The Dropped Pocket Watch...
was the pre-digital age equivalent to the cracked iPod/iPhone screen. Unfortunately, there was no Apple store to repair the glass cover of a pocket watch, nor was there an Ebay where you could buy a new cover and 11 piece repair kit for $5.99 from a Top Rated Seller with over 5,000 positive feedbacks. So, to try to make things right, I fixed the face of the stopwatch using the new parts in the second image.
Celebrities and models often look better on the screen and in print than they do in person...
and there is an excellent reason for that: the human experience is an imperfect one. Most people try to look their best when they are about to appear in front of a large group of people. For actors, actresses and models, this occurs almost daily. Unfortunately, it is not always possible for them to look great all of the time, especially when "their best" said goodbye to them many years ago. That's where digital retouching comes in. Look closely at the celebrity portraits below and notice the drastic difference in the before and after photographs.
Selection Tools...
Such as the magic wand, lasso, magnetic lasso, etc., are useful when "cutting out" images to use in other photographs. Below, I selected out the ManlySaw and placed it in another Photoshop document. I sized the new document the same as the above one, and gave it a black background.
The Clone Stamp tool...
is very useful in fixing areas of similar color and texture. However, it does need to be done carefully, using a soft-edged brush, and not always at 100% opacity. To use the clone stamp tool masterfully, I took samples from different areas and tried to blend them in so that repeating patterns are not as obvious.