how do I make a photo look like this:

Hi there! I'm sorry this is sort of vague.. but I have been seeing pictures like this and am dying to know how it's done.. I know my way around photoshop fairly well but am used to seeing more vivid and contrasty pictures after being edited in photoshop. I am wondering how this effect is achieved in the pictures underneath. Very soft and 'pretty' and almost antique or vintage looking.. skin very soft and almost a pinkish or yellow hue it looks like? But still very clear. I am wondering if you take a picture with neutral settings, how would you edit this picture to give it this sort of look. If you could even put before and after, that would be great. Thank you so much to anyone who replies.








Also.. if anyone had any tips or tricks for a very quick way to soften skin without spending 20 minutes, would be muuuch appreciated!

bump, i wish i could help... but i'm wondering the same thing. i love that antique-esque look to photos.

I think it's just a matter of taking photos at f2.8 so the background is blurred, tinting the photo and decreasing the saturation a bit. Nothing too fancy really.

Some nice tinting tutorials you can find here:
http://rocketlaunch.deviantart.com/gallery/

Basically you add a lot of adjustment layers, channel mixers, color balance etc. etc.