DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

One of my favorite photos from a recent trip to the Rocky Mountain National Park shows a wide-angle view of the sky above the Bear Lake trailhead. Due to poor hygiene (I’m referring to the camera) the image is marred by spots and reflections.

Fortunately, stripping lens flare, dirt, and reflections with Photoshop is easy:

1. Select the Healing Brush.
2. Set the brush size to about half the size of the largest spot to be repaired.
3. Option-click a clear patch of sky to define the source of the “healing.” Or, make the canvas bigger and in this new space paint in a block of solid color (any color) and option-click that. The color is irrelevant; what’s important is that it has no texture or variation.
4. Paint over the lens flare, dust, streaks, reflections, etc. Photoshop seamlessly paints in the right color, removing whatever artifacts were present.

This technique works well and quickly on areas of solid color, such as blue sky. If you’re trying to preserve texture, this approach will not give good results.

You can see the repaired image here.