First photoshop edit

[DiskoJoe]

Better! Now go get a better camera to match your photoshop awesomeness!

 

[Starskream666]

People buy CS5?

 

[ctfeet]

Very nice edits. One comment though, and it's a minor one. In the first "Before" image it's easy to see that it is an alligator. In the final it's hard to tell if it's a gator or porpoise or something else. If you leave the contrast where it is and lighten the whole image up a little bit the pink in his mouth is visible again and it becomes obvious that it's a gator.

I agree that the gator is a bit too dark. Too much detail is lost in him and the guy for that matter. In the original you can see a label on his jeans and the wrinkles in his shirt but in the final they are all but gone.

 

[blackrose89]

Very nice edits. One comment though, and it's a minor one. In the first "Before" image it's easy to see that it is an alligator. In the final it's hard to tell if it's a gator or porpoise or something else. If you leave the contrast where it is and lighten the whole image up a little bit the pink in his mouth is visible again and it becomes obvious that it's a gator.

I agree that the gator is a bit too dark. Too much detail is lost in him and the guy for that matter. In the original you can see a label on his jeans and the wrinkles in his shirt but in the final they are all but gone.

Actually you're right! The monitor I was using to edit doesn't show it anywhere near as dark! I've been looking at it through different monitors and it is really dark overall! I'll fix it when I can!

 

[paigew]

blackrose...when you clone adjust the hardness of the brush. I usually do a very large feather and just keep going over it until I get it right. Also, I find a large size brush is better than doing tons of tiny ones.

 

[brush]

The clone stamp is not your friend, it's not anybody's friend, it's evil and should not be trusted.

No seriously though, there's better ways than trying to clone the whole thing convincingly. Try using content aware fill to get rid of those gators in the background instead. Photoshop will calculate the content for you, make a seemless transition from the edit to the real image, and do it in the blink of an eye. This is a good photo to practice it on. All you do is use the lasso to draw a marquee around what you want gone (the gator) and then hit shift+f5 to bring up the fill menu, change the Contents dropdown to say Content-Aware and hit OK. Photoshop will do the dirty work for you. You'll have a slight imperfection where the gators head was blocking the edge of the post, you can use your clone brush to rebuild a fencepost where his head is. Select your clone stamp, option+click to set your target on the fence post with your brush centered right on the corner of the post so you've got a clear reference point. Then line up below it so the corner of the post continues straight, draw in a little post action & wham bam thank you ma'am. You've got a seemless edit.

...more than one way to skin a gator.

 

[paigew]

The clone stamp is not your friend, it's not anybody's friend, it's evil and should not be trusted.

No seriously though, there's better ways than trying to clone the whole thing convincingly. Try using content aware fill to get rid of those gators in the background instead. Photoshop will calculate the content for you, make a seemless transition from the edit to the real image, and do it in the blink of an eye. This is a good photo to practice it on. All you do is use the lasso to draw a marquee around what you want gone (the gator) and then hit shift+f5 to bring up the fill menu, change the Contents dropdown to say Content-Aware and hit OK. Photoshop will do the dirty work for you. You'll have a slight imperfection where the gators head was blocking the edge of the post, you can use your clone brush to rebuild a fencepost where his head is. Select your clone stamp, option+click to set your target on the fence post with your brush centered right on the corner of the post so you've got a clear reference point. Then line up below it so the corner of the post continues straight, draw in a little post action & wham bam thank you ma'am. You've got a seemless edit.

...more than one way to skin a gator.

what a great tip!!! storing that one away

 

[Redeyejedi]

yes, indeed, great tip Brush, i was going to suggest similar.
does anyone purchase cs5? i just did. teachers/student rate though(yes taking a class). i used to "borrow" copies of certain softwares, but being that i will be using this for myself and my business in the future, i felt purchasing the product was the right thing to do.

miss rose, i too think you can do a better job de-gatoring. there are many tutorials on the various tools in ps.. and most are free!

 

[maaatter]

I agree with the others on it being too dark. I actually prefer the "after" over the final. But good work either way!