Head swap improvements

[macca2009]

Hi all, i'm fairly new to this site and have uploaded an image that I need some help with. I had to put new heads on the man on the right and the bride as the original was badly damaged, but too me they still don't quite look right.
Any ideas on how I can improve these? Thanks

[Swampy]

Hi, Macca. Welcome to RetouchPro! Explore and Enjoy!

Good job on the bride, but the man on the rights head seems just a little too big.

[macca2009]

Thanks swampy, how about the lighting etc, he was taken indoors under flash, is there anything I can do to improve that? I will make the head a bit smaller. Cheers

[Dennis Dunbar]

The bride's color seems just a touch too Yellow compared to the others. I would suggest adding just a touch of Magenta to her skin tone. (Often times when skin looks too Yellow it's got slightly too much Green.)

As for the man on the right note how he is considerably sharper than the others. You need to add a slight blur to him to take his sharpness down to what the others are. This requires a subtle touch to get right, but comparing the level of detail with the others will help.

He also needs a touch of grain over him as the photo you're putting him in is grainier than his head. Try making a new Overlay layer clipped to his head. Fill the Overlay layer with 50% gray and then add use add noise to this. View at 100% so you can properly judge how much noise to add. If need be you can also add a slight blur to the noise to soften it a touch so it matches the original photo better.

Finally his color seems a tad desaturated compared to the others, maybe a touch too green in the shadows? Try adding a slight amount of Magenta to his shadows, but not to his midtones or highlights as he'll look too "pink" then.

HTH

[Swampy]

All of the above suggestions are good. Also the bride's dress is pink not white. Could be that was the bride's choice, but it is distracting.

[macca2009]

Hey thanks heaps for those tips, it looks much better now. Sometimes its good to get other opinions when stuck for ideas, Thanks heaps

[TommyO]

Sorry Swampy, but I was thinking the man's head looked just a bit undersized.... sort of like one of those cartoons where the head deflates. He's got some big shoulders to fill.

But, another issue is the background behind his head. The lack of detail and filled colors just make his head stand out as well. Maybe filling in the background with trees vs sky would help.
Just a thought. You will get it right after a little experimentation. It's very close !

[macca2009]

I reduced the head slighty and did those other changes suggested, what do you think now? My original is at the top.

[macca2009]

By the way, she wants to keep the pink tones at the front of the dress.

[mikedimples]

Now go into levels and slide the black tab of the grayscale slider (bottom of the screen), and pull it up until his blacks are as washed out as theirs.

Better yet, run a levels or curves and deepen their blacks a bit. Maybe give yourself a tiny touch of motion blur filter.