Wishing...

[private]

Here is the B4:


And here is the After:


I cut him out of the first one (forgot to change my settings and there were no more "wishes" to pick) and placed him on a brick background, and then cloned out some of the bright spots and then cropped (mainly to mask some really blown out bits...) I think I saved it...

[lputman]

Pat...I think the before picture would be a good candidate for some layers and textures.

I don't expect to see a brick wall behind someone blowing wishes and it looks kind of off, to me. I can't explain it but the picture doesn't match the background.

[private]

Hmmm, I guess that makes sense. I should look for something more outdoorsie (is that a word? lol) I chose brick b/c this wall was right next to where he was blowing the seeds...

[pbdweeeebie]

I like the composition of the original. And all you need tamper with is the foreground lighting.

The background of the "after" pic really overwhelms the feels of the image - changing a nice soft feel into a hard one - and really shows the blue hues on the left side of the face.

To experiment, I'd even dare changing the original to a sepia print and then applying, say, the orton effect!

[ttosifa]

Have you thought about removing the blue cast? I think he looks much better even with it substantially reduced, as in an example below. (It's not entirely gone, but you see the possibilities).

And what about mirroring the background in the right side of the picture to cover up the blown out areas on the left?

[HockeyFan]

You did a great job. I think I need to take a class to learn to do some of the post processing techniques that you and others use. I do most of my work right out of the camera, except for my HDR work. So what you've done feels complicated. I think your results are great.

[private]

THe blue cast does bug me a bit - I am working on another photo now that needs to be fixed... I will try the sepia idea - and the mirroring of the other side and will post my results - maybe some cloning...any other tips??

Maybe I should have this moved to critique - cuz I need HELP!

[private]

Yup - I agree that the Sepia and some cloning is a much better idea - This is what it looks like now...

[ttosifa]

The sepia version looks nice, and I am not normally a big fan of sepia. I think you did a good job with the cloning too. There are two things that distract me -- the bright areas at the bottom in the background, and the two bright flares (?) near the top. The flares draw attention to the fact that the background has been cloned. I actually recommended doing a mirror image -- flipping the left side right to left so the clone will require more work to detect. And I recommend erasing one of the bright spots.

Looking at it again, I really like the contrast in the sepia version.

EDIT: It's hard to see in the small version, but is there a line where the clone meets the real background?

[private]

eeks - I'll fix that. I could not figure out how to mirror part of a photo - I have PSE6...And the bright spots totally bug me also - I tried to burn them but b/c it has absolutely no detail just the surrounding bits got burned and they still remained a blinding white...lol

I tried to crop it out but then the picture lost most of its feel...

I changed it and posted it above...