help me make this realistic!

[jonathan_wing@adobeforums.com]

I have this photo in which the client wants me to paste an image of him from a photo on top of another. you can see here that the image of him on the left is the one pasted on, and the right is the original real part of that photograph.

in what ways might you suggest that i could improve the realism of this to create the illusion he is actually apart of the photograph instead of looking merely pasted on top?

[victor_maldonado@adobeforums.com]

Hello, Jonathan :)

in what ways might you suggest that i could improve the realism of this
to create the illusion he is actually apart of the photograph instead
of looking merely pasted on top?




1. Match the shadows, it looks like the original photograph was taken at about noon, so the shadows are directly below everything, so airbrush a shadow below the pasted image on the left by cloning the shadow color on the right image and play around with the opacity of the shadow on it's own layer.

2. Lower the contrast (using Curves) of the pasted image to match the one on the right.

3. Correct the grays on the left image to match the image on the right. for example, the image on the left, his arms are too white, his t-shirt is too black, his face is too gray so are his jeans and shoes.

If you are a photographer, it looks like the original image is on number 2 paper and the image that was pasted was on number 3 paper so the contrasts are different (more black and white on the number 3 paper, less gray and the original photo less black and white with more gray).

4. Remove the rim of black around the outside edge of the arm holding the rooster.

If your pasted image still has the data, for example, it hasn't been JPEGed to death, it only needs very little tweaking in Photoshop to make it look real.

love & peace,
victor :)

[Buko@adobeforums.com]

Posting a picture is bad etiquette.

you should post a link. this site is accessed by many who have dial up and are charged by the amount of data transfered.

[jonathan_wing@adobeforums.com]

I do apologize, I just don't really like people poking around at my URL-- you know? People can if they want to, but I'd just rather them look at my photo only.

[Rene_Walling@adobeforums.com]

And there I thought that was the point of URLs...

If you don't want something to be seen, don't post it.

[SPAMMERS_SHOULD_DIE_bonniejdesign@bonniejdesign.com]

If you don't want people poking around in your folders.....put an index.html page in the folder with a keepout sign on it. Then the only way to see what is also in that folder is with a URL to a particular item.

Otherwise.. what Rene posted.

For your original question...

correct the contrast of the pasted one to match the original
the shadows are too harsh in the pasted image compared to the original
Look at the shoes & the wrinkles in the jeans as an example.

[John_Gudgeon@adobeforums.com]

Can anyone help me with this photo of my daughter? It was not, obviously, staged, but spontaneous...the butterfly really took to my daughter for a while. I think this photograph has some real potential, but being an amateur photoshop user, I don't know where to go with it to bring out the best. I am using Photoshop 7 with 10.2.8.
Actually, I can't figure how you add a photograph to this message and forum! I have a copy of the photo saved in html, but can't get passed that. Maybe I'm not ready for this forum or your help. But, if anyone cares to help, I would be very grateful.
Sincerely,
John

[Ramón_G_Castañeda@adobeforums.com]

Upload your image to a web server and just give us the link here. Usually your ISP gives you some free space to use as ftp storage.

[Neil_Keller@adobeforums.com]

jonathan,

...I just don't really like people poking around at my URL




I agree with Rene. Just don't link to the image on your site. Follow the alternatives suggested by Ramón and Bonnie. Posted images in this Forum will generally be replaced by their links.

If you have another link for your image, post that link here and I will replace the link in your original post.

Thanks.

Neil
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