Photo Retouching - - Look over here!

oradba · #1 10-23-2006, 10:44 AM

I've seen a lot of threads and tutorials about eye replacement, but I'm wondering if there's an easier way to fix the problem I frequently have: one or more subjects is not looking at the camera. You know, there are three different relatives (in different positions) acting like idiots trying to make one of the kids smile, and thx to them, they get the smile. But the kid is looking at THEM not the camera.

So I'm looking for an "easy" way to fix this with the least possible pain since I'm going to do this a LOT. And maybe I'm just not searching right, because I've found nothing on the web speaking to this exact problem. Blinking, yes; Wrong Direction, no.

I've attached an example of what I'm talking about with the subject on the left. I have a second attachment from a different shot where the subject is looking at the camera. I'm pretty much a PS newbie, so go easy on me.

TIA,
Dylan

Kraellin · #2 10-23-2006, 01:55 PM

hi oradba and welcome to RP.

first, there is no 'quick fix' for this. but it's also not that big of a job and several ways you might do it. for yours, i simply made a circular selection of one eye and moved it slightly to the left. then i simply painted in the right colors where the 'old' eye was and used the push brush (heavy smudge in PS) to straighten lines and such. rinse and repeat for the other eye. i also removed a tiny bit of the catch lights and filled out one side of the camera right eye due to the move. took about 10 minutes for the whole job.

other ways might involve copying the eyes from your other image or, using something like the red eye removal tool to build new eyes. but, any way you go, to change the facing you're going to end up with bits of the 'old' eye and those are going to have to be painted over.

oradba · #3 10-23-2006, 02:28 PM

Thx for the feedback and ideas, Kraellin. It's going to be a LOT of trial and error for me, but the more ideas I can get on how to fix this, the better.

Airdale · #4 10-23-2006, 08:48 PM

Kraellin,wow, that was really impressive. Could you expand a little more on how you did that though? How much of the eye did you select? Was it just the iris? And what were the lines that you said you adjusted? Maybe if you still have any of your "work in progress" layer you could post them? - it would really help!

Thank you
Airdale

Kraellin · #5 10-24-2006, 12:18 AM

oradba, you're welcome

airdale,

sadly, psp does not save work histories with the image.

but, it was fairly simple. i select just the pupil and iris and then using that same selection tool, i simply move the selection over to the left a bit. that basically acts like a copy tool leaving the original pupil and iris still there. but, in moving and pasting down the selection, most of the original is now covered. but, a small part isnt. you have to deal with that small part by either painting over it, cloning it out or smudging it out. i mostly just painted it out and used a tiny bit of smudge/push as well. i also removed a small bit of catchlights on the side of the iris to finish.

you do have to be careful a bit. you want the pupil/iris at the right height as well as laterally correct.

oradba · #6 10-24-2006, 04:28 PM

If anyone is interested, I started a similar thread over on the dpreview Retouching Forum and got some good feedback there, too:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...ssage=20580120