The reason for this is because I have noticed a great number of photographers apply these techniques poorly (or simply fail to apply them) and this really, as minimal as it may be, affects their final images. The shots look great and you've spent a lot of time in Photoshop making them perfect BUT somehow, there's either too much rough skin or some some mismatch in the tones between the shoulders, arms and armpits. So, you decide to blur those elements. This doesn't work too perfectly.
now you go for the smudge tool because you figure, smooth is better, and if I make it blurry, it will take the attention of the viewers away from it...making it all good. Be as it may, for some it will work, but for the more attentive (especially fellow photographers), it won't look too good. Don't get me wrong, your pictures would still look great. To be honest, I've mostly noticed these on the best of images I've seen lately and that's why I had the chance to inspect the images.
I've been through the blur and smudge phase. It didn't last, believe me. I'm a "clone" and "heal" guy (yes, now you know my gender)
The Clone Stamp tool: On your photoshop pallet on the left of your screen, it looks like a stamp tool basically.
How it works is that it enables you to copy/clone an area of your image and paste it anywhere you wish/need to. It's ideal for situations where there are discreet patterns or just background elements that are not too prominent.
The Healing Tool: Now this on your photoshop pallet looks like a band-aid (plaster). There are two different heal tools – the Healing Brush and the Spot Healing Tool. Both Healing tools are excellent for correcting imperfections in your shots like as troubled skin, sensor dust, creases but which tool should you use to achieve the best effect? (click to enlarge images in this tutorial)
How it works: The Healing Brush lets you correct imperfections in your shot in a similar way to the Clone Stamp Tool. Like the Clone Stamp Tool, you paint with sampled pixels from your image which you can set with the ‘Alt’ button, however, the Healing Brush Tool also does an excellent job of matching together all of the relevant shades and textures to keep your fixes as seamless as possible.
Below are some illustrations of what I'm talking about.
In this photo, the areas of focus are the bits just outside the armpit areas and the right side of the forehead area. It's an amateur paparazzi shot.
1. The original
2. Smudged and Blurred. What to try and avoid. You'll notice as not-too-prominent as it may be, it just looks unnatural and disturbing to the eye. It also looks like you're trying to make the viewer not see what's been blured - like some sort of weird censoring.
3. Healed Version. Here, all that's been done is apply the Healing brush over those areas mentioned as above. You'll notice it looks a lot more natural and less distracting, without making it making the viewer think I don't want them to see that area.
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| Before |
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| After |
It's a very simple technique and in my opinion, it's essential to photographers today.
For a step by step example and sample of a creased photo that was repaired using this technique click HERE
(http://digital-photography-school.com/using-the-healing-tools-in-photoshop-cs3)
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