probably ran this action 9 times, creating 9 folders and 36 layers. I don't do a lot of work on each layer, trying to keep it subtle as I go. I like to Stamp Visible (windows cntrl+alt+shift+E) as I go, which creates a new layer comprised of what you are seeing, rather than flatten, so I can backtrack if the effects get too over the top. I won't do all of the d/b at once usually, as I find that I have to liquify or clone certain spots, so Stamp Visible is handy for that.

This is the final image. It didn't take very long. I wanted to create a sense of depth that seemed to be lacking, especially in the couch. I added extra highlights/shadows to the couch arm and couch buttons, as well as making her skin have higher contrast overall. I might have overdone it a bit on her left arm, but this is a quick example.

There is a link below to see a rollover view to compare the two versions.

TO SEE A ROLLOVER IMAGE FOR COMPARISON, VISIT THIS LINK HERE (photoshop technique example). We do this effect on a lot of wedding images, usually portraits.

You can download this action on my wedding photoshop action download page.

I also use my Gray Slab Creamery action for real dodging and burning, but usually for repairing skin at high magnification. The Paint With Light is more versatile and easier to get good results. I use Paint With Light to make people's body appear differently without liquifying, which can sometimes create bigger problems. You can give a slight breast augmentation by painting light on top of breasts and painting dark between and below. That should you pervs something to experiment with. Have fun.