mum and daughter

[tell]

Hello all at Retouch pro. My sister donated two images. One of her daughter and one of herself when she was, i think around 5-7 years older than her daughter is now. I thought it would be interesting to see both Mum and Daughter at around the same age. I know l have not achieved a realistic composition of the two images. It doesnt need to look realistic but l would like to blend in the two
women better than l have. The original image has my niece on the left and l have copyed my sister on the right.. Durrr. Yeah l know, its not a great job but its progress for me.. How do l blend my sister (Mum) in better ? How do l put some realistic colour back on her face? Any advice will be gobbled up quicktime. Thanks. Tell.

[tell]

This is the original (rather a photo of the original) of my sister, (the mum).

[tell]

This image is the original. Thought it might be interesting to see the light rays and so on.. Tell.

[Cameraken]

Hi Tell.

How did I do?

Ken.

[foxa71]

I hope that this resembles the mother a few years younger.

[tell]

Looks good Ken, You've managed to blend the two images together. Can l ask for your hair extraction technique? , I can never seem to get a realistic hair extraction. Amy, i did want Mother and Daughter to be around the same age to create the effect l was after, i believe your touch up of Mother, (my sister) helps to create that effect.. Also where my version has the Mother looking unnaturally stiff , you have managed to soften the blend.. In fact l cant see the noise , how did you go about softening the skin like that?

[Cameraken]

Hi Tell.

Can l ask for your hair extraction technique?

I just used a layer mask

I copied Mother.jpg to a new layer in original-mother-and-daugher.jpg
Resized it to match
Added a layer mask and used the mask to blend the two images
Added eyedroppers to match the skin tone
The two images don’t quite match in noise levels so I de-grunged Moms face
That’s about it
Cropped and sharpened.


Ken.

[tell]

Ken, Thanks for the screen shot. Using the eye droppers did a great job of matching skin colour. I must try it. I think l'll try the replace colour adjustment layer. The mask did a good job of bringing back the light rays. Tell.

[tell]

Hey Ken, your input inspired me. Im not saying it was a positive effect, you be the judge. I decided to cover up the flaws in a haze of glare. Next time l'll try to get a better couple of images to blend. Maybe in a couple of years l'll be good enough to use these two. I didnt do to well in mixing the skin tones but lm working on it..

[tell]

I think l might attack this project from another direction. I only have the one pic of my sister (the mother) at this stage, but lm sure l can find some of my niece, when that happens l'll select them both into another background. Ive made a start on my sister.

[RokcetScientist]

Maybe http://www.morpheussoftware.net/ could help?

[Cameraken]

Hi Tell.

I think a new picture of daughter is a good idea. You could set it up with similar lighting and similar background to Mothers and make the job very easy.

If you waited for a few years until they are both the same age would be interesting. You could even set it up with the same clothing and expression. I’m sure that your niece would help if you showed her what you have done so far.

I took the easy option with the flair and left it in.

Good Luck with your project.

Ken.

[creeduk]

A different take, keep the hair and body just make the neck a little younger and brought in the face, matched colors. It was abit rushed as I wanted to finish just before I left work. But you should get the idea

[tell]

Ken, I dont believe leaving the original lighting in was the easy option. I used mystical lighting, but only because l found it difficult to mask in the light flare. I'll take your advice and wait for my niece to catch up in years. Im looking forward to it. Who knows we might find a younger pic of my sister. Thanks again Ken... Thats spooky Creeduk. You've given my sister that nonchalance dreamy look, the province of the adolescent. Very clever....Rokjetscientist, l shall take a looksee at morpheusoftware. That kind of thing is always fascinating.