DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Please help with this Christmas picture!
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 19 of 19, (reverse)
AuthorThread
12/07/2013 07:14:03 PM · #1
I REALLY like this picture and want to use it for a christmas card. But, there's an out of focus reed straight through the center of the face that's slightly blurring the nose and half the eyes. Can it be saved? What steps would you take to salvage it? Thank you.

SOOC...


xmas-photos-field-6866-PRINT by kevingeary, on Flickr
12/07/2013 07:24:22 PM · #2
Had you not pointed it out, I'm not sure I would have noticed. Because it's such a subtle flaw, I think it's salvageable.

If it were me, I'd start by trying to take the green color tint out of the reed using a really fuzzy mask or something. Then I'd just burn the blacks/greys edges slightly in the affected area.
12/07/2013 07:34:09 PM · #3
Get rid of it on the black shirt, and increase the contrast on her right eye some.. (left eye in the photo)
12/07/2013 07:54:35 PM · #4
It's part of this photo's charm. Don't change a thing.
12/07/2013 08:10:01 PM · #5
I'm with brother bvy, I think, because I really did not notice the blur, but merely took in that she was coming towards me through the grasses how sweet.
12/07/2013 08:25:43 PM · #6
I think for the nose I would just clone the good nostril over to the blurred one and same could be done for the blur in the eye since it looks like the edge has a slight blur. If you do that I bet no one would even notice a blur.

Edit to add, I agree with Bvy, makes a nice card the way it is!

Message edited by author 2013-12-07 20:29:51.
12/07/2013 08:25:52 PM · #7
I have to admit, I pulled the image from flickr over to CS6, and without a lot of clone work, that right side of her face(left in the photo) is going to require a lot more work. UNLESS your aren't going to print very big. It's such a shame too, because it would make a nice big print.

Matt
12/07/2013 08:31:48 PM · #8
She looks beautiful to me, Kevin.
12/07/2013 08:45:07 PM · #9


I gave it a go, you should be able to download the original edited version here if you wish.

Matt

Message edited by author 2013-12-07 20:47:10.
12/08/2013 10:46:04 AM · #10
I decided I like this photo enough to really spend the time on it, even though she's missing a right hand (kids!). I'm gonna transplant some eyes, nostrils, etc and do a bunch of work to clean this up. I was hoping there might be a quicker fix and I know a lot of you like it the way it is but it drives my brain nuts. I'll post the final when I'm done with it. Thanks for the feedback.
12/08/2013 11:29:01 AM · #11
I have to agree and say I don't think the blurred areas are a problem but this is what I would do if it was mine. cloned the eye and part of nose as well as the shirt. I tried cloning the hand but it looked awkward and I don't think it is an issue as is. After that I did my normal editing. I think what ever you come up with will be beautiful.

12/08/2013 11:44:35 AM · #12
Will repost.

Message edited by author 2013-12-08 11:53:01.
12/08/2013 11:53:30 AM · #13
Looks pretty freaking amazing to me. :)
12/08/2013 11:55:23 AM · #14
Okay, here is the final edit I finished with.


NoelleXmasEdited by kevingeary, on Flickr
12/08/2013 12:19:07 PM · #15
You are a wonderful photographer and also very very skilled in using software to improve your work.

Oh and the child is adorable.
12/08/2013 12:38:53 PM · #16
Very nicely done, Kev.
12/08/2013 12:58:52 PM · #17
Thank you -- I'm happy with the way it came out and glad I did the work because I learned a couple new things during the process.
12/08/2013 01:00:14 PM · #18
Originally posted by kgeary:

Thank you -- I'm happy with the way it came out and glad I did the work because I learned a couple new things during the process.


What were those things, if you don't mind me asking.
12/08/2013 01:36:17 PM · #19
Originally posted by aliqui:

Originally posted by kgeary:

Thank you -- I'm happy with the way it came out and glad I did the work because I learned a couple new things during the process.


What were those things, if you don't mind me asking.


New stuff I haven't really done before...

I've never had to create a fake shadow before -- the nose shadow from the tip up to the eye is fake. The reed caused the nose to have zero definition.

I also found that I didn't have to clone any part of the camera left eye to fix it. I used selective contrast, sharpening and a few curves adjustments to restore definition to the blurred eye. Then i had to lighten the camera right eye to match the brightness of the left.

Stuff I've done before but good FYI...

I did have to clone the camera right nostril and flip it to fix the left side.

Also hard to tell but if you look close at original she has a pink cast on her chin and cheek that I removed by painting her skin tone over it and using color blend mode to even out that skin tone.

I also hand colored the reeds in the back (the brown ones) to create another layer of color in the photo. In this version you can see the edge a little too much at the bottom of the coloration. That's fixed in the final-final as I added a slight gaussian blur there.

A lot of dodging and burning.

Cloned out the giant distracting reed camera left.

Muted the greens in the grass.

Added a few curves color adjustments and then applied some only to the highlights and others to the shadows with blend-if.

The settings:

70-200 F4 @ F4, 160, ISO400 (I think) and a LP160 in an umbrella gelled 1/2 CTO camera right with a moving lightstand.

Message edited by author 2013-12-08 13:39:09.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 09:46:52 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 09:46:52 PM EDT.