Fix for a bit of scalp peeking through?

[Lorie]

Hi Damien, I'm hoping you have a magic cure for scalp peekage.  I don't want to give her a full head of hair; just trying to add something natural to cover where it's thinning.  Any ideas?

[Damien Symonds]

The solution is so easy you'll fall of your chair.

1. Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.
2. On the Reds channel, move the Lightness slider all the way to +100.
3. On the Yellows channel, move the Lightness slider to about +15 or so.
4. Mask loosely to the hair.  No precision required, as you'll see.

[Lorie]

Thank you, thank you.  That's a whole lot easier then cloning fresh hair!! Another happy customer.

 

[Damien Symonds]

Do you mind showing us the result?

[Lorie]

Holy shit, Damien.  I just fell out of my chair... and bowing down to you all at once.  wow.

[Lorie]

Stupid question of the Day (SQOD): Is the "formula" always about the same? i.e. +100 on reds lightness, +15 on yellow? Or was that specific to my gal's scalp/grey? I seriously want to go back to every photo I've ever taken with thinning hair and make this fix.  wow. 

Edited March 16, 2016 by Lorie

[Damien Symonds]

No, it was quite specific to this photo. Another photo of the same scalp might require different numbers, and a different scalp might require an entirely different method altogether.