As I am still learning to do photo touch-up, it always seems like there must be an easier way to do everything. Of course there are user-created actions that you can download and use blindly, probably with good results, but there are also tons of undiscovered features right in Photoshop itself.

However, sometimes there isn’t an easier method. After all, editing photos without losing the authenticity of the original image is immensely complicated. The software developers at Adobe can only do so much to streamline the process for you. There are times where you really just need to go in knee-deep and pixel hunt.

Below is a comparison of the same image before and after editing. Obviously there are no major stylistic changes. The difference is almost entirely in the removal of certain objects that I didn’t want. This includes two trees on the right and several spots in the sand. Unfortunately for me, there is no quick fix to this kind of work (at least not that I know of) and I was forced to make many, many tiny adjustments over a long session. On the bright side, the work was relatively simple. Much of this was done with either the healing, stamp, and spot healing tools in addition to the use of masking layers.

Now that I have a clean capture of the architecture, I am free to make other, less arduous adjustments to the image. I am sure that there are ways to make this kind of editing easier – such as increasing contrast to see more clearly while zoomed in – and I hope to find said techniques before the next session of late-night stamping.