Family pics

[Petracsr]

I've been working on some pictures from my daughter's high school graduation party. (One down, one to go!) It was 90 degrees, and windy. I think I did okay with the exposure here, but do they look a little green? Also having a problem with all the wispy hair on my daughter. Any tips on getting rid of the hair that is in front of the long dark hair without making the area look "muddy" ? I tried the cloning tool, but it wasn't looking right.
Thanks ~ Petra


PS Trying like mad to follow directions for getting a larger image, and can't manage to do it

[Dave Humphries]

PS Trying like mad to follow directions for getting a larger image, and can't manage to do it

Hi Petra,

I was just about to do it for you, but decided you probably want to 'beat it' into submission yourself

1. Click on small image above so it gets bigger
2. Right click on bigger image and select Copy Image Location (FF), or Copy Shortcut (IE)
3. Click Close the bigger image
4. Click Edit Post at bottom of your post above
5. Put cursor say, below text, where-ever you want picture to appear
6. Click (Insert Image) button
7. Paste the copied shortcut over the "http://" bit in pop up dialog
8. Click OK (or hit Enter/Return)
9. Click Save button to save the changes

That looks very 'long winded', but it is quick once you've done it 3-4 times

UPDATE EDIT: OK, I found the problem, you had two "http://" bits in the image link - at step 7, when dialog opens, leave that highlighted and it'll get replaced. Or delete it first if it causes problems.

Cheers,

[Petracsr]

I was just about to do it for you, but decided you probably want to 'beat it' into submission yourself

Definitely

UPDATE EDIT: OK, I found the problem, you had two "http://" bits in the image link - at step 7, when dialog opens, leave that highlighted and it'll get replaced. Or delete it first if it causes problems.

That's embarrassing...Honest, I DO read the instructions. I think I just get so nervous when posting something that I choke.
As always, thanks for your help!
Petra

[rick55]

Hi, Petra;

Nice photo, and nice treatment/crop. It doesn't look green to me: the colors really pop, especially the blue eyes of the young lady on the right.

Cheers;
Rick

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Petra,

On the picture, the best advice I can give is "check out the background" - the plant on the left and the stairs might be ok by themselves, but the pot with half a metal jumping frog and doormat all add to a distracting background.

On the girls, it's fine, as Rick says, those blue eyes really shine.

The blonde hair in front of the dark hair I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it, that is a tough clone job due to the lack of suitable surroundings to copy.

Here's a fudge job (I hope you don't mind);


Fixed the hair
Sharpened eyes and mouths
Fixed the pot, frog and doormat, but I'm not too happy with the "imagineered" bottom step as there wasn't much to go on and I got the angle wrong when cloning down from the one above.

After I had done all that, I realised the now blank background could be cropped off (doh)


Cloning tips to try if you haven't;
zoom picture in to about 300% (but zoom out to 100% occasionally to see the overall effect)
frequently vary brush size (and sample point)
change opacity to 50% when dealing with fine detail (so two strokes are required, these can then be from different areas, or use only one stroke to merge near edges of cloned area
a blur afterwards can help disguise signs of repetitive detail

Cheers,

[Petracsr]

Hi, Petra;

Nice photo, and nice treatment/crop. It doesn't look green to me: the colors really pop, especially the blue eyes of the young lady on the right.

Cheers;
Rick

Thank you, Rick. My daughter has great blue eyes. She's been working on keeping them open for me when I take her picture. Usually, her smile is so big it makes her look squinty. Got lucky here.

[Petracsr]

Here's a fudge job (I hope you don't mind);

I don't mind at all. Thanks for the cloning tips. I have a couple photos from this day that need cloning, so I appreciate the information. Maybe I'll post a before clone and after of another shot