Today I have a simple before and after to show you how leash removal looks, and a removal of some distracting background elements. I like this shot in general, the pink glow from the sunset and how relaxed Tucker looks.

I always start with the part of the image that I think will be hardest to deal with. If I can’t make that look ok, then the image might not be salvageable. In this case, it was the leash removal. The position of the leash going across Tucker’s shoulder here is not ideal. Having the leash hang loose down the ground would have been better, or behind him. On a dog that has longer or curly hair leash removal is often easier, but on slick coated dogs it can be more difficult. Although this leash removal isn’t extremely difficult, having the leash across the body, and intersecting with the body and legs does make it more time consuming to remove. To remove the leash I used the clone stamp and patch tool.

Once that is done I want to get rid of the people on the rocks far behind him and some seaweed on the sand. I used the clone stamp and patch tool for that.

I also wanted to salvage some of those gorgeous clouds and pink sky. I did that by bringing it back (lowered exposure, and highlights slider) on the raw file and then using that file to fill in the sky where it was lighter than I wanted.

Comparison shot, straight out of camera, to fully edited: