Also needing help with hair

[cjt_7]

This is the picture that this Mom likes except for the background being horrible! Her daughter wasn't cooperating & this one is one of the few where she isn't crying. I am trying to cut them out & put them in front of the pond with trees in the back & not the house. The problem I am having is the light shining through the girl's curly hair. I have read the other posts about this but I can't seem to make it look natural. Can anyone help me?

[Juergen D]

If this is along the lines your were thinking (except for the background), please let me know and I'll give you some details. Can't do it right now... :) You will have to use a layer mask.

Juergen

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1gghcF8hWLcCo6BVxjm1aOgzsTDK_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1gghcF8hWLcCo6BVxjm1aOgzsTDK)

[BillandCat]

DSC00109 11x14.jpgI did this with Adobe Essentials. I did not take time to do it properly as I just wanted to give you an idea of what could be done with Essentials. It works GREAT if there is a good contrast between the two parts. If I had increased the contrast or fiddled around with levels it would work better. I put the black in where it was transparent to shoe the hair.

[BillandCat]

Whoops!!! the pic. didn't download. Oh well, maybe somebody who knows what they are doing will help. The point is that I use Essentials to separate the back ground where the contrast is good. BillandCat

[Diana]

Very nice job, Juergen!

Diana

[cjt_7]

Juergen,

Yes that is what I was looking to do & would appreciate step by step instructions. I am trying to finish up some other touches on this with the background I am using & then upload that. Thanks.

[ken1]

I gave this a shot and came up with this:

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1D7y2OQl16E6rCaSMiFrbF2diLyT

1. Selected the two lovely ladies using the magnetic lasso tool
2. Went to Layers>new>layer via copy. This puts the selection obtained in step #1 on its own layer.
3. Opened new, blank file with same resolution as the picture. Set foreground and background color chips (lower left) to two different shades of blue. Went to Filter>render>clouds
4. Went back to layer created in step #2. Went to Select>all, Edit>copy
5. Opened the file with the clouds from step #3. Then, Edit>paste
6. Increased midtone contrast and sharpened slightly with unsharp mask filter, applied to the layer created in step #5

If you have a good picture of the pond with trees, then you can use this workflow to paste the selection as per step #5 into this. It is good practice to have the resolution of of the foreground and background about the same. Image>resize>image size brings up a dialog with this information.

HTH

[cjt_7]

Here is what I did so far with the background they chose. The girl's hair on the right needs help & the Mom's hair & sweater I'm not sure about.

[tadams17]

I gave this a shot and came up with this:

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1D7y2OQl16E6rCaSMiFrbF2diLyT

1. Selected the two lovely ladies using the magnetic lasso tool
2. Went to Layers>new>layer via copy. This puts the selection obtained in step #1 on its own layer.
3. Opened new, blank file with same resolution as the picture. Set foreground and background color chips (lower left) to two different shades of blue. Went to Filter>render>clouds
4. Went back to layer created in step #2. Went to Select>all, Edit>copy
5. Opened the file with the clouds from step #3. Then, Edit>paste
6. Increased midtone contrast and sharpened slightly with unsharp mask filter, applied to the layer created in step #5

If you have a good picture of the pond with trees, then you can use this workflow to paste the selection as per step #5 into this. It is good practice to have the resolution of of the foreground and background about the same. Image>resize>image size brings up a dialog with this information.

HTH

Good job on most of it,but looking at the little ones hair where it's stringy on the end it looks blocky...this is where I have my trouble too, any fix for that?

[Daviskw]

Another way to go is just darken the existing background...maybe with ACR.

Below is a very quick rendition...not very good work on the shadows...but it is another way to go.

Butch

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1idmhhgaqK4ELZhouIvOYelAJAjBJ_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1idmhhgaqK4ELZhouIvOYelAJAjBJ)

[ken1]

Butch,

That is a good approach.

As to fixing the little girl's hair, one could clone from the hair on the right to the left, and position the patch.

There is a nice set of hair brushes (free) which one can download - Nagel Series 36. I have used these on a new blank layer at the top of the stack with some success.

I shall work on this picture tomorrow.

[emkayess65]

I played with the picture.
Tried to lighten the faces, not so good on the baby's face.
Lightened mom's and baby's hair,eyes and teeth.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1Y4U4N4nMSXeAgHZTEM408TG7RPP0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Y4U4N4nMSXeAgHZTEM408TG7RPP0)
mks

[Juergen D]

I am trying to finish up some other touches on this with the background I am using & then upload that.
Until I can go into the details, you are welcome to use this .png file. It should have a transparent background.

Juergen

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1ZoBbnirlRQfetd2oKTtaPbrGk9V2i1_thumb.png (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1ZoBbnirlRQfetd2oKTtaPbrGk9V2i1)

[Juergen D]

To some extent it is trial and error to get flying or loose hair selected, or at least make it look fairly natural.

I first selected all the background, using a combination of Magic Wand and Selection Brush. I feathered the selection by 1 pixel and inversed it, which left me with mother and daughter. I placed them on a new layer (CTRL-J).

The green background is placed behind it, so the loose hair would be clearly distinguishable (also added a light gradient).

Next I added a Layer Mask to the new layer with mother and daughter and painted with a soft brush at various opacities around the hair to have more or less of the green showing through. That gave me the pretty natural look.

All other layers are providing some changes to the brightness and overall appearance.

Juergen

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1uxx01qLQW38CIIIUq9aCAKa0cnNx_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1uxx01qLQW38CIIIUq9aCAKa0cnNx)

[ken1]

Worked on hair, and framed picture.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1aNAgk8XJTLaI8MuDapK0Cn1ETmGmT1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1aNAgk8XJTLaI8MuDapK0Cn1ETmGmT1)

[cjt_7]

Just got back to my computer.... Thanks so much everyone for the help!!!