Hi everyone, I could really use some suggestions as to what to do with this jewelry. I am at a impass as I have tried so many things: adjustment layers curves, h/s, g blur w/history brush, grain surgery, painted over it in color blending mode, etc... I cant find a clean place to clone from... parts of the ring are blown out, other parts have so much stuff in it. The worst part is they originally said it was for the web, so I didn't worry too much, but now it turns out they want to use the files for print...argh ... ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
~Nancy~
And no, they don't want to shoot it over...

Not really my type of thing, but personally I'd smudge each layer individually in the muddy areas and then desaturate the ring before adding just the slightest hint of colour

Well I am not a professional and I also don't know what exactly you want the end product to look like. At any rate to remove the tarnish I desaturated the ring and then used a lighten or darken brush to remove the tarnish. I then placed the color back in. I sharpened the photograph and colorized the diamonds. I left it as a high key contrasty image. I left many of the surface "dents" in.

Reflections aren't all soft focus. On a hard, shiny surface like a ring, objects will be distorted, but they will retain their hard edges. So you want a blend of sharp transitions as well as soft gradients, as would be expected from real-world reflections. I kept the areas as I found them, just simplified the color and tones, and forcing some hard edges between certain areas. I also tried to even out some of the lines, which is also what would be expected from a smooth, curved shape as it distorts the objects being reflected.

Cassy are you saying smude each layer? or each channel?

Edge that is the nice clean look they want, but they want all of the gold/tarnish out...
Phil getting close but need it cleaner...

Thanks all!

Sorry, meant each channel individually

Well, not finished but here is a start. Took a little from each of you: Simplified colors and tones per Edge; Desaturated per Phil, however used a layer adjustment so I could choose where and how much; then followed Cassidy's suggestion and smudged a little in each channel... Not a work of art but better than what I had. Thanks all. :bow:
~Nancy~

Okay, this is getting there. .... Thoughts on the background ?? (which is a variation on Cameraken's post)
~Nancy~

Ring is looking better dispite the image quality but I'm not sure I care for the background. I think it takes away from the ring rather than enhance it. Not that everything you would in the background would. I think something more sleek with less noise maybe? Let me see if I can come up with anything. Sometimes it's hard to say what you see in your head. If not, that's just my opinion on the background. Hope it helps :)

you've got the right idea with the darker background. this adds contrast and makes the shiney parts make more photo sense rather than being 'blown out'. i'd personally dull the inner layer of the ring at the bottom but leave the top as is. this draws the attention more to the parts of the ring you want to have displayed. you could even put the inner surface in shadow and it wouldnt really hurt. it's the outer surface you want to highlight.

i like the starburst highlights.

you've also got a few edges to smooth out on the outer surface edges.

think of how rings are displayed in shops, especially silver rings and you'll get what you need for the background ;)

Craig

I like this classic look for something like this, maybe it's a bit tired. I apologize for my masking it was rushed.