Friday, May 14, 2010

Fix it Friday

Each Friday at "I Heart Faces" they post a photo that needs some 'fixing up'.  This week I decided to tackle the project for the first time.  This is the original photo:


The mother of the darling boy in the photo expressed concerns with the harsh lighting, washed out colors, and dullness of her son's beautiful blue eyes.  I wanted to see what I could do...  so after about forty five minutes this is the end result and I am happy with it.



Here is how I edited the photo (using Photoshop CS3):
  1. Upped the exposure and gamma slightly
  2. Used the "stamp tool" to get rid of the spots/stains that were on his face.  I don't like getting rid of 'beauty marks', but I couldn't tell if its just little boy dirt or not so away it went
  3. Cropped the photo.  Now I debated whether to crop off the ear and over exposed area, but I just felt it wasn't salvageable and looked blown out compared to the rest of his face if it stayed. 
  4. Used the "stamp tool" again to fill in a small amount of over exposed area that was left where his cheek and hairline is.
  5. Created a layer mask of a "cooling filter" to make the teeth less yellow in appearance.  
  6. Created another layer and adjusted the colors of the eyes to make the natural blues appear. 
  7. Used the "dodge" tool on the eyes.  Midtones at 12% was selected.  
  8. Used the "burn" tool on the eyes, nose crease, lips, eyebrows, chin, collar, and hairline.  Midtones and Shadows at 12%.
  9. Altered the color balance for the entire photo.  Mostly more greens, less reds, more blues, and slightly more yellows.
  10. Increased saturation of green, lessened of reds and magenta.  
  11. Increased the contrast about 50% and the brightness slightly. 
And that's it!  You now have the finished product, a beautiful, sparkly-eyed, little boy.


Do you like the end result?!  I am anxious to hear your comments!

To see all the entries and more of "Fix-It Fridays" please visit "I Heart Faces".





7 comments:

  1. I love how close you cropped it... and your overall fix.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow, love your edit! the crop really "did it"!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It turned out fantastic! I love the close crop and the color of his eyes!! Thanks for working on my photo this week!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great job! I went on the site and I love yours compared to some of the other ones I saw. I think you did a great job cropping and I love how now the blue eyes really pop!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I LOVE the end result. The crop is perfect, and the new lighting makes this photo a real keeper, compared to the original. You're not just a fantastic photographer (because I've been looking at your gallery!), you're awesome at post-processing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Something is wrong with me, but I find the original much more interesting...It tells a story of a darling little boy who got all dressed up for a wedding or church and had his cake or cookie reward that ended up on his face. His tie is adult sized(from Daddy)and I can picture Mom or Dad tying it for him. It is late in the afternoon...he is full and tired and happy.

    ReplyDelete

I love and appreciate all comments! If you have a question please ask away and I will certainly reply.