Clone out ?

[TJ McG]

Question is: would you attempt to clone out some of the OOF background to the right of the bird's head? This was shot of a Steller's Jay was taken in RAW. converted in DXO Pure Raw, background selectively darkened in PS. I considered cloning out some of the OOF wood behind the bird, but found that if I did that, I almost needed to clone it all out. My skills are not good enough to make a partial clone look real. Let me know what you think and if you think it would improve the shot to clone some (all) of it out, how would you do it? Feel free to try your hand.View attachment 33384

There are so many things that you can do with this in today's Photoshop that cloning something like that out completely would be the last thing I would consider. Cloning is tedious and imprecise, and there is no way to avoid repeating patterns, because that is what cloning is.

It depends on how much time you want to spend on it, but for me, the proximity of the bird's head to the deadwood in the background is the biggest problem, not that the wood is there, so I think moving the bird would be my first thought. Taking it all out and leaving all that dead space just doesn't appeal to me. I selected the bird, put it on a layer, filled the hole in the background and cropped it to portrait orientation. If the landscape aspect is important, you can do the same and keep that, but I think moving the bird and creating space between it and the deadwood is the way to go. A little burning in on the bright spots doesn't hurt either.
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[bleirer]

There are so many things that you can do with this in today's Photoshop that cloning something like that out completely would be the last thing I would consider. Cloning is tedious and imprecise, and there is no way to avoid repeating patterns, because that is what cloning is.

It depends on how much time you want to spend on it, but for me, the proximity of the bird's head to the deadwood in the background is the biggest problem, not that the wood is there, so I think moving the bird would be my first thought. Taking it all out and leaving all that dead space just doesn't appeal to me. I selected the bird, put it on a layer, filled the hole in the background and cropped it to portrait orientation. If the landscape aspect is important, you can do the same and keep that, but I think moving the bird and creating space between it and the deadwood is the way to go. A little burning in on the bright spots doesn't hurt either.
.View attachment 33783

That's a nice job too. There are so many ways to approach the same problem in Photoshop. I really like the patch tool in content aware mode followed by the healing tool in normal mode instead of clone because you can adjust the structure and color sliders in the patch tool and see the immediate impact on the image. I like to use ctrl h to hide the marching ants while keeping the selection active, just to hide the distraction of the marching ants.

 

[TJ McG]

There are so many ways to approach the same problem in Photoshop."

Indeed there are, and so many in fact that I forget how to do some these things after not using a technique for a while.

I really like the patch tool in content aware mode followed by the healing tool in normal mode instead of clone because you can adjust the structure and color sliders in the patch tool and see the immediate impact on the image. I like to use ctrl h to hide the marching ants while keeping the selection active, just to hide the distraction of the marching ants.

All of the content aware tools are amazing, and I cannot see why so many people still revert to the original clone stamp. I find that useful only for touch-up along edges where the content aware might blur or pick up something I don't want.

 

[bleirer]

Indeed there are, and so many in fact that I forget how to do some these things after not using a technique for a while.



All of the content aware tools are amazing, and I cannot see why so many people still revert to the original clone stamp. I find that useful only for touch-up along edges where the content aware might blur or pick up something I don't want.

Agree, and even near an edge switching the mode temporarily to replace does the trick.

 

[bajadreamer]

Indeed there are, and so many in fact that I forget how to do some these things after not using a technique for a while.



All of the content aware tools are amazing, and I cannot see why so many people still revert to the original clone stamp. I find that useful only for touch-up along edges where the content aware might blur or pick up something I don't want.

I certainly agree about forgetting how to use a tool or technique if you do not use it routinely. I also admit that I use the term "cloning" somewhat generically, often using the Clone Stamp, Patch Tool, Healing Brush, Content Aware Fill all together.

 

[bleirer]

I certainly agree about forgetting how to use a tool or technique if you do not use it routinely. I also admit that I use the term "cloning" somewhat generically, often using the Clone Stamp, Patch Tool, Healing Brush, Content Aware Fill all together.

I mix and match terms too. One nice trick is to use the healing tool in replace mode near edges of a problem area, then use the patch tool in content aware mode for the main part of the fix, then other tools like regular spot healing brush for fixing problem areas. It's all good if the result is invisible.

 

[dhcofc]

I would clone out the brighter spot in the background on the right side. I would select around it and Content aware fill which would probably work just fine.