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Hi all.. yes I know I still have stuff to do and it's by no means like the original.. my aim was to get as much of the spirit of the image back to the family hoping they wouldn't care too much about the houndstooth.. focusing more on the faces.. I tried EVERYTHING to fix that check and finally gave in.. as you can see.. If anyone out there can re-create the check I would gladly turn it over to them..I still have to work on the middle girl's hand and a few other things.. any help would be appreciated as this image is nearly as far as I know how to go..Oh.. and I'm pretty certain the white area between the boy and the middle girl is not real.. it's damage.. a rip I think.. it makes no sense what so ever if left...

Is the original image size 1024x638? I think the cloning would be something I can do, but I don't want to experiment on something the wrong size.

Looking at the blue channel, the boy's hand is balled up in a fist - it isn't a tear but the wall between them.

If the posted "original" isn't the right size, you can email me the correct one (I'll PM the address). I'll make the corrections in the original and you can then paste that into your Photoshop file. I think that'd be the least complicated way to do it?

Sounds good to me.. thanks Jo Ann.. just got your message will reply.  :up: I've sent you the file.. great project to work together.. I love it.

I've sent Lynn the PSD file, but here's the cloned houndstooth, just in case anyone was curious (houndstooth is evil!!!)

(https://i.postimg.cc/QKpqm9TD/Lassin-A-18-07-4x6-edited.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/QKpqm9TD)

Look forward to seeing how the collaboration turns out! Know it'll be good.  :)

All the kids are colorful!!  Looks like fun!! 

Wow Lynn, you know how to pick em. I agree with Jo Ann about the blue channel showing his hand in a balled up fist. I would make the fist a little larger because otherwise he will look deformed.

Thanks Jo Ann.. houndstooth looks great! I'd like to know how you did that!! Maybe I need to take a seperate tutorial on cloning.. I fear I may have missed a class somewhere.. The middle girl's hand looks way better shape - the boys hand still looks odd to me.. I'll try and address that..
I appreciate your help and It's fun doing a collaboration. See how it turns out in the end  :)

No tricks used, just the result of years of cloning work on other photos (not restorations) that pays off on tasks like this one. In general, zooming in a lot; cleaning up an area that you can then use to clone from; watching how the verticals and horizontals of a row of houndstooth curves around the body or at seams. The devil's in the details as they say :)

Practice on photos with logos all over clothes, buildings, products, etc. Once you get good that doing that so no one can see where you took something out, houndstooth will be a doddle :)

Jo, time and patience are sometimes the only option.  Great work you two.

Well I'm back... thanks to Jo Ann's cloning the houndstooth is looking good  :wnw: I stand in awe. I'm still having trouble with the boy's hand.. what else looks like it needs attention.. thanks guys..



I vote that from now on all cloning jobs go to Jo Ann  :funny:

Jo Ann doesn't vote for that!! I'm going to put simple checks on the list with stripes, plaid, and houndstooth of banned fabrics (there's a man in a check shirt in my current restore).

I think there are a couple of things still needing attention:

- I think the highlights came down a bit too far - picture looks dark
- The boy's thumb gets pointy at the end; it should be about the same width above the knuckle as below
-The older girl's hand needs a bit more rounding on the thumb side where it meets the dress (I didn't spend enough time on that and it's too straight)
-The lace sleeves on the younger girl still have damage - it's cream lace and her skin; those bright pink bits are damage I think.
-The wall has a number of blotchy areas - on the lower right (there's a dark area from below the top of her head); on the door frame to the left of the boy.
-There's some discoloration in the wall - possibly a black & white layer (not full opacity) or a solid color layer in color blend mode using a cream/off white to be your desired wall color

Other than that... all done :)

Is that all!!  :funny:

thanks Jo Ann.. will work on that.. :up:

Lynn, nothing more to add. I still have a problem with the kid's hand and while it may be true to what shows on the damage photo--it looks too small as if he is deformed. My eyes go straight to that hand. I took your original and copied the hand to it's own layer and then did a transform to enlarge and also rotate. I then did a layer mask to clean up what was left behind. I tweaked just a little when I saw some clipping in the blue and green channels. Then I got carried away and cleaned up the background.

I'm working between having my computer go down and being bossed around by 2 cats, one my left in his bed and the other I had to pull up a chair as she wanted near me. That wasn't enough as she wanted my full attention as I tried to work she would nip me. That does not make for a steady hand.


(https://i.postimg.cc/HcQZgzTv/i-8-HHJRFw-Rev.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/HcQZgzTv)

Hi Margie.. this may be the hardest hand I've ever worked on.. I'll keep at it but I'm with you.. if we stick to the blue channel it's always going to look problematic.. I'll be back..

Take a look at this idea - would have to get distributor OK first - where the arm is similar to the other one and hand not visible

(https://i.postimg.cc/GHmfbr6x/WIP2-alt-arm.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/GHmfbr6x)

I think that even larger, the original hand looks really strange. If the goal is to make it look better, versus re-create faithfully the odd position of the original, wouldn't taking just a bit more artistic license be OK?

O.k... ignoring everything else (yet to work on) how does this new hand look.. I know it's not like the blue channel but does it look better? or worse..

We crossed paths Jo Ann - that's a good idea.. see what Margie says and I'll work on both..

Your hand does look good, but it's still such a weird pose. I like that better than all the other hand versions. If you end up using a hand, I'd just darken the skin a bit to match the other arm (and you can do with another layer; no need to do more cloning)

Wondering if maybe just having the sleeve, as if his arm is behind the girl would work? This is real quick ...

(https://i.postimg.cc/tY7SR3D9/2019-08-01-Houndstooth-dilemna-1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/tY7SR3D9)

Thanks Lyn.. another approach... I think we should have a competition for arm and hand positions..  :funny:

If it's just the sleeve, I think there needs to be a visible fold and some forearm. With just the dangling sleeve on the left side of the picture it looks as if he's lost his arm altogether.

Look at this as an example of how the body folds

(https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/boy-in-jeans-and-tshirt-young-man-studio-shot-picture-id531935574)

It probably should show some bare skin at the elbow given the length of the sleeves, but I think you could fudge that and it not be noticeable.

I think the one with the hand in the belt area looks right, but that's just me.

I agree with the hand by the belt. Lynn, I think your latest is a big improvement. Yes, a weird  position, but maybe the kid didn't know what to do with his hands. Or the photographer was trying to get a picture before one of them moved. ;)

Thanks all for the input.. I'll darken that hand a bit Jo Ann ... I agree it's odd but I'll go with it.. I wish I could get more of the elbow back look a bit.. it would make more sense..

Stand by for new versions.

Ok here's where I'm at ... losing the plot now... :crazy:

What a great job Lynn!

Looks terrific!  Great job on the little girl's dress.

Thanks Hannie and Mary... can you see anything that needs doing? anyone? :cool:

Might tone down the blue in the skin tones...a quickie.
(https://i.postimg.cc/R3Mc0mTp/Screen-Shot-2019-08-02-at-3-22-04-PM.png) (https://postimg.cc/R3Mc0mTp)

?? too much? not enough??

 :up2:

Thanks guys and thanks Jo Ann for the Evil parts - I'll send them home... :loveit:

 :up:

Looks great

 :up:  :up: Impressive!