A couple of months ago I started using Apple’s Aperture 2 photo application. The photo editor in Aperture is much better than anything I’ve ever used. While not a true graphics editor like Photoshop, Aperture does have some tools which are helping me make great photographs from not-so-great ones.

Like this photo of a performer in Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Festival of the Lion King show. I caught her just before she was about to blow a kiss to the audience at the end of the show. I really loved this photo except for the object on the right hand side. I believe it’s a hand or part of a costume from another performer passing out of the frame.

Festival of the Lion King Goodbye Kiss before cloning.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/60s, f/5.6, 1600 ISO, -0.3 EV, 200mm Focal Length

I could crop the object out but, with such a high ISO, the image would get even grainer than it already is. Aperture, like other photo editors, has a clone repair tool. What a clone repair tool does is allow you to take a part of a photo and then “paint” over another area duplicating that part. You do this with a “brush”. In Aperture’s case, it’s a circle.

To go about fixing this photo, I selected the cloning tool and adjusted it’s size. The area just above the object is what I used to clone. I moved the brush there and clicked the mouse to select it. Then, I moved my mouse with the left button held down over the area and carefully replaced the object with the selected area. Below is the final result after a few tries. Many editors let you start over if you don’t like the initial results. If your photo editor doesn’t, be sure to save a backup before starting. To see if your photo editor is capable of cloning, look through it’s manual or support website.

Festival of the Lion King Goodbye Kiss after cloning.