Swapping heads

Hi guys, have a friend asking me a favour to swap a deceased relatives head onto a better image.

The thing is in PhotoShop I'm fine removing heads and making them seem to fit so far but I can't make it perfect. The Image with the pink border is the photo I need to fix, i need to remove his head from the image and make the one from the image of him in a kilt fit this photo as it was his last photo and he was pulling a face.

What Im struggling with is getting a perfect cut out off his head and matching it so that chin is hidden behind the black of his jumper, any help would be massively appreciated.

Here are the two images.

IMAGE LINK: http://smg.photobucket​.com …ia/3_zpszkpnnlx​t.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://smg.photobucket​.com …ia/4_zpscea9bwy​x.jpg.html

I tried and it isn't too difficult but the expression and angle of the face makes for an unattractive photo.
I copy/paste, re-size and use the eraser tool to blend it in. But it doesn't make a nice pic.

i did the same, it doesn't look right.

the lighting is so completely different as is the camera angle, i don't see how it would ever look right.

Yeah I know it's a different angle etc. I'll try my best on it anyway.

I think it's doable with a little patience and good enough for people that don't judge pics
such as us, they won't know any difference. A quickie edit that started with
some cloning to add some background to cover up some of the head
on layer 1. Roughly cut out the replacement head to a new layer and discard
the rest. Tilt the replacement head slightly, move into position,
and use a mask to tidy the edges. Add a curves layer clipped to the head to
adjust color and tone. Use some dodging and burning (which I didn't do) to blend the new
head into perfection (or what should be good enough for the average viewer).

Thank you so much for that. Also saying about how other viewers would see it. It wouldn't matter much to the people wanting it done. I know we all strive for perfection but thank you so much for the help. That's brilliant.

Cool, you're welcome!

Great edit...I might darken the head to match the color in his hands.

Thanks, and I agree with you! This was just a quickie edit for illustration and encouragement.

The to-be-inserted head needs the following in order to look a bit more 'natural'...(post #6 shows the issues)

• head needs to be resized to occupy more pixels, as it is too small for the photo in which it will be inserted...I estimate 7-10% too small. based on rough measurement of POTN examples. Zoom in to 100% to measure size difference with better accuracy!
  
• the photo with the contributing head needs white balance to be adjusted, as it is both too Cool and has too much Magenta...warm it and shift balance for more Green
  
• reduced hightlight brightness and the contrast in the contributing photo, to better match the reduced brightness and contrast of the receiving photo.
  
• change the 'feather' of the inserted head, so it does not have as abrubt a transition at the edges of the head
  

Excellent stuff. Thanks for all the info.

Just a small bit of effort. Didn't go far enough, but illustrates resizing the head (yes, it was off 7.5%) and doing adjustments to shadow, midtone, highlights, contrast and color balance (it still needs more warmth), reducing the color saturation of head, as well as 'tucking' the copied layer over the old head, yet superimposing the original information (collar) over the pasted in head.

here ya go...pretty close i think...but i might mess around with changing the background out

Swap face, not whole head. Easier in this situation. I've done hundreds.