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Post by srmoment on Dec 16, 2022 21:25:05 GMT
I gave this a quick try, but really prefer the christmas tree cloned into the background and then lighting added.  I had to take a screen shot of the image because I couldn't download it. I then called it in to Elements RAW and used the monochrome setting. Used magic wand and polygon tool to remove the background in the monochrome version. Called in the image to Elements Raw again and used the color option with white balance on the horse's head. Then used the version without the background to make the same copy in the color version so that I ended up with a color version without background. Added a bokeh background with an ivory colored wall. Added some watercolor brushing. Added lighting behind the little boy using a technique I shared with this forum quite a while back. [You create a new overlay layer, change it to screen and use the gradient tool to put light in where you wish] Took the whole thing in to On1 portrait and tried to make the boy's face a more natural color (not reddish) but was not entirely successful. |
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Post by Tpgettys on Dec 16, 2022 23:03:14 GMT
Wow, thanks for all that Pat! While I like your result quite a bit, I agree that cloning the tree into the entire background was an inspired idea.
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Post by hmca on Dec 17, 2022 0:13:13 GMT
Tried to keep close to my first crop....this one is a slight bit more than 5x7. I agree with Pat about the light around his head....thinking it could be reflected from the tree lights. I moved the snowman down a bit to hopefully not pull your eye away from the boy's face. The increased size allowed me to bring it into NIK CE 5. (it didn't accept the original). I used the reflector effect, white neutralizer and Pro Contrast filters. I again sampled color from his face and brushed it on a few spots on the cheeks and chin to even the color on a blank layer above the image. I also used a levels adjustment on his face and hair. Finished with unsharp mask on face.....amount 123, radius 1.0, Threshold 10.  |
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Post by srmoment on Dec 17, 2022 4:34:36 GMT
Oh Helen! This nails it I think! It's adorable!
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Post by Tpgettys on Dec 17, 2022 6:34:07 GMT
Helen, this is a master work for my grandson's image! Really quite well done; thank you for the tips!
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Post by hmca on Dec 17, 2022 17:22:51 GMT
Thank you, Pat and Tom. I was pleased with the way it turned out. Thanks for allowing us to work on this picture, Tom.
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VickiD
Established Forum Member
Posts: 718 
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by VickiD on Dec 18, 2022 6:05:20 GMT
Tom, I thought I'd give this a try. First, I opened the image in ACR and darkened down the entire image, making the child's hair darker, then went back to Photoshop. I made a selection of the child's face and shoulders and put them on a new layer. Then I selected the tree on the left, put that on its own layer, too (and removed the snowman), flipped it horizontally and moved it to the right. Put the new tree layer behind the child, masked out the tree over the parts of the child that weren't on the layer above the new tree section. Then, I cloned one of the yellow lights and put it behind the child's hair so it looked like the brightness there was due to the light shining through. Made a stamped layer and went back into ACR to brighten up the image again. Last step was taking the image into Topaz Photo AI to enhance his eyes.  |
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Post by Tpgettys on Dec 18, 2022 6:31:19 GMT
Thanks for tackling this difficult image Vicky! I quite like your idea of putting the light behind the head to "explain" the highlight; it works quite well!
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Post by tourerjim on Dec 18, 2022 12:15:04 GMT
You could do copy image then darken the image to make the b/out greyish, put your image above the copy, add mask and set opacity and brush out to bring copy b/out into view and with the yellowing part you could clone side of the tree to shadow over the yellowing.
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Post by PeteB on Dec 18, 2022 17:58:43 GMT
Another try (version)  |
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Post by cats4jan on Dec 18, 2022 18:29:50 GMT
Pete - I think that's the winner. Great job.
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Post by PeteB on Dec 18, 2022 19:52:19 GMT
Pete - I think that's the winner. Great job. Janice thank you. I also realize that I did not mention my steps. First my biggest problem was working with the skin tone and I still feel that I could do better. First I took the image into ACR and then PSE for setting the white point. Again, the skin tone did not look correct. I cropped to reduce the problem background. I selected the bright white area and added a color. Using Hue/Saturation I reduced the bright yellow above the head. I cutout the youngster and worked on the background. I decided to darken and diffuse it. Then back to the skin tone and after a number of tries I settled on the ambient light slider in Adjust Color for Skin Tone. Finally I added a vignette. These types of "challenges" are always fun and helpful. It is always great to see what others do. |
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Post by cats4jan on Dec 18, 2022 20:59:36 GMT
It’s the skin tone that sold me
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Post by tonyw on Dec 18, 2022 23:21:21 GMT
Had to give it a try. Selected and removed the subject and put him on a new layer. Then flipped the background and moved it to hide the blown out areas as much as possible and then cropped off the rest. Interesting to see all the different approaches - well done all.  Tony |
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Post by hmca on Dec 18, 2022 23:41:24 GMT
Interesting to see all the different approaches Agree! Think we all can learn from images posted on this board. Thanks again, Tom. |
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