How to make this better?

[Kayaker72]

So, one of the things I had wanted to do after our discussion about the assignments was start a "How to make this better?" thread under "Image Critique." I've been busy, but now I have a need.

I was in Chicago over the weekend visiting my sister and her 6 week old son. I did a quick photo shoot. It went well, for the most part (I am really wondering why I chose some angles that I did), but my nephew has a "Stork Bite" in the form of a red "V" on his forehead. My sister, who would prefer me to not post family photos, was wondering if I could remove the "V" for the shots she wants to send out with the birth announcement and Christmas cards.

I have Lightroom and I have photoshop. I have tried cloning and can get it close. But it isn't as good as I would like.

Do any one have any suggestions on how to process the photo to remove a red "V" on the top of my nephew's forehead?

Thanks

[jamsus]

The stork bite is pretty common in childs so, from that angle, don't worry!

Second, in my opinion "cloning" + healing tool are pretty okay, but you need to isolate the area and start grinding on the skin tones.

And remember, Christmas cards << i think those are not very big, so little imperfections could be eaten by the resolution.

Think also if it could be a nice idea to transform the foto in B&W

My 2 cents

[sambisu]

Maybe try desaturating red tones in that area?

[Jayson]

When I run into problems with red marks on babies, I initially try using the patch tool. If that doesn't work or if it starts to look funny, I use the clone stamp tool. When I use that, I usually set the stamp tool to lighten in the blending modes and then use an opacity at about 35%. You can start to see it move the way you want it and then go from there. I usually end up with about 4 layers of cloning and various things before I like it. If you desaturate the reds, it might adversely effect the photograph. I'll send you a PM.

[Dave Throgmartin]

Content aware spot healing brush