Trying to salvage this one

[mgbeach]

Hi everyone, looking for some feedback on this one. Just a snapshot of a friend, but tried to make it a little more. Am I on the right track? Here's the edited and original versions.

[ElleG83]

her right hand looks deformed and her forehead is beaming. not looking closely the picture looks good, but if you are looking at it real hard it is obvious that she is cut out of something, but i dont really know that there is a way to avoid that unless you are a photoshop GOD! hehe. good try though!

[Titus213]

When I try to cut around a small part of a photo I go to a high magnification and use a small brush. It's time consuming but often works. She's a pretty lady but you have your work cut out for you...

[PhotosGuy]

Compared to the original, that's a pretty good save! Did you start with a RAW pic?
Here's a easier way to cut something out of a background. Try it & see what you think:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39994

[mgbeach]

no, just a large jpeg to start with, but using the poly lasso is a really great idea! I'll give it a shot soon and post the result. Thanks again.

[Wildewinds]

I think everything from the chest up is done very, very nicely. The blouse is a bit washed out and the edges of the pants and arms need work.

[PhotosGuy]

OK, so you spent about $1,000 on equipment, time to take the pic & correct it, but you tie your hands behind your back by starting with a jpg? I just don't understand that!

[mgbeach]

OK, so you spent about $1,000 on equipment, time to take the pic & correct it, but you tie your hands behind your back by starting with a jpg? I just don't understand that!
well, it was at a party and I was just screwing around. Here's another attempt using the poly lasso like you suggested. better?

[PhotosGuy]

well, it was at a party and I was just screwing around. I know what you mean. I had some of those come back to bite me so I stay away from jpgs now.
This color balance & selection looks pretty good, though I didn't think that the other selection was all that bad. Did you find it easier?

[mgbeach]

yeah, much easier. The extract tool gives me such headaches. thanks for the tip.

[MrChevy]

Asking for help/ideas is good. It is really hard to try to do something with a shot like this, since it was not meant to be kept probably. I would say if you are going to try to extract in a photo like this you might think about using a gradient background so the "problem" areas like her hands don't look so bad. ie they sort of blend into the background whereas with a solid white background they stand out and look bad. Nothing you can really do about it since the camera didn't really save enough info to correct them. A black to white gradient probably would be best.

Also try to leave a little of the detail in her blouse so it doesn't look all blown. Try to feather her hair a little more too. A hack job with Quick Mask would look something like this:
http://mrchevy.com/mgbeach01.jpg

I don't know if that is the kind of info you were looking for, but hopefully it will steer you in the right direction with what is possible with extracting a part of a photo. Try to keep the persons skin a little more natural too. Although with this girl there is a big difference between her facial color and skin color on her arms, that isn't something that I can tell you how to correct yet, since I am just beginning to learn PS.

[RbrtPtikLeoSeny]

Personally, I'm a big fan of Mr. Chevy's! Your edit was way to bright.....

[Dante King]

Like Mr. Chevy's as well. Very pretty lady!

[mgbeach]

not sure I like that gradient background. seems a little cheesy to me. I tried it in black and white.

[jpthomas27]

The gradient may be a little "cheesy", but it's the best result. the white background is neutralizing her blouse. From a non-technical point of view, just the appeal to the eye perspective is that it feel like I'm squinting when I look at it becasue it is so bright with that white background. The black and white didn't help much, still feels like I need sunglasses. Her skin tone was the best and most natural looking in the one with the gradient background. I would take that pic and if you don't like the gradient, experiment with the background, but the subject looked the best in that one.

[ccrios]

its 3:30 am and im bored so i thought i'd give it a go as well

[ccrios]

or the color version

[mr.photoguy]

I think the Gradiant was the best.
If she had a different color blouse on then the white background would work.
The white background with the white blouce, and her almost palish white arm creates a bland fealing.
The gradiant is very natural, and almost seems like a studio background.

[aam1234]

I prefer mgbeach's version, looks cleaner an classier (to me).

Have you tried a black BG instead of white.

[mgbeach]

when i get a chance I'm going to go with a dark grey background and some subtle lighting effects

[Michaelmjc]

I like the black and white version Mgbeach... turned out nice.

[JMHPhotography]

I dunno, I think the gradiant makes the subject look flat and too 2D especially down low. The second attempt with the ploylasso was probably the best. I like the blown background. If you could find a way to mute the highlights on her forehead a bit more, it would look really good. I know that's hardly an easy task if not impossible. Blown detail is called blown for a reason. :( But I think you got it to look as good as it's going to.