On the beach

[Shadow]

Hi all. This is the newest. Did the color correction. Used the Diff method to get the gray point and set it with a Levels layer. Followed with a Curves layer for the Black/White points and tweaked the gray point a bit. I selected the inner portion of the image to exclude the damaged area from the correction. Pretty sure there will be another tweak after the damaged areas are replaced. For the sand - plan to copy/jump to new layer etc. Anyone have ideas for the top? I can see 2 cars but don't have a feel for what else goes across the top ... all ideas and suggestions welcome!! Thx gang.

[Lynnya]

Color looks good Lyn.. others may disagree but I think I'd be tempted to take the sand all the way out to the edges.. repair as much of it as you can and then keep jumping it..hide it and paint back in...not much else you can do methinks...

[Shadow]

Thanks Lynn. I was thinking the same thing about taking the sand to the edges. Will give it a go and you can see what you think.  ^-^

[Shadow]

How does this look? Think I need to work on his upper arm some more ... looks worse here than in PS. Hmm?

[Mhayes]

Shadow, it's looking very good. I would bring the shadow out and across on front on the woman's chair. Also, more shadow added for the man and chair. I would also add some different shaded to the sand and also to have some dots like what is in the middle to look like small pebbles.

Margie

[Shadow]

Thanks for the input Margie! Is this more realistic? How can I improve the shadows? Thanks.

[Mhayes]

Shadow, much better. I would maybe darken the sand around them--not a shadow just darker. That will help so that they don't look like they are floating.

[Shadow]

Still not looking right. Darkened the sand ... now maybe too dark? Any suggestions? Thanks gang.

[Tori803]

It does look a little too dark, like it was burned in too much. Maybe just half as much?

[Shadow]

Thank you Tori for your feedback. Am going to redo that and see if I can improve it. Maybe add something back at the top to anchor them like in the original.

[Shadow]

Oh my, I am going to need time on a beach by the time I get this fixed!   ::)
So, this go round I added a gradient black to transparent and then reduced the opacity of that layer. I added another layer with the gradient reversed and then lowered that opacity. I added a concrete texture to the sand and masked it into areas that looked off.  :wow:  Fresh eyes and ALL ideas/feedback welcome!

[Lynnya]

Shadow that looks really good to me... the extra work really took it to the top.. :up:

[Shadow]

Thanks Lynn. Your tip to sample the color of the sand, make a new layer and then paint over the damage really helped with the healing, cloning and copy/pasting that followed. Next time we are at the beach we are taking extra pics with OPR in mind!  ;D 

[Lynnya]

Always!! lol... trees and stuff too..

[Mhayes]

Looks great Shadow and great tips as well!

Margie