So here it is, my first project along with the finished product.

Fairly straightforward. Got rid of all the rips and damage to the picture with Clone Stamp, then marquee tool'd the left ear onto the right ear, forgetting to check the shadow of the right ear so I could fix it up later. RARGH.

Then because I'm extremely picky, I got rid of all the spots in the background that were bugging me, as well as High Passed to make the image sharper.

Fixed up the lighting using Levels and Curves, though I might have gone a little crazy with the Levels. The colours turned out really sharp, which I didn't realise till now. Eh well. Melded in the ear too, because it doesn't do to leave a subject with a dodgily photoshop'd ear.

Finally, masks and colours. Put on a solid colour fill layer, masked it, then started brushing in the bits I wanted. Changed the colour blend to 'Colour' so the layer sat naturally over the image instead of covering anything.

So annoyed at myself for having forgotten to use the dodge and burn tool in my assessment. I've known about it for years, and I didn't even think to use it. What is wrong with me?!

In an attempt to hammer it back into my head, I've been messing about with both tools.

Original

Sorry I ruined your face.

Yes, I'm well aware I destroyed the effect of the photo, but it was never my intention to 'fix' it. It's just a demo of how the tools can lighten and darken certain areas in an image.

I've finally managed to understand masks after all these years! I can’t believe how simple it actually was after Alexia explained it to me. Didn’t even know inverted masks existed.

Inverted

'Normal'

And I learnt this just in time too. I'm definitely going to need masks in the assessment if I'm going to put some colour back into a black and white photo.

I just hope I don't fail, or at least don't fail spectacularly.

I've actually dealt with curves and levels before back in high school, although the teacher didn't go into too much depth because she wasn't particularly brilliant at ps. So curves and levels are just adjustments that I've messed about with, without really caring how they could really fix up a photo.

Now I know I have to adjust it so there's some input at the ends of the 'Input Levels'.

Like so.

Curves I still don't think I've gotten the hang of, but I'm pretty sure if I keep experimenting with it, I'll get how it's used.

Hooray for messing with settings to darken photos.

I know I'm going to need these two, especially levels, when it comes to the assessment. I'm just hoping I don't go crazy with the settings and ruin the picture.

Learnt about the Colour Sampler tool. Now I can cross it off my list of 'Photoshop Tools I Haven't A Clue How To Use'.

Original

Balanced

I know my tutor said it's a slower way of fixing up the colour, but it's such an awesome technique that I've been using it to fix random images on the internet just because I can.