Wezza1977uk Loc: London, England

Hi Fellow Hedgehogs

I took the following image today as part of a series of test shots while scouting a new location for portraits. As it happens it was a tad too windy to really get serious today but ended up quite liking this shot. However most of my daughters face is obscured by her lovely blond mop!!! I have tried myself in Photoshop to remove the hair from her face using a combo of the clone stamp, healing brush and Gaussian blur but couldnt get it looking the way i wanted i.e as if it hadnt been touched!!!
If any of you guys fancy playing around with it and seeing what you can do (and letting me know roughly what you did) I would much appreciate it as I'm fairly sure it CAN be done, I just cant seem to pull it off myself.
Many Thanks in advance
Wezza

Shawn&Aimee_ChurchRd_001

Tjon Loc: Wash DC

In my humble opinion, I think the windy hair tells a part of the main images story!!

Aldebaran Loc: Florida

I Agree!

Wahawk Loc: NE IA

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Wezza1977uk Loc: London, England

Thanks for the replies guys, After reconsidering the image after your comments TJohn I can see your point and agree that the hair implying wind does add a storytelling element to the pic. And on that note may just leave it as is.

RicknJude Loc: Quebec, Canada

Maybe not the answer you wanted but I think the hair makes the picture.

Habdab Loc: UK North West

Just seen your last comment on leaving it as it is, I agree but I'd already had a go at it so I'll upload the result.
I achieved the result by carefully cloning most of the hair out. I set the target as close to the hair as I could and just drew the hairs out. This technique works well on stray hairs but in the case of her left eye, most of the underlying detail was missing. I took the right eye and flipped it, tilting it into the right position, then with dodge and burn and blend tools I blended it into the face. I also used the liquefy tool to slightly alter the shape of the eye, to more closely match it to the original.
The rest was just a matter of matching textures so I cloned in a few from the boy's face.

I hope it helps, I realise it's not perfect, but with more time to spare you can get it quite close.
No doubt others would do it differently, but this method works for me.
As I said at the beginning, I like it better with the hair.
P.S. Tell Shawn to smile a little next time :p

MtnMan Loc: ID

I too think the hair is a very positive addition to the picture.

Hey, big modeling agencies set up huge fans to try and get an effect like that...and you did it all by yourself!

Feel good about it.

MtnMan Loc: ID

Great job showing what can be done!

And why the one with the hair is so much nicer.

Wezza1977uk Loc: London, England

I too tried flipping the eye but your results are a lot better than mine were. You've done a great job though, thank you for the time and effort you put in. I do like what you've done but as everyone else seems to think I think I actually prefer it with the hair!!! Again massive thanks for your efforts though.

Wezza

Habdab Loc: UK North West

My pleasure :)