Friday Fix-It @ I heart Faces

Don't forget to enter my Mother's Day give-away!

It's Friday and I decided to take another stab at Friday Fix-It.

Before Picture:



Photographing children with hats or hoods on is usually a recipe for disaster, and while this photo isn't exactly a disaster, it did render some unfortunate lighting problems on the child's face. Also, probably because he's on a merry-go-round, the photo is slightly out of focus. I am working on Photoshop CS3.

So some basic fixes:

Always work on a new layer for each edit so you can throw it away or adjust the opacity if need be.
Unsharp mask -use your eye on this one.
Lighten the photo using brightness/contrast.
Dodge the whites of the eyes and the teeth.
Burn the pupils and the lashes and creases around the eyes that are missing detail.
Use the healing brush to remove the light patch on his cheek. Adjust opacity on this layer until it looks natural.
Sharpen again slightly.
Select only the skin on the boy's face avoiding his eyes and mouth, run a slight gaussian blur. Adjust opacity.
Increase the contrast to allow the blacks and colors to pop.
Crop the photo so the eyes fall at approx 1/3 the length of the crop.
Run MCP action Powder Your Nose.
Sharpen one last time.

Results:



Again,



You can play along or see others' edits with the same photo over at i heart faces.

Don't miss a post! Subscribe to lwm3b. In a reader? Come visit me; it's prettier here.