Request for help

[lolli]

Hi everyone I ahve a photo I shot recently that the mother loves but I am trying to get the maribu feathers off the face but since I am such a newbie mine just looks smudged and too white any help would be appreciated Thanks Pat
un touched
http://flickr.com/photos/33303153@N02/3263462654/
my try
http://flickr.com/photos/33303153@N0...n/photostream/

[TommyO]

Pat,
Assuming this retouch is more in the "portrait" retouch, you may be able to use a few easier techniques and it still look just fine.

It is quite common in portrait retouch to use a blend of the healing brush and the clone stamp with varying opacity and hardness.

Healing:
- use out on the cheek where there are no overlapping features.

Clone:
- use on the edges of lips-cheek, lips-teeth.
- set the opacity lower (15%), hardness lower (10%) and dab, using many small singular clones rather than a few larger ones.

Always work on a new layer, so you can reverse what you do easily.

I've attached a quick retouch of just the one area. I was thinking of just removing some of the feathers, not so much as you had attempted. It's not perfect, but does give you an idea of the results using the above techniques.

[DannyRaphael]

I don't do "pro" work, so take this with a grain of salt...

Something that has possibilities in this case is to select part of the right side (as you look at the pic) of her mouth/chin, Ctrl + J to put the selection on a new layer, Edit > Transform and flip horizontal, move the selection into position and use a layer mask to blend it in.

Then do a little cloning where needed...

[lolli]

Thanks bunches I will try these steps she is such a little doll I want her to be perfect. Pat

[chillin]

I think the stamp tool would help.

[igot2pman]

The patch tool is also a very good when used properly. When used properly, it should match texture and color but it will blur when used improperly.

Basicly you want to match lines if there are any, if you dont, mr patch gets confused and just blurs. While you patch along a line select a litte above and below and when you click and drag, line it up.

The below picture was done only with the patch tool (even the teeth and lips). Not saying its better then the above, just another option.

Hope it helps,
-Keven