Image Help - - Two problems - Page 2

Mark Adams · #16 05-19-2005, 08:25 PM

Thanks for that assist Gary. I found the filter and have tried to apply it as directed. Which brings me to this point. I have done a great deal of learning in Photoshop. I have a product which doesn't look too bad considering where I started. I would now like some opinions about what is left to do (contrast mask?).

This is kind of a labor of love and I don't mind working hard(er) at it. It's important to the family that this be done as best it can be done, but I've worked at it so long I can't see the picture for the pixels.

Attached is a jpeg and here is a link to a 2.3MB .tif file. Please help me out just a little more on this one folks.

Thanks.

CJR Portrait-intermediate.tif [2.3MB]

Flora · #17 05-20-2005, 03:47 AM

Hi everybody,

Sorry to get back only now .... I'm having some problems with my email and I don't get notifications regularly ...

Vikki,

Thank you so much for your comment and advice! I corrected my previous restoration adding more texture to her skin as you suggested, lifting the strong shadow just above her left temple and increasing the shadow on her left cheek .... please, let me know what you think ....

soleah,

thank you very much for your kind words!!

EbooksList,

Welcome to RP!

....Thank you so much for your kindness!!!

Mark,

thank you so much for your feedback!
... I hadn't realized you weren't working with PS ...
I think you did a very nice job on this picture .... I've downloaded your intermediate version and will look at it ..

Since you have downloaded PSCS Demo, here are a list of Tutorials to help you out ...

Selection (Channel Masking)
... to select her hair and work only on that ...

here .. scroll down the page to "Method 3: CHANNEL MASK"
here

Layer Masks (beginners)

here

Removing specs

here

In these tutorials are the first steps I took for selectively correcting the problem areas of your picture ...

Hope this helps ...

Mark Adams · #18 05-21-2005, 07:02 PM

Okay, I have continued to wrestle with this one. I'm learning more about Photoshop, mostly that there is a whole lot to know. This morning I took my latest jpeg draft to Wal-Mart and printed an 8 X 10 proof of the thing to check what I was getting. It looked pretty good, but the color was heavily saturated. I worked on it some more, added a couple of layers and tweaked some curves and the attached image is what I've come to.

I think it is representative of the 4 X 6 photo I started with and may actually make a passable 8 X 10 (her mother wants an 8 X 10). I still have some issues with the color around her left cheek and ear, but I can't figure out how to use curves or levels or B&C or H&S or the black arts to tone down the purple/red and still have a natural looking shadow with detail there.

I'd appreciate any further input. Flora did a remarkable job of pulling a corrected image together. She did in 20 minutes what has taken me two days with a passable knowledge of retouching and very little of PS. I swear, I can see what needs to be done, but the tool is so hard to get around in. It's like being forced to work with my left hand.

At any rate, the learning continues....

Flora · #19 05-21-2005, 10:14 PM

Hi Mark,

WOW ... you are a very fast learner!!! Great job!!!

Please, bear with me .... I know it must be very difficult working with a software you've never used before, such a complex one like PS and having a kind of deadline!!!
But you are doing so well and your result is truly remarkable...

Now, "to tone down the purple/red and still have a natural looking shadow with detail there."
Working on the image attached to your last post:

Selective Colors Adjustment Layer... (the following are the values I used, but 'play' with them as our monitors may show colours differently .... )

REDS
Cyan: -46%
Magenta: -19%
Yellow: 30%
Black: -42%

YELLOWS
Cyan: 19%
Magenta: 4%
Yellow: -23%
Black: -32%

MAGENTAS
Cyan: 3%
Magenta: -100%
Yellow: 77%
Black: -73%

NEUTRALS
Black: 7%

As you can see from my Layers (Attachment 2) I inverted the Selective Colors Layer Maks so it became Black (to hide all the changes) and painted white to show the corrections only where I wanted them ... (as in the 'Understanding Layer Masks' Tutorial).

The purple/red was minimized, but the cheek-temple-neck were very 'blotchy' and lacking colour in some points so I created blank Layers setting their Mode to Darken, Lighten, Color and sampling from surrounding areas with a very soft edge brush (Opacity: 10-30% for Darken&Lighten; 40-60% for Color) I corrected tjose spots ....

To selectively enhance shadows/higlights I created a blank Layer Mode = Overlay and with a soft Black/White brush (Opacity 5-10%), I carefully painted on parts I wanted to emphasize.

A second Selective Color Layer:

REDS
Cyan: -37%
Magenta: -20%
Yellow: 11%
Black: 25%

Finally addition of a little Noise to selectively add texture ...

Hope this helps...

Mark Adams · #20 05-22-2005, 01:01 AM

Okay, that was very helpful. I've never seen the Selective Color trick. With all the controls in that segment I'm eager to find a tutorial that actually shows me how to use it. Be that as it may....

I've done some more work as you can see below. I think it's looking pretty good except for the ear. I have overworked the thing trying to get the earring to come up and I've made a bit of a mess, but its a small enough area that I think I can fake it.

Once again I've stared at it so long I don't know how it looks. Also, looking at the picture this is taken from, I'm not sure shooting for an exact match is a good idea. This photo is about 15 years old and surely suffers from exposure to sunlight and the elements. The print I made at Wally World this afternoon is oversaturated -- but have I gone too far in the other direction with the current version.

It's late. I'm tired. I also wonder when you sleep. Aren't you in Italy? That puts you something like 8 hours ahead of us.

Anyway, thanks for the continuing hand-holding. I couldn't have done it without you. And I'm not finished yet. If you could be so kind as to let me know what you think of this version, we'd all appreciate it.

Flora · #21 05-22-2005, 01:24 AM

Hi Mark,

I'm really so glad .... It's nearly perfect!!!

Just a couple of small things ...

the left side of her neck is a bit oversaturated and the shadows there a bit too dark in comparison with the rest of her face ... (can be solved with Selective Colors by decreasing black in Reds, Magenta and Yellows ... and tweaking the other colours in these colour 'branches')

The heavy V shadow from the corner of her left eye to her eyebrow can be reduced with a Lighten Layer sampling from surrounding areas as described in my previous post ....

Yes, I'm in Italy ... I just couldn't sleep last night ... nearly 8:30 AM over here ..

Mark Adams · #22 05-22-2005, 11:05 AM

I feel like I'm really close. In fact, I may be there. Can anybody see anything I need to fix before I proclaim it printable?

Thanks.

Vikki · #23 05-22-2005, 12:18 PM

The contrast looks very strong, and the image as a whole, looks dark.
Just a suggestion, maybe adjust the contrast, and soften up the highlights?

Mark Adams · #24 05-22-2005, 12:47 PM

Wow, seriously? I had it a couple of shades lighter and then darkened it down a bit before posting it. The lighter version looks a bit more faithful to the original photo, but see my concerns above about exposure of the print to sunlight, etc.

But of course, you might just be right. I can't get to it today, but tomorrow I'll brighten it up a bit and get another test print. That should nail it if there are no other "icks" to correct.

Thanks so much for the input Vikki. I've done this kind of work before, but never in PS. Also, I'm working on a fairly newLCD display and don't really know how it is rendering the image. It's a real learning experience. :-)