It happens to everyone to shoot in areas frequented by many people, for example the main attractions of a city. Ā This is the case when tourists ruins our photo idea orĀ simply when you don’tĀ notice that element that youĀ would avoid in the final image.Ā I live in Rome and tourists areĀ really a nightmare for this kind of things, so over the years I learned to juggle well in these situations.
While for people and moving objects Ā the removalĀ Ā from he photo can be relatively simple, by taking multiple exposures and deleting them manually or automatically, the static element instead creates a huge problem for its elimination. So Ā Let’s see how to remove people or object from a a single shot,Ā focusing more attention on the harder single shotĀ removal.
MULTIPLEĀ EXPOSURES
In presence of multiple exposuresĀ the fastest way to remove unwanted items is to use the “Median”Ā function in Photoshop.
– You should to go toĀ File > Scripts > Statistics.
– Select “Median” for the stack mode and check “Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images.”
– Select your set of imagesĀ and clickĀ ok.
Photoshop will process the images to preserve the static background removingĀ everything that changes between the shots (moving people, cars, birds etc). If the final result is not perfectly clean you can continue to refine the scene using clone stamp tool.
SINGLE EXPOSURE
In the presence of static elements instead as I said the work is more difficult.Ā In this case the undesiderable element will always be in its place without the change to erase them using another exposure.
This is the case of my photo in Oia Santorini where hundreds of people present to photograph the sunset did not allow me to be able to move easily and choose a better point of shot.Ā I wanted to avoid the shot usingĀ 35mm because would have lost too much in terms of scenery, so I madeĀ the shot inĀ 24mm while knowing the hard work that expect to me, especially for the antenna on huge right. š
To start remove elements from a single exposure:
– Ā Select whatĀ you want to delete, for example using magnetic lasso, magic wand or quick selection tool.
– Then select Edit>FillĀ and make the choice like this, then click ok
The selection you made will be absorbed by the content of the picture, using the elements of background and nearby the selection you made.Ā Obviously smallĀ selections you make greater is the change to beĀ more accurate. SoĀ you should do it portion for portion on wichĀ you want to delete to create a more realistic effect of disappearance, like this.
At the end of the erasing may be still somethingĀ to delete, in this case you can use the clone stamp tool. The clone stamp for correct and clean use must be used with inverse selection (as shown in the picture of this wall with the people above that I should not touch).
Select the part you want to “save” that you do not want to affectĀ from the clone Stamp tool
RightĀ mouseĀ button and click on Select Inverse
Then you can clone whatever you want without the risk of damaging the wall
This technique will help you a lot to take pictures with a little more freedom even in the presence of so many people, but try to make your life easier shooting when you have more free fieldĀ š
This is the finished work, IĀ Ā chose to delete only people and things Ā than most impacted in the picture but with Ā patience it is possible to remove all.
