Not sure if this Easy or Moderate, & Questions

[SweetSam]

I'm not sure whether to consider this easy or moderate. At first glance, it looked every easy, but has been a lot of work (time wise, I feel), and most of the "dirt" (if that's what it is) is on the people. There's quite a bit of it!

OK, so is it easy, or moderate?

Original


1st attempt ...notice pinkish and glaring white casts


I am posting three versions, the first being the original. I am now working on my 2nd attempt. When I did my first one, I had gotten quite a lot done, but I wasn't sure I liked how it was coming out. I was very frustrated — there was this pinkish shine on the skin, especially on the boy and on the woman. I looked at the original again, and realized that my adjustments to the color had created those colorcasts which were NOT on the original (I had thought they were)! It also did strange things to the white of the boy's shirt. I found that what I had done in setting the white & dark points as I had first done were making those glaring "shines" or halos that messed things up, and made it very difficult & confusing to clean up the photo! And this looks A LOT WORSE on the High Res version I was working on!!

So I decided to go back to the original, & do a visual adjustment using levels (which I'm more familiar with than curves), and then adjusted the saturation down, instead of setting an adjustment using the white & black points .


Here's my latest attempt, using only a visually adjusted layer, and a "healing brush" layer and top of it which I created. I was frustrated that I had to start over, but I'm very glad now that I did.

New one ...Much better.


I'm working on the people, from left to right. I feel I'm almost done cleaning up the man's skin and clothing, and am moving on to the right, and will fix up the boy next.

Here are my questions. There are on some skin areas near the man's temples and a bit on his forehead, which look like possibly "age spots" or natural skin discoloration. I'm not sure if that's what they are & feel maybe I should leave them but I am not completely sure.

What does anyone think about this?

Also, the background — should I try and replace it with a simple gradient, or just clean it up and figure it is a patterned wallpaper or something? I can see that it has dirt on it, too, but I'm not sure if the white "blotches" are water damage or part of a texture that's supposed to be there. Other channels & color modes don't tell much different.

Thanks!

[Ausimax]

Hi Sam,

Your latest version is looking great, the colours are much more natural, as for the background it would probably be better to just clean up and blend what is there, a gradient with a cloud filter would be OK, BUT, you then have the task of making a good selection around all that wispy hair and making it all look natural.

Max

[SweetSam]

I think you are right about the background, Max. Thanks!

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Great job on it. I like the second version better as well, much more natural. I'd go with the original background too, it should clean up well.

[klassylady25]

The thoughts of the others are on the mark.  The second is much better in coloration.   As you work on things you'll find that the marks that were left by Katrina will disappear too.   I find that when I use the clone, I adjust the fill and it's not as harsh.  Play around with it and you might find a new way too.

They are looking very good.

:up2:

[Johnboy]

Hi Sam,

I definitely like the second version the best. I think your background is a standard portrait background and has that varied look. So it is not all damage. The color cast above the woman's head I would take to be damage. I do note that what ever you did on adjusting the color on the first version did a decent job on minimizing the color cast over her head. You might want to select the back ground and use the color correction technique from the first version on that selection. The magnetic lasso might help in getting around the hair. Then do any repairs on the background with the Patch tool. I have only done a couple of restorations but that tool has really been my main repair tool. Work in small areas and then select a larger area, if needed, to help blend the patches. Also check the History palette to be sure you haven't made the situation worse. I have done that a few times and gone back to an earlier history version and started again. Keep going your a headed in the right direction.

JB

[SweetSam]

I think I'm finally done. I've gotten really busy with more freelance work (Yay!), my day job, and my teenage daughter! I have been working on this a bit at a time, between everything else.

This took a lot of time, even tho' it was all healing brush, almost! I used it mostly on "normal" and sometimes on "replace", but there were a lot of spots! I am glad I started over. I'm sure I've learned a lot more about how to use this tool, in working on this photo.

Here it is. I do think it's ready to be sent to the owners.


There are a few little areas I was unsure about, and I don't know if any of us can know for sure. You can see them better if you can zoom in. On the one that I've posted further below, I circled the questionable areas. On the woman's right shoulder (our left), is that a pin (circled in red), or a damaged area? I thought it looked too regularly shaped to be damage.

Also, the man has some spots on his head, with look like skin spots and not damage. Should I take them out, or not? I've circled the most prominent ones.



So, how do I "send it home"? Should I send a flattened TIFF file, or convert it to a JPEG to send? Where do I find the information about the procedure, if there is one?

Thanks

[glennab]

Hi Sam

Wonderful job!  My opinion on your questions:  I'd leave the discolorations on the man's head.  I think they're age spots rather than damage.  The white item on the woman's jacket looks to me like damage only because it's so far out on her lapel.  I'd think a pin would be centered.

To upload your image (and I'd flatten it and make it a high-quality jpeg; be sure to keep the original name but you can add "done" or "finished" to it) go to PhotoShelter and log in.  At the upper right, second item in on the menu is Upload to PhotoShelter MU.  Click on that and you'll be at the upload page.   Pull down Select Organization to OPR, leave the photographer pull-down blank, add a comment to identify the image, then click on browse, which will take you to your computer where you can locate the image and upload it.  Depending on your computer it might take a minute or so.  PhotoShelter will let you know when the upload is successful.

I'd recommend that you e-mail Chris or Paula to let them know you've uploaded the image and verify that it went through.

Again, great work.

Glenna

[SweetSam]

Thank You, Glenna. I'll take out the whatever that is on the woman's shoulder & send it in!