Occam's Razor is often paraphrased as "The Simplest Solution Is Usually The Best Solution". (Brother Occams' original phrase in Latin was "entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem" which is translated in Wikipedia as "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity".... Demonstrating that the simplest translation is also usually the best one -- but I digress).
Hold the thought of Occam's Razor while you take a look at this photo of a lovely hillside home in Eagle Rock.
There is one obvious problem. The green trash can in the driveway.
I see four possible solutions, two on-site, two in post-processing.
1. On Site: Physically move the can. Pull it out of sight before shooting, pull it back to its original place when done.
2. On Site: Shoot from an angle where the can is not visible.
3. Post Processing: Crop it out.
4. Post Processing: Clone it out.
Reviewing all four options, I don't doubt that Brother Occam would choose number 3: Cropping. That option takes the least physical effort, and the least post-processing time.
But if you are absolutely determined to practice your cloning skills, let's give it a whirl:
I see three distcint "zones" surrounding the trash can. 1. The Driveway. 2. The brick wall. 3. The shrubbery.
I'll work on the driveway area first. Select a "donor" area by ALT clicking somewhere in the driveway. Then click on the trashcan to "paint" the color from the donor area over the trashcan. Be careful of that green flower pot!
One secret to successful cloning is to keep reselecting the donor area. Each time maybe from a slightly different position to pick up minor color variations. Think of an artist dabbing his/her palette, then dabbing on his/her painting. Then back to the palette-dab a little more, back to the painting-dab a little more. Back and forth, back and forth. Dab the palette, dab the painting. That's the idea.
Next, I tackled the shrubbery. Choose a donor area - ALT click - Dab over the top portion of the can. Keep with the back and forth thing:
The brick wall will be the tricky part, because I want to maintain a good straight diagonal line where the surface of the driveway meets the brick wall.
The longer you practice with the Clone Stamp, the more you will come to appreciate Brother Occam, and the value of the crop tool.
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