Missing nose on photo

[Gerald McClaren]

I have an old photo of my niece with almost all of her nose missing. I was told that some chemical had accidently drop on her face and destroyed almost all of her nose. What I would like to know is how can I fix her nose, however, there is only a small part of the left-side of the nose that is visible. The cleaning chemical had damaged from the bridge of her nose including half of her mouth.

[Caitlin]

Sorry for being a bit obtuse here - but do you mean that your neice's nose was actually missing, or just in the photo? If we are just referring to damage on the photo, a scan would be useful so we can see what the damage is like. Also, if you have other photos of your niece with her nose intact, they could be used to patch the area.

[screenfx]

Look to her family for noses that are similar to what you think her nose would have been like and obtain a digital photo of their nose to use as reference material. Noses tend to run in the family. (no pun intended) It won't be easy getting the skin texture to blend together, and it will likely require color correction too. but it can be done. Be aware of your light source in the original photo and try to simulate it when taking your photographs. If you have trouble finding any female relatives of the appropriate age. Ask your female relatives for old photos of themselves, and see what you can find. Remember that if the light source is from the wrong direction it won't work, but you can flip an image horizontally to correct this issue. If all else fails go to the internet and steal a nose from there.

Good Luck,
Bill

my digital art gallery
http://www.billcallis.com