Remove lens flare

[FixitDave]

I've been asked if I could take out the lens flare from the following image, I've tried using the burn tool to darken it but I can't seem to make it look right.

I can't really clone it out, so does anybody have any tips on what I can do or is it beyond help?

 

[CT]

Draw a freehand mask around the flare and feather it by about 10-15 pixels.

Desaturate within the mask until the blue flare has gone.

Then it's a case of playing with the gamma, contrast, and RGB sliders to try and blend the area into the wall colour.

I had a quick go but lost the will to live - it's too late at night- you should be able to do a better job.

 

[AndyB]

The flare extends beyond the wall though and into the tree. That's pretty much another one not worth trying. I doubt you could end up with a picture that doesn't look fixed. Better to call it an apparition and sell it to Ghost Weekly.

 

[Chappers]

If you have Photoshop,( Don't know if you can do this in Elements).
Open a new layer and select Modeoft Light. Now make sure your background colour is set to black. Choose Brush, and in the tool bar set the Opacity to about 30%. Leave the Flow at 100%. Now slowly go over the "Flare" and build up density. By using a soft light layer the amount of fill is limited to the opacity you have set, even if you go over the same area time and time again, provided you don't release the mouse button.

Need more density, release the mouse button, click and hold and repeat the process. Areas that need more darkening you simply go over again. If you find the 30% opacity is to much or to little for you, just change it. To lighten an area, simply switch the foreground colour to white.