Getting Rid Of Undesirables

I'll admit it - I'm prejudiced. I don't like people in my pictures who aren't supposed to be there. When you're taking pictures in a public place, it's sometimes impossible to exclude these "undesirables" from your picture. Very annoying.

At Folkmoot I wanted to get a picture of this young woman from Mexico in her beautiful blue costume. There were several of us taking pictures, and she was doing her best to look at each of us with a nice smile. Then Joe Tourist shows up, obviously thinking our photos would be much better with him standing next to the pretty dancer. Several factors, including a police presence and witnesses, kept Joe Tourist from being eliminated on the spot. I kept my composure, knowing that later, in my digital darkroom, Joe would have no such protection.

After getting the photo on my computer screen, I noticed that I would not only have to eliminate Joe Tourist, but also "Creepy Background Guy" who had also sneaked into my frame unnoticed. I got rid of a good bit of Joe Tourist by simply cropping a little tighter. Then I brought out the big gun, the clone tool. Borrowing pixels from the out of focus tree in the background, I made this undesirable a mere memory. Adios, Joe! Creepy Background Guy got hosed the same way. No witnesses; no evidence left behind. The perfect crime.

Here's our model, now uncrowded by unwanted interlopers. An out of focus tree serves as a background, allowing us to focus our eyes on her pretty face and colorful costume. In my digital world, it's just the way things ought to be!

Dancer In Blue, Waynesville, NC  -  2013

(Click on photo to enlarge.)