Specific Smooth out body and change position of dog's feet

[isitlightagain]

Hello Guru's,

A dog of my friend's was killed by a car a few weeks back. I did make a few nice pictures of him and would like to print it for him as a gift. Can someone help me with two changes
:
- Can someone smooth out the body fur above the two legs?


- Is it possible to adjust the position of the right leg (from the photographers perspective) to align it a bit better?

I tried using photoshop but my skills are not high enough (yet) so I am curious how this would be possible.

Thanks
Full picture:

 

[JeffK]

I've always had dogs - once had three at the same time - and it's a heartbreak when a loss happens.
I'd like to help but I don't completely understand your comments:
- How do you want the fur between the legs to be "smoothed"? Do you want it trimmed to shorten it?
- What do you mean by "align" the leg? Align it with the other leg? Which direction? So the bottoms of the front legs are on the same plane?
Let me know and I'll be glad to get started.
- Jeff

 

[isitlightagain]

I've always had dogs - once had three at the same time - and it's a heartbreak when a loss happens.
I'd like to help but I don't completely understand your comments:
- How do you want the fur between the legs to be "smoothed"? Do you want it trimmed to shorten it?
- What do you mean by "align" the leg? Align it with the other leg? Which direction? So the bottoms of the front legs are on the same plane?
Let me know and I'll be glad to get started.
- Jeff

Hi JeffK,

Yes it was very hard to hear the news. He wasn't that old and very friendly. Gonna mis him!

Yea I asked him what his prefferences where for this photo.
For the fur between the legs: yes he was thinking about smoothing it, like trimming.
For the second one, I believe he wanted the feet more 'aligned' like the left feet. So a bit more towards the photographer.

I hope you understand and thanks a lot that you want to help me! I'm just starting in photoshop so i'm making more of a mess than actualy fixing things.

 

[JeffK]

Is this OK? Let me know...
- Jeff

 

[isitlightagain]

Hello JeffK,

Thanks you so very much for the edit, it looks really good.

Could you perhaps make one more edit? The feet is really good but could you make it more like the left one, see the picture below:
So that the dog stance is more right to the photographer.





You can see that the fur is getting smaller to the feet.

The reason why I ask, he had an injury on the back of the right feet after he went to the animal vet, so it looks a bit strange

 

[JeffK]

Could you perhaps make one more edit? The feet is really good but could you make it more like the left one, see the picture below:
So that the dog stance is more right to the photographer.

You can see that the fur is getting smaller to the feet.

The reason why I ask, he had an injury on the back of the right feet after he went to the animal vet, so it looks a bit strange

So looking at the image, you want me to move the right foot forward so it's even with the left foot?
You also want me to fill out the fur on that right foot to match the left foot?
Let me know. I won't be able to do that until Sunday since I'm on the road. But clarify and someone else may jump in more quickly.
- Jeff

 

[isitlightagain]

So looking at the image, you want me to move the right foot forward so it's even with the left foot?
You also want me to fill out the fur on that right foot to match the left foot?
Let me know. I won't be able to do that until Sunday since I'm on the road. But clarify and someone else may jump in more quickly.
- Jeff

Hello Jeff,

Yes that indeed the thing, so that the dog looks directly at the photographer, like the left leg.

So what I tried, with my limited photoshop capabilities, is to copy the left feet and reflect it on the other leg. Yes it doesn't look correct yet but perhaps you know that I mean by now.

Thanks so much Jeff.

 

[JeffK]

Hello Jeff,
Yes that indeed the thing, so that the dog looks directly at the photographer, like the left leg.
So what I tried, with my limited photoshop capabilities, is to copy the left feet and reflect it on the other leg. Yes it doesn't look correct yet but perhaps you know that I mean by now.
Thanks so much Jeff.

Hi -
I brought the two legs in line with each other and also "fluffed up" the fur on the left leg.
Let me know if this is OK.
- Jeff

 

[isitlightagain]

Hi -
I brought the two legs in line with each other and also "fluffed up" the fur on the left leg.
Let me know if this is OK.
- Jeff
View attachment 117501

Hello Jeff,

Thank you so much! This is precisely what we where looking for. This is how we remember him. We are going to print this and hang it on the wall.

Could you clarify how you did the edits? So I can learn it a bit.

 

[JeffK]

Hello Jeff,
Thank you so much! This is precisely what we where looking for. This is how we remember him. We are going to print this and hang it on the wall.
Could you clarify how you did the edits? So I can learn it a bit.

I used Puppet Warp to turn the feet so they're towards the photographer. You can't actually turn a 2D image but manipulating angles and shapes to give that appearance.
Puppet Warp is a neat tool and I'm still learning it. Seemed the best solution. Here's a brief video to give you an idea of how it works:

Then I used the cloning tool to fill in and "trim" the fur. I also used the cloning tool to trim the fur on the chest by cloning in some of the background.

For the last edit where you asked the feet to line up - I copied the right leg onto another layer and moved it down slightly - then cloned n the fur to mask any lack of continuity in the lines of the fur.
Again in 2D, you don't pull parts forward but change the perspective by moving those parts.

I did a bit of a curves adjustment overall to brighten and deepen the color. The image itself was a good one to start with.

If others had jumped in, they might have done it differently. Sometimes my workflow ends up more complex which is just a matter of experience.

Thanks again for the opportunity to help and again, very sorry to hear of the loss. As an ongoing dog parent, I know that you can never replace a dog. but you can always add to your pack.
My best to you and your friend!

- Jeff