Clone the Sunbathers

[gladesman]

It's not common to see a turtle and alligator sunbathing together, (which I'm sure they were not doing), so I decided this image warranted a few hours of cloning.
Didn't want to remove all the vines, but I'd like some feedback as to whether what I've managed is effective or if anyone can tell it has been cloned.
Any tips on easier methods of cloning will also be appreciated. Thanks.

[0lBaldy]

Ha, ha.. Looks like Mr Gator is going to have turtle soup for lunch.. not sunbathing!

I think it looks great!

The only thing I saw (and that was only because I kept flipping back and forth to see what all had been removed) was the two bright branch reflections in the water under the gator jaw had no parent image.. If I didn't have the original to compare with I probably would have missed them..
I think you did a good job.. nice presentation!

[gladesman]

Thanks, glad it passed muster with you. And regarding the vines in the water, I was hoping it wouldn't be noticeable if one didn't see both images.

You can see the gator's foreleg poised. I don't know which one got onto the bank first, but I do know the turtle left a second or two after I got there. Yeah, turtles are a favorite of all Mr. Gators.

[Steve13]

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[gladesman]

Looks like lunch to me. How'd you do it???

[Steve13]

This is the 15 min method...

Set background color to black
polygon tool - outline lower jaw - cut/paste to new layer
free transform to lower the jaw a little
outline upper jaw - same thing - free transform to the open position.
outline turtle - cut/paste on new layer and move into position
put turtle layer between jaw layers
use eraser tool to clean up edges
go to background layer and clone vines/grass/water over
turtle hole.
Flatten image and smile... until you realize you missed the turtle reflection in the water.
Treat it the same way as the turtle.

Make 2 copies of background layer.
One is overlay, adjust opacity.
One is screen, adjust opacity.

It's rough, but good enough for a laugh.