Thursday, October 21, 2010

Before/After Pixel Perfect




So here is what I did:

  • Took the photo with my Nikon D5000 with my 55-200mm lens.
  • Opened in ACR
  • Increased clarity, saturation, and fill light
  • Opened in Photoshop CS5
  • Cloned out the grass in the faces of both girls and used the Spot Healing Brush tool to clean it up
  • I selected a solid side of the cheek on the girl to the right and copied it making a duplicate layer then laid it over her face.  It is just a tad bit spotty, but it was the best I could do (pointers are appreciated)
  • Then I ran Paint the Moon's Sweet Treat's Lemon and Honey Action to brighten it up, changing the opacity here and there.
  • Next I ran My Four Hen's Kiddy Pop Glee Action to give it a solid pop of what I like to consider "happiness" and lowered the opacity of every layer to my liking.

Check out Pixel Perfect for other Before and Afters!
To see more from this session, please hop over to my photography blog!


Photobucket

20 comments:

  1. it's lovely! Your editing has come such a long way! And that's just coming from someone who loves to look at photography :) not an expert in the least lol

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  2. Oh you really turned this photo into something cheery and beautiful! I love the colors...the contrast of the greens and reds. Very Christmas-y!

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  3. what a great job!!! i was just starting to think about christmas pictures...and you have inspired me!!!

    love your blog!

    xo
    monica

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  4. I will like it. what a great edit. I have a hard time cloning things out. very impressed.

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  5. Great job with this photo!! Cloning things out from in front of people's faces is tough and you did it wonderfully!

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  6. Lovely edit! You really brought out their eyes and added depth to the photo. Nicely done.

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  7. Love this - perfect christmas photo!

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  8. I love the seasonal colours - your edit was great especially what you did with the cloning tool.

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  9. Really, really pretty.....love how sharp it is. Great job!

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  10. I agree with Ashley this would be an adorable Christmas card.

    Wow what a great edit.

    I so need to get better I am seeing from looking around this challenge.

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  11. That's going to be one good looking Christmas card!

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  12. Nice job with the cloning. I totally would have botched that up. Never would have known there was grass in front of their faces if I hadn't seen the original.

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  13. Great job! You mentioned that it's still a bit splotchy and that you would like pointers. You can smooth that out with the healing tool. It's the one that looks like a bandaid. It works like the clone tool but it blends as it clones. It's quite amazing. Just make sure that as you are using it that you stay away from a point of high contrast (like the edge of the cheek right by the grass) because it will try to blend them. You can get close to the edge by selecting the area that you want to work in with the lasso tool, that way it won't try to draw from the dark area. Happy editing.

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