Cut & Paste

[Rusty]

This is an ordinary snapshot but it's a big deal to me 'cause it's the first time I have attempted to replace a section of one image with another.

When I took this, I knew full well that the window area was going to be blown out. I took a second shot, making sure that metering was on the outside thru the window.

In the past I would have used masked adjustment layers, levels and/or bright/contrast, to try to salvage that part of the image.

I was happy with the way this worker out.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1UD1Ivw6Ild7BjFCnBYYUE9tRZHcKM_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1UD1Ivw6Ild7BjFCnBYYUE9tRZHcKM)

(I also did some work on the eyeglasses w/clone stamp and paint brush)

Rusty

PS - my daughter told me, "Dad, you can't believe the prices for "stringing toys"; you do wood stuff -- make some) :)

[PJSmith]

It looks seamless to me. I wouldn't have even thought of doing that-- good idea!

And, he's a cutie! Grandson, I assume.

Patti

[Ellen]

That looks great Rusty, did you use a tripod or just handheld?
Your daughter is right you ought to make kid toys, just knowing that they are not full of lead or some other nastiness would be a giant plus.
Looks like you are the perfect Granddad.

[kroberts]

Rusty,

Great job putting the photos together! :)

Looks like your grandson is having fun, the toys will be more fun because YOU made them!:)

[Wendy]

Hey that is good !! ... I couldn't see any join at all :)

Wendy

[Juergen D]

Rusty,
Good work! One small observation, though. The new window area should be slightly blurred to blend in with the chair and the rest of the background to maintain the proper depth of field perception.

Juergen

[quillabee9]

Nicely done, Rusty. That gives me some ideas. Thanks.

[westiemom]

You did a great job, Rusty.

Anita

[Inspeqtor]

Great Job Rusty! I never would have thought of doing that either.

Only Jeurgen would have noticed the depth of field, but he is right!

[Rusty]

Thank you all for comments,

Unfortunately, we drive Christopher (and his parents) to the airport in less than two hours to fly home to Calgary :o
We'll visit him soon :)

Jeurgen, you are exactly correct. When I metered on the window for the second picture I forgot that it was auto focusing as well. When I was pasting that part of the image in, I was paying attention to colors and contrast and completely forgot about the mystery of two parts of the image in focus with the middle soft.

I could claim I was doing that on purpose -- for effect! :D

Rusty

[vawitt]

Great job, and great idea! Planning ahead...were you a Scout in your younger days? :D

~Val in steamy IL

[Rusty]

Val, I was a Scout but, in photography, my planning is simply learning from errors.

I have had reasonable success "fixing" windows like that with a masked adjustment (unless they are totally blown). I finally got smart enough to realize that simply pasting in an entire section was a heck of a lot faster than attempting to fix a poorly exposed part of an image.

Now, if I was really planning ahead I would have switched to manual focus. Meter on the window area but focus on the kid. That, however, probably would not do the trick because the bright sunshine would have produced a higher f-stop. So, adding blur in PSE is probably the easy and quickest solution.

Ellen, I forgot to answer your Q - no tripod. Chris is 2-1/2 and is so bouncy, hand held is the only way I can keep up with him :D

Rusty

PS to Val in steamy IL - you got nothing on SE Wisconsin today; I think we just set a new record for steamy!

[photoshopsusieq]

Good job, Rusty!

[uniqcrafts]

Great job!!