Help - please! Can't fix a picture.. argh!

DrDavid

I took the following picture, but as you can see there are issues with it... Specifically, I really want to remove the flash reflection to the right side of the left-hand person, and the blue Haze filter reflection (argh!) from the (very busy) jacket of the right-hand person.

I've tried for a LONG time to get it to look right, and I just can't do it Can any photoshop wizard help me help myself? I've tried patch, heal, and a bunch of other things, but, I can't ever get it to look good.. It always looks 'edited'.




The original (available for download) is here:
http://drdavid.smugmug.com/gallery/4136769#241382321

The REALLY, REALLY original image, with **NOTHING** done, not even White balance (basically, straight from RAW) is here:
http://drdavid.smugmug.com/gallery/4136769#241384650

I'd REALLY appreciate any help!

Shudderz

I'm Game
I love a challenge. I'm pretty good at photoshop too.

DrDavid

Shudderz wrote:

I love a challenge. I'm pretty good at photoshop too.

Shudderz

give me til tomorrow.....11:30 PM here, going to bed. I'll work on it first thing in the morning.

Sam

Ok, here is a quick try at it.

Sam

pyrtek

Scott_Quier

Nice job Sam. I'm guessing it was a pretty simple job of clone tool. Like the increased contrast boost and exposure correction as well.

jdfaith

You may want to straighten or crop a liitle tighter, too. I find the "crooked" frames behind the gentlemen to be distracting.

Great job getting rid of the flash blowout!

DrDavid

That's amazing guys.. I should have posted my try too, but I was frustrated already, and obviously not thinking clearly.. It was my attempt at healing, etc. the image. I guess I'm just being a perfectionist--the person I did the shoot for is a client that gives me a lot of business in my real life (Computer Systems Engineer), so I wanted it to look PERFECT (and of course, none of the images of these two people came out 'perfect'... <sigh>)

I had resized the image to 4x6 (for what she ordered, then, did an 'ok' (in my opinion) of fixing the image. But, I shouldn't have done the resize--I was being dumb <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/headscratch.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" > I think it was just frustration... lol

Anyways, here was *my* attempt before I posted this (which is useless, because I screwed up by changing the image size and not reverting to the original before working on it):


But, that edit took me FOREVER to get right (and, of course I screwed up by changing the image size and forgetting to reset it.. argh.. lol)

I learned an important lesson here though: 1) You guys are amazing! 2) If I'm getting really frustrated in Photoshop, leave it till morning, and 3) DON'T RESIZE THE DAMN IMAGE before you spend an hour trying to heal the jacket.. <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/Laughing.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >

Sam/Pyrtek - what did you use to get rid of the lens flare on the jacket? I always found that I ended up with coarse edges where the pattern didn't quite meet up. Or, is this really a case of it'll never be PERFECT, and I just have to live with the fact that I should have done a better job with flash bounce? What bugs me is that I was using a filter and flash diffuser! I guess I was just at the exact perfect angle to create this problem... It wasn't a direct flash at all (even though it looks like it!).

Actually.. What I really learned was to not put up this image in the first place for her to see! But, I had precious few photos with the two men together (only). <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/Laughing.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >

Feel free to whip and beat me to a pulp. I deserve it.. :smack

DrDavid

jdfaith wrote:

You may want to straighten or crop a liitle tighter, too. I find the "crooked" frames behind the gentlemen to be distracting.

Great job getting rid of the flash blowout!

That was on my list of fixes to straighten it out a bit... I personally like tight crops. I try to get the eyes at close to the 1/3 line as possible without it looking too forced.

David

Shudderz

good morning
ok, I know two have already posted, but if I don't post it then I've done it all for nothing....lol

The Original size file is HERE for you if you want/need it.
Have a great day.



Close up before and afters:

snowfairy

Awesome edits guys!

DrDavid

Shudderz wrote:

ok, I know two have already posted, but if I don't post it then I've done it all for nothing....lol

OMG that's an amazing edit job. Can you share how you did it? You even got the damn jacket pattern to match! I'm in awe..

David

DrDavid

DrDavid wrote:

OMG that's an amazing edit job. Can you share how you did it? You even got the damn jacket pattern to match! I'm in awe..

David

Just ran it through i2e, and it is simply amazing. It just pops. It's a gorgeous picture!

You're in SoCal too; if you ever need anything, just let me know! I'm in your debt..

Shudderz

DrDavid wrote:

OMG that's an amazing edit job. Can you share how you did it? You even got the damn jacket pattern to match! I'm in awe..

David

ok, a have a few minutes til I take off for the day...

lots of layers.....gotta love layers!

I love the elliptical marquee and the feather setting, helps edits to blend in with the original....selected the flared area of the jacket, made new layer with it and desaturated it...got rid of the blue tone to it. Did some healing/cloning of the pattern, little pieces at a time. With the healing brush selecting a spot on the "grid" pattern, then moving the curser down only a bit, matching my destination to the sourse as closely as possible. More layers, messing with levels to get it to match.

For the flash reflection....first step was a new layer..always make a new layer before you mess with things. Actually I made two, and on one I adusted the layer's levels so that almost everything but the blown spot on the frame was dark/black. From there was able to select the blown spot to start working on it. Never used the dark layer again. Used the healing brush to select an area lower in the art on the wall to heal the area to match the rest.

The reflection also made a spot above/on his eyebrow to kind of blow out. I actually selected his other eye and eyebrow, made a new layer out of it...mirrored it, then went into the lens correction filter and warped it a bit to match where his eyebrow would have been. It was the only way to recover details for the eyebrow. The original didn't have enough detail there to "fix" Took a small selection from lower on his cheek to recreate the edge of his face.

Again, another layer created by selecting the area (elliptical marquee tool) on his face a bit discolored by the flash reflection. Messed with color balance/levels to fix color/saturation etc.

All the layers then get adjusted for opacity to get it all to blend well. Finishing touches, adjusted levels of image as a whole, then cropped it a bit to straighten it out.

OK, I think I may have rambled. Probably forgot a few steps here and there, but lots of layers, lots of little steps.

Glad I could be of help. I'm actually in Central CA...but just down here for a few days with hubby while he's at a conference. And now, I'm off to Disneyland..me and my camera. JUST me and my camera. No hubby or kids to pry me this way and that way. If I want to stand and take 100 pictures of the castle, I can.....woohoo.

Have a great day, if you have any other questions about the editing let me know.

Shudderz

ok, now after reading my steps and looking back, I need to fix one other thing...I took too much color out of the button.....I'll replace the photo once it's fixed and send you a PM...sorry

DrDavid

Shudderz wrote:

ok, now after reading my steps and looking back, I need to fix one other thing...I took too much color out of the button.....I'll replace the photo once it's fixed and send you a PM...sorry

I would have *never* noticed the button color had you not said anything!

Shudderz

Shudderz wrote:

ok, now after reading my steps and looking back, I need to fix one other thing...I took too much color out of the button.....I'll replace the photo once it's fixed and send you a PM...sorry

Fixed!!