Would appreciate some feedback from you pros out there

[jneil2]

Here is the latest one I have been working on,


BEFORE:
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u238/jneil2/CoxD19_5205x7.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>


AFTER:
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u238/jneil2/CoxD19_5205x71SoFar.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

This is the first time I have tried this, hope you can see the pictures!!

Jan

[jneil2]

Trying again--

BEFORE:



AFTER:


I am going to the gym now to work off my frustration!

Jan

[jneil2]

I think this is the ticket--

Had a tough time with the drapes---


BEFORE:



AFTER:

[Hannie]

Hi Jan,

What a great job you have done with the curtains!  A little shadow on top might give the photo back some depth? (or was it damage, hard to see here)
At the risk of sounding picky I have one question about the chair, it looks like an open armed chair in the original.  Is there a reason that you made the side solid?
It is a great picture, the poor girl seems terrified of Santa though... :huh:

Hannie

[jneil2]

Hi Hannie,

I will add some shadow to the drapes.

The chair?  I struggled so long with it, couldn't tell if the shadow underneath the armrest was his belt? or water damage?  I will keep playing around with it.

This one has special meaning for me.  I photographed it while in Biloxi, and met the nice lady who is now about 60.

Thanks for your remarks  It helps.

Jan

[Ratz]

I'd go with the opened-arm chair also Jan I think it's santas leg showing through,
the curtains lokk great.

[Tess (Tassie D)]

I could be wrong but I think the spots on the curtains and the girls jacket are damage.

[schen]

I agree with Tassie that the "infamous" white dots are over the curtain, girl and Santa's hair/mustache/beard.

I don't see damage at the lower left corner except the haze of reflection.  Under the chair arm, I see from the right hand side, girl's left leg, Santa's left leg, girl's right leg, then Santa's right leg.

What a terrifying experience being held by a complete stranger.   :D

[rockthumper]

The photos you posted have a lot of jpeg pixelation - I'm guessing that's from the way you reduced their size for posting? You may need to look at your jpeg compression options if you're saving your intermediate work as jpg files.
Regarding the 'After' photo: Santa's hat and beard are looking a little blown out - you might need to change the way you increased the contrast in the picture. As to the white dots I'm starting to think they are all damage, at first I thought it was some kind of sparkle effect from the curtains, but they cover Santa's beard and the girl's coat as well. The middle drape behind the girl's hat shows a lot of clone trails and the white dots need to go. I agree with the others about the open arm of the chair - what I see is Santa's belt, leg and chair seat all crossed by a shadow of the chair arm.
I think the girl is sitting astride Santa's left leg and her right leg (knee mostly) is visible in the original so I'd suggest you keep that in the restoration.
Hope that helps.  :)
RT.

[glennab]

Hi Jan

I'm posting a copy of your original with indications of what I think is at the bottom of the photo.  I ran an auto levels on it, and quite a bit popped out.



I also think that the white spots are damage.  I noticed that in your work-in-progress there's a lot of obvious cloning in the drapes.  I'd suggest finding a spot that looks original and try to use the heal or patch tool to get a decent sized repaired area from which to work, then continue to hide the obvious patterns.

Isn't it amazing how attached we've become to these people?  After the run, they feel like family even more than do the folks we haven't met.  I'm glad to see you back on the forum.

Hugs!

Glenna

[jneil2]

Here is my latest--Then I go back to the drawing board on the drapes....Thanks, Glenna!




RT - I am puzzled over the pixelation...I just saved the file as a JPEG, at maximum for upload to Photo Bucket.  My working file is still a .PSD with layers....

I need to work on my cloning skills, that's for sure.  Maybe I will give it a rest for now, and go pour myself a glass of wine......

Jan

[rockthumper]

RT - I am puzzled over the pixelation...I just saved the file as a JPEG, at maximum for upload to Photo Bucket.  My working file is still a .PSD with layers....

At maximum what? Compression? If so that's what causes the pixelation (I may not be using the correct term here - the jpeg 'boxes' is what I'm talking about.)
What I get when I download it is a file 138KB in size which opens to an image 343x480 pixels. According to the resolution this makes the photo 1.1x1.6 inches. Was the original that small?
Your working file will be fine.
RT.

[Charlene5]

Jan are you desaturating this image before you work on it?  I find that sepia tone impossible to work with.  Put the picture to grayscale and put the sepia back when you're done.

I vote for white dot damage.  Just for giggles I downloaded your original, desaturated it, and had a very good result using the spot healing brush on those damn dots.  Match the size of the brush to the size of the dot and sort of dab at the dot, don't paint.

MJ who is going back to bed now.

[jneil2]

Charlene,

Thanks for reminding me about desaturating the image first.  I did it, you were right, it was so much easier to work on. 

Jan