Taking out shadows in a picture - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

10/05/2003 05:15:16 PM · #1

Does anyone know a good way or a tutorial to take out shadows behind someeones face IÂ´m trying to do it but the hair always looks to fake You can see that there was a shadow there. Anyone?

Spork99

OM System OM-1

10/05/2003 05:57:17 PM · #2

could you show an example??

timj351

Sony DSC-F707

10/05/2003 06:36:26 PM · #3

This is one of the toughest tasks to do well and I don't know of any truly automated way to do it. What I would do is make a rough selection around your subject including all of the strands of hair and then copy and paste it into a new layer. Save your file at this stage or make another copy of this layer to revert back to if you need to and turn this extra layer off. Now turn off the original or bottom layer and go to the layer with just your subject and pick the eraser with a very small brush size or pressure and gently start to erase the areas between the strands of hair and other areas to get a clean image. By having the bottom layer turned off you can easily see your results. This is tedious but it is the best way I know. You can then work on you original layer or a copy of it to get rid of the shadow by not worrying about your subject or it's hair and then it should look pretty good. It is very difficult to fully explain and it is dependent on your experience with layers. I'm in the habit of saving extra copies of some of my layers so I can easily go back and work on another one or for comparing results of different operations.

T

Message edited by author 2003-10-05 18:37:32.

10/05/2003 07:02:22 PM · #4

I have tried this with cuting to a new layer and the stamp tool and stuff, ItÂ´s the hair that is just too hard to do! Here is an example

here

Message edited by author 2003-10-05 19:03:24.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

10/05/2003 07:07:51 PM · #5

Fred Miranda sells a plug-in just for this purpose
It is called SR (Shadow Recovery) Pro.
It sells for $19.50 not sure how good it is?
I have two of his other plug-ins and they work nice.

//www.fredmiranda.com/shopping/SRpro

Calvus

timj351

Sony DSC-F707

10/05/2003 07:21:50 PM · #6

It is not easy, I know. I was talking about using the eraser tool not the Stamp tool to remove the area between the strands of hair. I will have a look at the actual photo and let you know if I have any better ideas or additional techniques to share about it. The background shadow color may be specific enough to select and isolate.

T

timj351

Sony DSC-F707

10/05/2003 07:46:43 PM · #7

After looking at the photo I believe that I better method would be to create a new layer and with selection tools and the paintbrush tool fill in your entire subject. You can use the Quick Mask tool to do this as well. Use the selection tool to select the majority of the subject and then, using the same color, use the paintbrush tool very gently trace the hair strands until you have only your subject with all of the strands of hair painted in. You can go back and fourth between the paintbrush tool and eraser tool to get real precise. This will give you the selection you need to work on the background of your subject. What really works well for this level of editing is the use of a pressure sensitive pen and tablet to use instead of the mouse. They have come down a lot in price so it might be worth looking into.

T

Message edited by author 2003-10-05 19:48:35.

Spork99

OM System OM-1

10/05/2003 08:22:17 PM · #8

The best approach may not be in editing after the fact in software, but rather before the shot, with equipment. When I used to shoot weddings with my boss, we always used a flash bracket that held the flash up and away from the lens. This helped eliminate red-eye, but it also helped by making that shadow lower and not as obvious. We used Stroboframe brackets. I'm sure there are other brands. You can try bouncing the flash off the ceiling too, but if the ceiling is too high, or colored it won't work too well.

crabappl3

10/05/2003 10:23:01 PM · #9

I agree, the best way to manage this is prior to the shot. You may want to look into one of these for your speedlight Omni Bounce

I was having problems with hard shadows prior to this purchase With Shadow

But with the omni bounce, I no longer usually have this problem Without Shadow

Another method to help is to have your subject farther from the wall.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II

10/05/2003 10:35:38 PM · #10

Heida

Are you refering to the shadow on the background?
I though you were refering to the dark shadows on the hair.
Sorry if I misunderstood you.
Removing the shadow from the backdrop is going to be tough.

Calvus

kostia

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

10/05/2003 11:08:41 PM · #11

Extensis MaskPro is designed for removing backgrounds and shadows behind complex subjects like people's hair.

//www.extensis.com/maskpro/index.html?ref=local_prod

Photoshop's Magic Eraser and Background Eraser also get you a lot closer than trying to freehand the area around strands of hair. I zoom way, way in when I do this, but the results are never anything I've been super proud of. MaskPro is a lot easier.

10/06/2003 02:56:07 PM · #12

Heida

I hope you do not mind, I was tweaking my photoshop skills with you photo. I came up with a copy that is not bad for the short time I worked on it. If I had a tablet to work with it would have been much better.

Let me know what you think, if you like it I will tell you how I did it.

Other comments are welcome also.

Just keep in mind what I said above, this was done in a short time and could have been quite a bit better with more time spent on it. Better than a $200. plug-in in my oppinion.

Click on the thumbnails below to view the larger images:

New - EDIT Photo has been removed. Ask Heida to see the NEW photo.

Old

Calvus

Message edited by author 2003-10-07 17:46:12.

10/06/2003 03:32:24 PM · #13

Hey Calvus This is Great background how did you do it? It just have to work more on the hair That is going to take alot of time.
I only had one light for this shot and I thought I would just take the shadow out in photoshop but it wasnt as easy as I thought it would be.
Thanks for all your answers And Calvus please tell me how you did it ;)
Thanks :)
HeiÃ°a

10/06/2003 04:27:09 PM · #14

Heida

I emailed you the instructions in a PM. Let me know if you can make them work before I post anything here.

Calvus

Inga_fang

10/06/2003 04:41:33 PM · #15

you can always let the model step away from the wall ;)

10/06/2003 05:08:44 PM · #16

Originally posted by Inga_fang:

you can always let the model step away from the wall ;)

Ã�aÃ° er kannski aÃ°eins of seint Ã rassinn gripiÃ° ;)