Definitely younger, but IMO a bit too much (although I admit that I tend to err on the side of less rather than more, so ymmv, just my opinion, take with grain of salt etc etc etc)
Have you tried using the patching tool? I had good luck with that when I was playing around with this recently on my first batch of self portraits - i have horrible hereditary dark circles under my eyes, but I don't like it to look too unnatural, so I played around with different things to try and find a compromise I liked. I used the patching tool on a second layer, and then adjusted the opacity of the layer so that more of the original facial texture shone through; it masked things enough that it looked way better, but kept some of the "character" lines and contours as well.
As I say, take with large grain of salt - I'm no expert, but just learning myself!
I do agree with Divamum that a bit too much was erased, especially around the eyes, though I would not have noticed without having seen the original.
I always use the healing brush, patch tool or clone stamp on a separate layer.
I do one set of fixes for everything that I want to disappear (temporary "spots," for example) then, if I am happy with that, I merge the layers.
I use a new layer for fixes that I think I may want to dial back in a bit. Smile lines, area around the eyes - the sorts of features that give faces their character. I remove them entirely on the layer then lower the layer's opacity in order to show enough of the original features to keep the character of the subject. I use a separate layer for each area of the face because the amount of the original I want to show varies with the feature (bags under the eyes versus deep smile lines, for example).
Hope I am making sense and that this helps.
Virginia
_______________________________________________ "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know." Diane Arbus
Comments
The new and improved Donnie
Have you tried using the patching tool? I had good luck with that when I was playing around with this recently on my first batch of self portraits - i have horrible hereditary dark circles under my eyes, but I don't like it to look too unnatural, so I played around with different things to try and find a compromise I liked. I used the patching tool on a second layer, and then adjusted the opacity of the layer so that more of the original facial texture shone through; it masked things enough that it looked way better, but kept some of the "character" lines and contours as well.
As I say, take with large grain of salt - I'm no expert, but just learning myself!
You did a nice job on your subject.
I do agree with Divamum that a bit too much was erased, especially around the eyes, though I would not have noticed without having seen the original.
I always use the healing brush, patch tool or clone stamp on a separate layer.
I do one set of fixes for everything that I want to disappear (temporary "spots," for example) then, if I am happy with that, I merge the layers.
I use a new layer for fixes that I think I may want to dial back in a bit. Smile lines, area around the eyes - the sorts of features that give faces their character. I remove them entirely on the layer then lower the layer's opacity in order to show enough of the original features to keep the character of the subject. I use a separate layer for each area of the face because the amount of the original I want to show varies with the feature (bags under the eyes versus deep smile lines, for example).
Hope I am making sense and that this helps.
Virginia
"A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know." Diane Arbus
Email