Portraiture - Editing

ORIGINAL: 

EDITING:

Firstly, using the clone stamp tool, I edited the background by going over all of the marks and dirt spots on the backdrop. This cleaned up the image and removed anything that was unwanted from the picture.

Next, I used the levels tool to balance the light in the image. This, again, made it clearer and brighter. This makes it more appealing and removes the grey filter that was over the image. 

I then created a vignette. To do this, I used the curves tool to make the whole image darker, and then used the gradient tool by dragging it from her face to the outside of the image. This brought lightness to her face. By doing this, it darkens everything in the image but her face, therefore bringing more attention to the face.

Using the hue/saturation tool, I took the saturation down to -13. I did this as the colours in the image are already very muted and toned down, so bringing the saturation down compliments this.

Using the clone stamp tool, I decided to remove the stray hairs in order to tidy up the image and make the overall appearance neater. 

Lastly, I brought up the contrast, this make her skin appear brighter and hair appear darker, bringing more attention to her face.

FINAL IMAGE:

EVALUATION:

I like how the overall look of the image is after editing, as it looks sharp and neat. The balance of light is much better after using levels and the contrast tool, making the image clearer and more appealing. But, I do not like how her hair looks after editing as it looks as though she has been cut out of a separate image and placed into this one. So, I have edited the photograph again following the same steps but have skipped the part where I edited her hair. I much prefer this edit as it seems much more natural.