Hi, a friend has asked me to make wedding invitations using this photo of them on vellum. I would like to remove the harsh light on his forehead and nose, then turn the photo to a nice black and white or possibly black and white sketch like was in one of Kimi's homework assignments. Could someone please help me figure it out?! Thanks a bunch!
Terry

RobertAndreaWeb.jpg (187.79 KiB) Viewed 1266 times

Grammy,
Usually the only sensible way to deal with a 'washed out' or 'burnt' part of a photo is to find the best way to paint the missing tones. With flesh tones, the best tool for me is the clone tool. The idea is to create a new blank layer above your image. You sample the flesh tone from the background and paint on the blank layer. You could also sample with the eyedropper and paint with a brush...

I'll try to do something as a sketch.

Since you're going to do it in b&w, I would think the fix becomes much easier than trying to get the skin color correct. You just need to get it darker, right? Why not duplicate the layer and try burning the highlights... is there still detail there? It doesn't look totally blown out, but I can't tell.

Courtney

Hi Michel and Courtney,
Thanks so much for responding. As Michel suggested, I sampled the color on his forehead and painted it with a soft brush, at about 80 percent opacity, but it looked too solid there, not like the skin texture. I tried Courtney's suggestion of using the burn tool on highlights, but it showed up dark gray instead of the flesh color.

Could I get a little more details of what I'm doing wrong please? I'd love it if someone could show me how it is supposed to look when corrected!

Thanks a bunch!
Terry

Hi Terry,

Did you convert to black and white before trying to burn? That's what I did and got this result. I also clone stamped at 50% from other parts of his forehead to get a little more texture back.

Courtney

Hi Courtney,
That's why I need to get advise from you guys! I didn't even think to turn it to black and white before using the burn tool! Your fix looks great! Now, lets see if I can copy it! I'll give it a try after church and post back here.
Thanks again!
Terry

Okay, how does this one look? Please be honest and give me CC. It is to be printed on vellum for a wedding invitation.
Thanks a bunch for the previous help and any other critiques you have for me!
Terry

RobertAndreaInvitationFront-1.jpg (45.81 KiB) Viewed 1214 times

I wish I could have centered the couple more, but the photo they gave me was cut off at the back of her head. I guess I could go back to the drawing board and clone some hair on that side, then redo the photo. Should I?

Terry, I think it looks very nice.The partial crop of the back of her head, in my opinion, does not detract at all. In fact, I probably would have experimented with a placement putting her up against that edge.

The clear focus is the couple looking at each other (with great smiles). You have that.

Good job.

Rusty

Rusty, thanks so much for your input! That makes me feel much better knowing you would have purposely tried this crop! I'm learning so much, little by little. I appreciate all the help along the way!
Terry