Removing Distractions with the Perfect Eraser or a Clone Brush

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Original Image with distractions such as ropes, a car and porta johns.

I had recently made a video about how to remove distractions from an image using On1's Perfect Eraser tool.  However, the image I worked on had a simple blue sky background and it wasn't very challenging for the software to clone out some branches.  A youtube view asked to see a video of it cloning in a more challenging spot.  Click here to see the first video and look below to see the new video.  

Removing Distractions with the Perfect Eraser Tool:  Part II

As you can see from the video the Perfect Eraser tool works well, but it is a little slow.  It takes quite a bit of time to process each cloned area and I think you could do as well if not better with the clone tool or the patch tool in Photoshop.  Here is the image I ended up with after using the Perfect Eraser tool.  It did ok in some areas but there are many places that need to be cleaned up.

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Results from just using the Perfect Eraser tool.

Next, I tried to clean up the image with a technique I saw from Aaron Nace by using a bokeh brush that he created to clone over objects that really didn't have enough pixels around it to use the clone tool.  I think the trick to using it well is using a low flow rate of around 8-10%.  I'm sure I didn't do as well as Aaron but I think it came out pretty well.

Using a Clone Brush to Remove Distractions:  Part III 

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Final Result

Please post comments below to let me know what you thought of this post and how you think the final image came out.  Also please use the sharing tools on this page to share this post on your favorite social media sites.

Thank You,

Gary Detonnancourt

Abstract Flowers

Next time you find yourself in a garden or field of flowers, try some abstract blurs.  Take lots of images because most of them will be failures, but some will be really interesting.  Try a relatively slow shutter speed, may start experimenting around a 1/15 second and see what you get when you move the camera.  Try different movements, up and down, side to side, twist, and also try quickly zooming the lens during the exposure and see what you get.  Post them in the comments below, I'd love to see them.  Try it, it's fun!

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This images was made by twisting the zoom ring on the lens during the exposure.  When doing this technique, try to put a main subject in the center of the frame in the hopes of getting one flower in focus.  I didn't quite achieve that with these images but I have with sunflowers in the past.

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Same technique as image 1.

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Here I spun the camera.

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This was another zoom technique, this time I do have some flowers in focus and I love how it make the image feel sort of 3D.

Don't Forget to Enter Your Flower Images this Month

This Thursday is the deadline for this month's photo contest.  Click here to enter your flower images.  

I shot the images below at a new tulip garden in Situate, Rhode Island this spring.  In these images I was concentrating on a primary subject with a shallow depth of field for lots of background bokeh.  In the next few days, I'll post another series of tulip images where I was focused on create blurred abstracts.

Monthly Photo Contest: Flowers

MONTHLY PHOTO CONTEST

Every Month you may post 2 of your best images for our photo contest. To enter, please upload the images in the comment section below by clicking on the Landscape icon or you can use an image host like Flickr by pasting the embed link in the comment bar.  Please post each image in a separate comment for voting purposes.  Prizes will be awarded to the top 3 finishers.

I will post a new subject on last Thursday of the month.  The previous month's contest will end on the last Thursday of the month at 5 pm EST.  I or a guest judge will select the winners.

CONTEST THEME:  Flowers

PRIZES:  

YOU CHOICE OF A FREE COUPON FOR MY:

• ONLINE PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS

• PRINTING CLASS

• COMPOSITION CLASS

• LIGHTROOM CLASS

Winners need to email gary@morethanasnapshot.com with your choice of the four courses listed above. Then I will respond with your coupon code.