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Thursday, September 02, 2010

Before and After

My parents went to see the Tall Ship Festival in Duluth recently, and my mom got to meet "Captain Jack Sparrow"!

Dad took this picture.

Cool, but I didn't like the background (not very piratey like you would expect to see when hanging out with Captain Jack Sparrow) and I needed to get rid of the date stamp.

This is my first attempt at a pretty complicated edit. I've combined three different photos (beach - not in Duluth, but rather in San Diego; the "red sail" ship - a photo my dad took at the festival that both of my parents really liked; and the photo above).

I'm planning to redo it, taking more care with the cutting of the original photo, and working with the color a bit more. I like this because it shows that the image that I see in my head is possible.



Any suggestions or tips? I'm using PSE8. And I am a real novice. (which is probably obvious from the edit) 

I'm enjoying stretching my skills each week... and though most days I really see what I want to do but absolutely can not make it happen, I keep getting better. It just takes perseverance! Just like my parents always told me.

If you like my shots, you need to visit Pixel Perfect for more before and after fun! And if you want to play along all you have to do is show us your SOOC (straight out of camera) shot and then the edited version. Link back to Pixel Perfect and link up your post below! Feel free to share with us your editing program and camera gear too!



Zentmrs

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14 comments:

  1. WOW! You did all of this PS8? Excellent job! The only thing I notice is that you can still see some of the original picture in the edit...right around "Captain Jack" and your sweet Grandmother. But EXCELLENT job combining these photos!

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  2. Great job combining them! Very creative idea!

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  3. What an awesome transformation!!!

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  4. Great concept! Having the vision in taking the photograph and later in editing is the biggest part of photography in my opinion.

    Hint 1) The boat area and Capt. J & Grandma: Make sure that the contrast and shadows are similar. I think the shadows are ok but the boat is not quite as contrasty. Also sharpness and "grain" or noise. Drop the contrast of Capt. J & Grandma a little and perhaps the sharpness too.

    Hint 2) Masking. PSE8 does masking. I do not know if you are using a mask on Capt. J & Grandma to remove the unwanted background, but using a mask is the best way to tweak it non-destructively. Big brush on the mask to start then small brush with soft edge to fine tune.

    You are almost there! Good work!!

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  5. You did a really good job so far! I like the hints right above this comment.

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  6. WOW, I didn't expect such great transformation I love that edit, briliant idea!

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  7. Very cool! You did a great job!

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  8. Yes very nice idea!! I have done edits like this before and moved things from one photo to another..I have PS7 Elements and here's what I did..first of all Perry is right in saying having similar lighting/contrast..etc in both pictures help it look more 'natural'..but on the boat photo I would just go to Layer->New->Layer (that puts a 'transparent' layer over your ship photo..

    Then I would use my lasso tool with some feathering (maybe 5, 10 px) and draw a rough outline around the person or thing in the other photo..then drag that selection from that photo to your 'destination' photo and drop it..move it around to where you want it since it's on it's own layer..

    Then..last step is detailing..I select the eraser and you can change the hardness of it up where you would change your brushes in the drop down menu when you have it selected..get a "soft" eraser and zoom in and carefully erase the 'extra image' off of the 'destination photo' and there you have it! A new photo for the archives! But nice job there..I had to self-teach and google everything :-)

    Thanks for stopping by my blog, if you haven't already became a follower feel free to, I am your newest..and I have a challenge going on right now that's a free for all..any (up to 3) photos and and the story behind it or the editing steps...open till next wednesday! happy blogging!

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  9. Hello :)
    I think you did an excellent job! Did your parents like the way it turned out?
    I wish I was able to take an idea and make it turn out as well as you did. Very nice!
    ~Melody

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  10. Great job combing the two pics! Very fun!

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  11. OMG that is awesome!! You did a great job for the first time! I would have used the lasso tool and cropped a bit closer around them. You can see a bit of a halo. I'm a bit of a newbie too so I don't have any suggestions on that.

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  12. That would have taken me HOURS to do! Good job!!! :)

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