MAKE OVERS: KIM
Kim had a problem with the picture below:
She actually had more than one problem with it. The problems arise out of its origin: an automated photo booth on the Santa Monica pier. Bad lighting, bad film quality, bad background... all we have is a good subject. She tried cropping and shrinking it and that did help somewhat:
... but that doesn't cure all the ills in the picture.
So, she sent ti to me to see what I could do with it. I'm going to do my work with the larger image, as it's more of a challenge. The first thing to do is to crop out the strip at the bottom:
Now, what do I do with the lines? Get rid of them or use them as part of the picture?
Use them? Sure, why not? They lend a certain warmth to the image. Often, artists will add "noise" to a picture to make it warmer. I might just want to keep them in a way... Anyway, I'll first increase the brightness and contrast in the image:
I don't like the bright portion in the upper right corner. I'm going to darken it there, to put the dramatic focus on the face.
All right. Now for the lines. Keep 'em or lose 'em? I'll lose 'em. I'll go for a soft, silver-screen look.
Some of the lines are still faintly visible, but the image doesn't suffer much for them. I didn't soften the glints in the eyes, so they are now the #1 focus in the image. Now I add a gentle orange tone to the image. The darker areas will look brown, but the image will retain a happy blend of red and yellow, giving it life and warmth. That's a good thing.
Big finish, now. I copy the current layer on top of itself and apply an "aetherize" filter from Flaming Pear to the topmost layer...
... and blend it in on "dissolve" at 60% opacity.
Now I have my noise in the points of the dissolve, and they cover the rest of the lines, without losing the drama of the image. When I got to this point, I told myself I would have to stop here. Anything else could wreck it.
Here's a comparison between the original and the final product.
And we see now how to get from the Santa Monica pier to the silver screen...
NEXT:
It could be you! Send me email if you're interested in having me convert your picture from normal to stellar!
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