Trees Sticking Out of Heads?

[TonyComer]

I don't have much expierence with PS....See pic attached...

Any advice on how to remove the sticks (poking out of top and side of heads) quickly?...I try the clone feature, but never looks right...

Also...Lady in the pic looks about 15lbs heavier than in real life. I tried the Liquify feature, but her daughters are so close to her that it starts to pull them as well…Any ideas?

Thanks...Tony

[kenw]

The trick to the clone feature (still your best bet here) is in how it is used. You need to set it up so that the edges are blended, that will avoid the hard edge look. One trick I use often is to clone multiple times with varying degrees of opacity and from different areas. Sometimes it works best to use a rather opaque clone and then go back to feather the edges a bit or blur the area to disguise the edges. In this shot you’ll also need to make sure the edges of the clouds align in the cloned vs original areas. The secret to cloning is attention to details.

I made an attempt at an example but need your permission ("Can others edit...?") to post it.

I'm not going to be much help on the weight issue.....

[doctahjones]

the liquify tool will help with weight issues. i'll have a link to what i just did here in a min...

i second that the clone will be the best bet, but good god that one looks like it will be a chore!

[MicWayWal]

I have worked on the image and will send it to you by PM. If you want I can post it here.
Trees and sticks removed. Woman made to look smaller.

[MicWayWal]

Here is my version.
When doing major retouching like this I think it is important to visualize what should be behind what you want to remove. It sounds simple but you need to map it out to get shape, form, color, and density correct.
I used the clone tool at 100% with a soft brush to remove the sticks and trees above the people. Always using a retouch layer so you can compare the original to the retouched version. It takes time and patience.
To make the woman look smaller I enlarged the gaps on both sides of her to shrink her body. If there had been a gap originally you have to imagine what would have been there. I used the selection tool to mark out where I wanted her "new edge". In that selection I put what would appear to be there. On her right side it would appear some tree would show and well as the girl. So I cloned in the dark tree from the top of the image. I then cloned in at 30% opacity the T-shirt of the girl. 30% because obviously it would not receive as much light as the other part of her shirt. It seems to work best. On her left side I just cloned her edge to move it in and then cloned in the girl shirt and arm. The last touch was to successively burn in the sides of the woman's shirt. This is different that the rest of the image but in this case it works fine.

This retouching could take anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour with the original file. To move the kids to hide some of the woman would take 15 seconds. Think while you are shooting of where the potential problems will be. Don't miss the moment, capture it when you see it. Then if you can refine it, make the refinement and shoot again. It will save you tons of retouching time.

[TonyComer]

Excellent! Thank you Michael....Tony

[johnastovall]

What jumps out at me is that your blacks are plugged. There should be some detail in the slacks not just a featureless black.