Shot a Wedding Saturday and the Bride had a bad day. First it snowed about 5 inches the night before. So for the outside shoot, we went to plan B, a nice plowed location by the river. The Bride was surrounded by Geese, Swans and huge Ducks. I thought this would be a nice additive until I saw the Brides face. Who knew she was afraid of our feathered friends. Now for the point of this post. Five minutes into the reception, a quest is bumped and her glass of red wine … (streaks & spots on front half of dress, from shoulder strap all the way to the floor). Now I am familiar with removing normal blemishes, PS3 healing, blur, paint, replace color etc, but this is a slow process especially, if you take the time to blend in properly, so the dress has form and not just a blob. So I have 3 questions: If you have had this experience, was there a PS approach you preferred? Second, (I have already corrected a few but) since there are approx 75 images needing correction, should I delay further action until after selections are made from stained proofs? This could impact online ordering by both the Bride & others. Any finally, I routinely remove blemishes and enhance some photos, but what is the best approach to account for my wine time? HMmm!

Wow, Paul...What a mess! I usually wait for the order B4 I do any retouch...but then I don't use online ordering... But 75 images with wine all down the dress...that's a lotta work! I would wait for the order.

Thanks Stan. Ya its a mess. The clone & color change approach work well - but its tedious. Here’s a sample of the stain and the (good natured) victim jokingly posing by the wine cabinet. Since this is a EARLY gown mishap (followed by a outside shoot), I thought it could provoke some discussion among our veteran Wedding photographers. What would you do? Enjoy, Paul
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bulmanp/sets/72157603992507700/show/

what a shame, was she mortified? That is a lot of work, and I think I would wait too, to see what or if she's ordering. Are you doing a book too?

OH...MY...GOD!!! What a mess!!!

Here's an idea...Use the patch tool within the healing tool to select the stain and drag it to a clean area, then use the healing tool and or air brush to blend it more if needed. Depending on the pose, you might be able to use the selection tool to grab a clean area of the dress and copy n move over the stain, then blend... What a MESS!!! But I would definitely wait for the order!