Photo Retouching - - I thought this was going to be easy...

jwwphotobham · #1 12-29-2006, 01:33 PM

Hello all. My first post here on retouch pro. I have been lurking and learning for a few days. I am a photographer that needs to learn retouching. So, I have been reading all of the great advice. I shot a model in my studio yesterday and am trying to fill where her hair parts. I have tried but it ends up looking like a spray paint on her head. Here is a crop of the problem area, any help on how to make it look right?

Jason
www.jasonwallis.com

pellepiano · #2 12-29-2006, 01:43 PM

The Clone Tool would be suitable for this. It lets you specify an area ( with hair in this case ) and "paint" it in elsewhere ( where there are no hair ).

Simple example attached.

jwwphotobham · #3 12-29-2006, 02:09 PM

I got to that point, I just don't feel like it looks real or believable. Any other thoughts?

Kraellin · #4 12-29-2006, 02:39 PM

a large image size would help here.

clone is one way to go and shld work ok. you could also do a cut and paste from another photo and then blend it in. airbrushing would work, especially with custom brushes. you could even use a warp/liquify but that might involve some extra work.

first, i quadrulpled the image size.

then what i did was to lay down a light application of airbrush, in black, on the part where the skin is showing. you always work from background to foreground on these.

then i simply cloned on a blank layer, borrowing from the existing hair. the trick here is to also clone in the highlights. just bring them down with the rest of it and leave just a little in the middle where it's black for more depth.

duwayne · #5 12-29-2006, 03:08 PM

I took the Lasso tool to select a vertical rectangle from each side of the bare spot and copied them to a new layer. The move tool to slide them together (still leaving a "part" line in her hair. Used a soft eraser to blend the edges and free transform to rotate them slightly. I used the Burn tool to darken her skin in the part line area.

chillin · #6 12-29-2006, 03:36 PM

one more cut, paste & blend

Lasa · #7 12-29-2006, 04:38 PM

Cut each side and bring it in..erase down the middle..
The clone brush would be more exact, since you could replace hair by hair if you felt the need.

Lasa

Flora · #8 12-30-2006, 10:39 AM

Hi,

Jason,

welcome to RP!!

Plenty of great help on this one already... but since I'd worked on it already I'm going to post it...

Same technique as duwayne but applied to individual patches of hair.

Your attached image is very small ... The second link under my signature will get you to help on resizing images/files for RP...

jwwphotobham · #9 12-30-2006, 05:49 PM

Thanks to you all for some great tips. Flora that is exactly what I needed, I will give it a try and see what I come up with. I will also post the final image to get some thoughts on the whole retouch process. Also, flora, thanks for the info on uploading. I knew it was small, didn't know how to get it bigger, so I will check out the tutorial on that.

jason

jwwphotobham · #10 12-30-2006, 09:22 PM

Here is the before and after of what I have done. Not a big difference, especially in the small jpeg. We had a beautiful model and great makeup, so I know I had everything working for me. I got here looking for info on Jill Greeberg and Amy dresser, so this is my homage to them. Any comments would be appreciated.

jason

duwayne · #11 12-31-2006, 12:36 AM

Beautiful model and nice photograph. Now down to the little nits.

- I think the hair part is done a little heavy. I re-did in my attachment.
- The contrast in the "after" face is a little harsh for my taste. I lowered the highlights of the forehead. noise and cheeks and reduced the shadows on the sides of her face. I think the original is about right for the tone of the face.
- Levels to boost the color intensity a little. I think your "after" is just right.
- Used Dodge tool to lighten the highlights of her eyes
- Slight increase in the color saturation of her lips and matched the Hue to her blouse color.
- Used the Dodge tool to bring out the highlights in her hair.

DuWayne...

Flora · #12 12-31-2006, 08:32 AM

Thank you for your feedback, Jason ... and glad we could be of help.

Beautiful girl, great picture.. great photographer ..

Fashion/glamour retouching isn't really my cup of tea so take my comments with a grain of salt ...
I love the changes you have made to the colours of background and of the top the girl is wearing.. I think her skin is a tad oversaturated (a bit too much yellow).. and quoting duwayne "The contrast in the "after" face is a little harsh for my taste" too.

jwwphotobham · #13 12-31-2006, 10:17 AM

You guys are right on, Duwayne, thanks for showing me that. I really like what you did on it. I look forward to continuing to learn from you guys!
jason