Dilemma about eyes

[paula]

I'm finished with this photograph thanks to milanab who identified the uniform for me and to Kenny for finding the hat.  I haven't uploaded it yet because of the eyes.  As you can see in the original, the eyes aren't visible.  I was able to create some eyes and they look okay to me but I have no way of knowing if they look at all like his.  If the eyes are totally off then the entire face is off and the owner won't really have his picture restored. 

Has this come up before?  For some reason I haven't come across this problem before and I am not sure what to do.  What do you guys think?
Paula

[havril]

Hi Paula
Very nice job. As far as the eyes are concerned  I think there is just about enough detail of the left eye in the original  pic. If you then convert the picture to CMYK there is detail in the yellow channel of the right eye.

harvey

[paula]

I've tried.  I have spent days trying everything I know to pull some eyes out of there but there just isn't enough information to work with.  What I really want to know is how this should be handled policy wise.  It has and will continue to come up as we scrape the bottom of the difficult barrel.  Think about it:  every picture in there is one that you didn't want before. Yikes :D

[paula]

Hold on.  I just took another look and you may be right.  I think I see more than I have previously :up:.  Let me dive back into his eyeballs and I let you know.  And thanks.

[paula]

The first picture has the eyes I was able to see when I split the CMYK channels.  It looks okay but actually it's only the iris that I could see so the lid and the shape of the eye are mostly invented.   Should I send it on?

[Kenny]

Paula, first of all let me say it looks fantastic!  :up:

I'm not a pro, but I do a lot of headswaps and add extra things into pics for photoshop contests on another site.
To me, it looks like the cords hanging in front of the flag need just a little more work. If it were me, I would apply a gaussian blur to the cord and the blue star field. About .05 - 1  pixels or so would make it blend into the background with the rest of the flag. The cap looks great, but the shading seems a little off to me. There is more shadow on the left side of his face than on the right, so I would probably use the burn tool and darken that side of the cap to match the lighting. Also, the cord needs just a slight drop shadow and just a slight one on his forehead below the cap brim would make it more realistic IMO.

Just nitpicky things, really, but I think it would add that final touch to it. If you look at the original, the cap brim sticks out far enough that it slightly shades the eyes, I think that would help with the eye issue as well.


Just my thoughts...

Kenny  :D

[glennab]

Hey Paula

I think I'd soften his eyes a bit either with grain or with a slight blur.  The only other thing I'd revisit would be at the right side of his mouth.  The crease that was there is missing, and it appears that part of his mouth is missing from that side as well.

Otherwise, it's one of your usual masterpieces.

GG

[paula]

I see what both of you mean.  It's amazing what you "don't" see when you have been staring at a picture for so long.  Thanks for taking the time to comment.  I'll make those corrections. :wnw:

[paula]

[milanab]

kenny you don't know nit picky haha, the thing that i see is something my dad drilled into me.  i think you have done a tremendous job on this but the first thing that stood out to me was that the hat badge is slightly too far to the right.  my dad to this day wears a cap that each time he puts it on he puts that hand up to it to make sure it is set perfectly centered up.he was discharged in 1955 when i was born  :)  in the original you can see the badge is directly in line with his nose, can that be corrected?  he said that was drilled into them in the Air Force , you weren't properly uniformed if your hat was crooked..in this case the hat is straight just a smidge off on the badge.  wonderful work though

[Kenny]

Much, much better IMO  :up:

I see what milanab is talking about on the hat badge. I may have a possible solution that wouldnt take much to do. I took the png of the cap I gave you earlier and flipped it, moving the badge over to the right and also correcting the shading issue. I then flipped the badge back so it's not backwards:




See if that works for you.


Kenny

[paula]

I saw that too but pretended I didn't. :cool:  Is this better?

[milanab]

ah my dad would be proud!! :up:

[Kenny]

hehe, yes, much better!  :up:

I was like you, I saw it but pretended I didn't. As a former soldier I can tell you that "the gig line" had better be straight or you'll catch hell from your sergeant. ;D

[milanab]

kenny you feeling better today??