Delete background behind hairs in the wind

[az0000000]

Hello,
For long time I am trying to learn a trick in Photoshop. [I am on Photoshop 6 by the way, so please, don’t laugh. I am on Windows XP]
I am talking about background removal. I have thoroughly searched Internet for articles on this topic. I found many ways to remove an object from its original background. All those methods work just great. But, there is one think I never was able to accomplish. I was never able to delete background from within such part of the photo like hairs fluffing in the wind, or hairs ruffled by the wind.
I can easily separate an object with clear edges from its background. But how can effectively remove background from behind hairs on this photos?



Any tutorials, advices and links are deeply appreciated.
Best regards.

[TechZsue]

good luck with that, it's a dog's breakfast. i always find these things challenging. do you notice that in tutorials they always have a pretty solid background to begin with. i mean nobody even considers say another persons hair mixed in or a tree in full blossom, etc. in the background. i think the secret is to be able to recreate some of the hair that you will likely end up losing with the unwanted background.

sorry....i'm rambling. maybe someone will have more useful advice.

[x5dr]

yes....pretty easy with a solid background. Check out russell brown's advanced masking video (google it)...great place to start.

I like to Invert/Desaturate the picture to start the mask if possible.






[Edited on 1/31/2006 by x5dr]

[az0000000]

Originally posted by TechZsue
do you notice that in tutorials they always have a pretty solid background to begin with. I mean nobody even considers say another persons hair mixed in or a tree in full blossom, etc. in the background

Yeah. I actually noticed that. And I was always wondering why.
I hope it is easier than to have to recreate hairs...

[x5dr]

You have a solid background on most of one of the pictures. The problem is the shadow but you can come close.

You can see how Inverting can sometimes start you on the way to a great mask.




[Edited on 2/2/2006 by x5dr]

[az0000000]

Originally posted by x5dr
You can see how Inverting can sometimes start you on the way to a great mask.

Ok, I found inverting option, now what tool should I use to achieve my goal? That is my hardest task, to find the way for doing the best separation of background from hairs.

[az0000000]

I mean, are there tutorials that really can help me? Could anyone point me to such info?
Thanks a lot.

[x5dr]

did you watch the Russell Brown video?

[Phil_The_Rodent]

I always have found hair easiest to blend in Darken and Lighten blend modes. Problem with this method is committment. It's easiest for me to blend it correctly into the background (10-15 minutes) but once it's there, I can't move 1 pixel without having to redo the whole process.

[az0000000]

Originally posted by x5dr
did you watch the Russell Brown video?

You suggest it as very useful?