I think this will be tricky... but I love the image...
Help with color correction hints greatly appreciated...original below has a yellow cast
(https://photos.smugmug.com/All-Unlisted-Galleries/Margies-Gallery/i-nVg9xbF/0/L/BlumM_26_25_4x6-L.jpg)
my correction seems a bit blueish??
(https://photos.smugmug.com/All-Unlisted-Galleries/Margies-Gallery/i-N22VfqT/0/L/colordog-L.jpg)
Phew.. this is not an easy one....
(https://photos.smugmug.com/All-Unlisted-Galleries/Margies-Gallery/i-M9dskLN/0/L/BlumM_26_25_4x6final-L.jpg)
Lynn,
I think your color correction looks pretty good. Where the dog's side touches the girl needs to have that purple color removed. The faces and arms have places where the pigment has got messed up. This will keep you busy with the damage alone.
One thing before you upload back, change the color profile to sRGB as it was one of those in the galleries as Adobe. All you need to do is go up into the edit menu and change the color space. I say all, but I really don't know your software
Margie.
Hi Lynn,
The problem with blotchy pigment Margie mentioned can always be an issue. Adding a temporary levels layer with the mid adjustment set to 1.2/1.3 can help making the blotchyness more visible.
You might like to try the following,. It makes the image look extreme, the colour is a complete mess but shows blotchyness clearly and highlights texture inconsistencies. The advantage is that by restricting your tools to the image layer you are able to make accurate clone stamp and healing brush adjustments and see their result.
First add a curve layer and modify the curve to something like shown. Save and label zig zag.
Between the image and the curve layer add a levels layer and set the mid adjustment to something like 1.2/3 You are looking to get different areas to show their texture and can change this adjustment during the repair to suit the area you are working on.
I have done this with your WIP, the first with the curve only and the second with the levels layer added.
Both clearly show the issue Margie mentioned with the girl's skin and that there are areas like eyes etc that are pixelated and could do with some softening.
Hope this helps, it is a bit of a shock to start but it shows things which are otherwise easy to miss and worth persisting with.
Athol
(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s145/atholg/zz%202_zpskijy9vxd.jpg) (http://s151.photobucket.com/user/atholg/media/zz%202_zpskijy9vxd.jpg.html)
(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s145/atholg/zz%201_zpscpifqyql.jpg) (http://s151.photobucket.com/user/atholg/media/zz%201_zpscpifqyql.jpg.html)
Athol thanks for posting your "zigzag' tip, you told us about that years ago and I forgot all about it!
A handy tool for spotting damage and easy to use.
Hannie
Thanks Athol will work on that later. I found this image rather challenging to say the least.. I can see the blotchy skin more in the upload to the forum.. Now I just need to figure out how to fix it without ending up with plastic people :) I always have a lot of trouble with skin..
Lynn, Great work so far! Good luck on the skin. (I too find it challenging.)
Athol ... very cool tip! It is going right in the Tip Notebook. :up:
Lyn
Thanks Lyn... I'm lousy at skin..hoping someone will give me some more tips :) by the way did you figure out the fft filter thingy?
Well... Athol's tip is a really really good tool... maybe if I'd used it from the onset I might have gotton a better result.. I tried cloning and things got worse so I ended up blurring the skin watching Athol's zigzag tool .. I'll definitely use that in future.. works really well. I think I'm digging myself into a hole at this point .. perhaps I should go back to when I started on the skin.. this one may have eluded me :cool: this is my WIP at this point.. I'm not happy with it but if anyone has any more tips I'd love to hear them.. thanks all and thanks again Athol.
(https://photos.smugmug.com/All-Unlisted-Galleries/Margies-Gallery/i-QTT6SmQ/0/L/wip-L.jpg)
When I get that plastic skin look happening, I usually add a soft light layer, fill with 50% gray, add a noise filter, then mask out everything except the skin. The amount on the noise filter depends on the rest of the image. I try to match the surroundings.
Thanks Beth.. I did add some noise also some grain... I'll try your way...😃
Hi Lynn,
Your image is coming along. I see what you mean with the skin. Did Beth's suggestions help?
Admire your courage!
On the FFT filter ... yes thanks to Hannie.
Hang in there ... Shadow and I are sure you will make it look good.
Lyn
Great post and love the zigzag tutorial and will try out. One thing I do now is have a folder for when I bookmark something it goes into a folder called OPR Forum. That way with time I can find it easier.
Margie
Glad you found the technique useful Lynnya, it looks much better. I apply the layers to all of my restorations, it can be a help in locating subtle damage or as a final check that texture is consistent and there are no sharp transitions left from my repairs.
A couple of other thoughts.
Plastic skin as a result of blurring is a pain and I find it difficult too get a good match with software generated noise. The zig zag approach will often allow you to find a similar and undamaged area and the healing brush will allow you transfer its texture to the blurred area. My fall back is an image of concrete to use as texture but don't tell Margie. ;)
A tip using FFT is to enlarge the canvas 20% and fill with 50% grey before using it. FFT can work poorly towards the edge of an image so the extension will prevent that.
And so to bed
Athol
Have been using the Spot Healing brush so much that I forgot about the good old Healing brush (without the Spot). Thanks for the tip Athol!
Set the brush to luminosity mode and sample texture from good areas, it is a miracle! :)
A miracle?... oh yeay.. just what I was hoping for.. back to the drawing board to try it all... :up:
I tried the healing brush but there seemed to be no good skin anywhere :( So flinging all caution to the wind I downloaded some skin texture brushes and tried that... is it worse? better? I've lost the plot...
(https://photos.smugmug.com/All-Unlisted-Galleries/Margies-Gallery/i-LcVMDbV/0/L/wip2-L.jpg)
On my monitor the skin is looking good Lynn. If you zoom in on the girl on the left's face, maybe "pluck" the tail ends of her eyebrows on the bottom?
Beautiful work!
Thanks Lyn,
I feel like whatever I do now to this image will make it worse.. I've plucked said eyebrow.. better? I think I'll try submitting it and see if it sticks :)(https://photos.smugmug.com/All-Unlisted-Galleries/Margies-Gallery/i-QMGbfgs/0/L/wip2-L.jpg)
Looks good to me too.
Margie
Looks good Lynn. Thanks for sharing all of this. Learned a lot!