[FHPhotographer]

Any suggestions how I can save the hair and still get rid of the distracting dark vertical window element behind the subject? I've tried every filter and Adjustment I can think of in CS4, but nothing is working, I either get rid of the background and lose the hair, or save the hair and ruin the background,
Brian

What program is available to you?

[FHPhotographer]

CS4 with Silver Efex Pro,
Brian

[Ash]

You'll need to select out the area in question and apply whatever filter/burning/effect you want to that layer to reduce its intensity. Or just use a burn brush to manually do so (less accurate).

That is the simple answer... PS gurus will be able to do more with the image for a better effect.

First thing you need to do is select the hair and the head, everything you don't want to affect and save it as an alpha channel. This is only used to save the selection. It will get discarded. Then use an adjustment layer with that selection mask to lighten the dark stripe. You just have to keep trying and using various methods to make the selection. Using adjustment layers won't destroy the original photo. But copy it anyway and hide it.
This is a really rough selection. But with refinement it will look way better

[johnmflores]

Alpha channels/masks definitely help, especially since you can use brushes and whatnot to fine tune the mask (and thus the area affected) even after you've found the exposure adjustment that you are looking for. The magic wand set to a lowish tolerance - say 36 - and started right in the center of the dark vertical would be a good place to start your mask/alpha channel

Alternately, you can use the clone tool to simply extend those medium grey horizontal bands over the black vertical area. That should help to break up that vertical and make the thrust of that area more horizontal and more like the rest of the background.

Is that a photo of Einstein?

[FHPhotographer]

John, not Einstein by half, a neighbor and my first attempt at a portrait. I'll post it as soon as I get it pulled together,
Brian

[heliphoto]

Honestly, since he's your neighbor, if you're worried about the dark area and composition of this shot, I'd try to arrange to shoot it agian, and pay more attention to your background this time around (and/or blow the background out with shallow DOF if you have that option in your lens arsenal).

It's going to take a lot of work to get fixed, and it would take a masters touch to come out looking "right" (I think).

[royal07]

FHhotographer,

I am relatively new to this post processing, but attached is my brute force attempt of improving upon your photo. I used CS2 and clone-stamped the background. Lost some hair in the process.

[FHPhotographer]

Finally decided there was no way (at my skill level) to get rid of the dark vertical and horizontal lines, smooth out the background and save the hairline; chose another shot from the same set, dropped the background out completely and saved most of the hairline, but I don't think that flat light background is the answer either. I'm still working on it,
Brian

[Eaglerapids]

Good luck, I'm in almost the same exact situation. In fact I just jumped into this sub-forum to talk about it when I saw your thread.
I've read about 100,000 tutorials on how durn easy layer masks are for everybody but me. I get the very basic part of them but I always seem to want to jump from that easy first basic part to about 30 steps forward. I read a tutorial about separating hair form the background by making a mask using channels blah blah and now I can't find it. I don't understand this part. I'll make a mask on a layer and let's say I use the red channel to separate some trees from the background and screw around some more to really make them black. Then I try to select them..........screw it.
The problem is you have to be a friggin genius with a photographic memory to remember all the intricate little freakin steps to get anything friggin done for cryin out loud. If I was that %^^^%$%$#@ smart I would design a photo program with a decent intuitive interface to allow people to do stuff in simple logical steps instead of having to learn some g__d____ed 300 friggin non intuitive steps using 27 different menu items that after screwing around with PS for 8 years I never knew some of them were even there till an hour ago. Jeebus, I am so frustrated I could throw this computer out in the street and spend the rest of my miserable life sitting in front of the f____ng television. I don't even know why I try, I hate computers. Ever since I got into them I bet I've spent 7 years of my life sitting here trying to figure out crap that does no one, especially myself, any freakin good.
Adobe? You can take your easy friggin layer masks and stick them where the sun don't shine for all I care.

Well, now that's off my chest I'll continue my search for that tutorial that tells you how to separate hair from the background:-).

[FHPhotographer]

Good luck back at ya, eaglerapids. I just gave up trying to follow all the directions on masking, and alpha-channeling, and edge- defining. Now I copy the layer and uses the Eraser to take out what I don't want and then throw away the original. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it worksas well for me as the much more complicated masking processes
Brian

[Eaglerapids]

Hey Brian, this guy has some great articles, I'm still looking for a specific tutorial that I found a while back.
Ron Bigelow Articles
Sorry for my rant in your thread but this gets frustrating sometimes. I don't think we should give up. I just figured something out about loading selections into masks that was throwing me for a loop. It's selections and how to use them with masks is, I guess, best how to explain what I'm wrestling with.

[FHPhotographer]

Hey Brian, this guy has some great articles, I'm still looking for a specific tutorial that I found a while back.
Ron Bigelow Articles
Sorry for my rant in your thread but this gets frustrating sometimes. I don't think we should give up. I just figured something out about loading selections into masks that was throwing me for a loop. It's selections and how to use them with masks is, I guess, best how to explain what I'm wrestling with.

No problem about the rant, better here than somewhere in the real world where people hit. Thanks for the link, I'm going to take a look at his stuff,
Brian

[FHPhotographer]

eaglerapids, I've read the Bigelow stuff a dozen times and I just doesn't come together, but I did find something that made some sense. It doesn't use channels, but it does use edge masking and it works,simply and easily. Here's a condensed version, and I hope I included everything from this:

Copy Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All
Select Layer Mask > Image > Apply Image > Filter > Stylize > Find Edges > Image > Adjustments > Invert > Unlink Mask from Image
Select Layer Thumbnail > Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen > Adjust Opacity > Flatten layers