What else?

[jaem]

Hi everyone. Bambi suggested I post this one here on the forums and get some suggestions. I think it's almost done, but does anyone have any ideas on how I can make it better?

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Edited:

[Hannie]

Jennifer,  this photo was almost beyond repair and you have done a great job so far!
What if you soften the harsh outlines of the repairs so they match the rest of the soft focus?
After that you may even do a very low overall Gaussian blur but leave out eyes, mouth and nose.

Hannie

[jaem]

Ah, thanks! That looks really good. I'll do that.

Also, in case anyone is interested, the only way I was able to get rid of all the ugly white streaks and spots was with the Tonal Contrast filter in the Nikon Color Efex Pro plug-in for Photoshop. That is a very useful tool.

[bjtx]

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Also, in case anyone is interested, the only way I was able to get rid of all the ugly white streaks and spots was with the Tonal Contrast filter in the Nikon Color Efex Pro plug-in for Photoshop. That is a very useful tool.

Thanks so much for your tip.  NAPP instructors & others have good things to say about the plug-in.  I've been waiting for a practical reason to download it. 

There is a 15% discount available on Mark Johnson Photography site -
http://www.msjphotography.com/index.php/discounts/

BJ

[Angie]

There is a 15% discount available on Mark Johnson Photography site -
http://www.msjphotography.com/index.php/discounts/

Thanks for sharing the discount code!

[Earl53]

I see the boys left eye is damaged and I wondered if you took the rectangle marquee tool and drew a square over the good eye copied and pasted then flipped the layer horizontal if you could then replace that eye with the good one by rotating and placing over the eye then erase what's not needed before collapsing the layers.

Paul

[Bambi]

I highly discourage flipping eyes. It seems like it should work, but the results invariably show that human faces are asymmetrical. And unless the pupils are exactly in the middle, the person can look cross-eyed. If the eyes have any definition and detail, the catch lights will be wrong and the eyes' attention will go off in different directions.

Try it on a picture of someone you know and you'll see the difference even better.

I keep reminding myself: these photographs are the records of a family's memories. The prints we send them will be how they remember those faces from now on.

I would enlarge it as far as possible and carefully repair each tiny spot with the Cloning Stamp or Spot Healing Brush. It will still be a little lighter than the other eye, so I would darken it slightly on a new layer set to Soft Light. Set your Brush to Normal, 22% Opacity and 22% Flow. Carefully brush over the detail until it matches.

Bambi