First Attempt at PS

[Littleone]

My first attempt at PS. What can I do different? The picture looks great printed except for the edges of the flower.

Here is the first picture:

231183

Here is the finished product

231184

Thank you for looking!

Lyn

[S.Horton]

PS = Photoshop?

[Littleone]

Sorry :oops: yes Photoshop CS

[S.Horton]

Oh, no worries -- I'm just never quite sure anymore, since so many have Lightroom, etc.

I see you're trying to remove the subject from the background; soften the edges a bit for the transition.

Very nice web gallery, BTW.

[Ender2309]

it looks like you have a slight feather turned on, i think the default for the lassos (if thats what you used) is something like 3 px. turn it off or to 1 and i think you'll like the results better.

[Littleone]

I didn't use the lasso (probably my mistake) I used the magic wand instead.

With Photoshop it is a hit and miss for me. What takes most people minutes to do, takes me a day or more. I try to stick with what comes out of the camera except for color or balance.

Thank you for your suggestions! I will work on them.

Lyn

[zacker]

you need to feather it in...try 2 pixels at first... it will help it sorta fade into the bg..

[PETERSYMES]

I know the problem and this is what i do to fix it.
I make my selections, lasso or otherwise and i tend to feather them by 2 Pixels.
I then copy and paste the selection as a new layer onto my new background, then making sure the new layer is slected i take the eraser tool, set the brush hardness to soft or softish end of the scale and set the flow rate for the eraser tool down to around 5%. Then without making the brush diameter too big SAY 10-15 Pixels (depends on image size) i gently work around the edges of the layer gradually erasing the edges and they start to blend into the background, takes time but worth it.
One other thing to check (first actually) after i paste my layer i go to, Layer, Matting,De Fringe. Sometimes i have to use Remove White or Black Matte depending on the background / Foreground colours.
I hope that helps....

[jonquil]

are you going to bring in the little bud from the corner? i liked that in your original composition.

[JakPot]

I didn't use the lasso (probably my mistake) I used the magic wand instead.

With Photoshop it is a hit and miss for me. What takes most people minutes to do, takes me a day or more. I try to stick with what comes out of the camera except for color or balance.

Thank you for your suggestions! I will work on them.

Lyn


It's called practice! You'll never get any quicker if you don't work at it. Does CS have the Extract filter? Or was that introduced in CS2? It seems to do a better job (& much quicker) than the selection tools.

[Littleone]

Thanks everyone! I have been working on it today and your tips have certainly helped.

However I cannot seem to get rid of the "fringe" the surrounds some of the petals. I will continue to work on it.

I will post the finished product.

Lyn

[joedlh]

I know that your question was about PS technique. However, the EXIF data shows that this image was shot on a 5D at 150 mm, f5.0 and 150 mm. You should be able to get a better image from a 5D. First off, I think the focus is on the stem of the bud in the bottom right corner. At least there seems to be more detail there. If I were setting up this shot, I would use a tripod and a higher f stop, like 16. That would give you more depth of field. With sharper edges, you might find that PS would have an easier time of selecting the pixels you want.

Just my thoughts.

-Joe

[JakPot]

I know that your question was about PS technique. However, the EXIF data shows that this image was shot on a 5D at 150 mm, f5.0 and 150 mm. You should be able to get a better image from a 5D. First off, I think the focus is on the stem of the bud in the bottom right corner. At least there seems to be more detail there. If I were setting up this shot, I would use a tripod and a higher f stop, like 16. That would give you more depth of field. With sharper edges, you might find that PS would have an easier time of selecting the pixels you want.

Just my thoughts.

-Joe

yeah, not the best to try to extract the subject, especially to a straight black background. I think instead I'd try to process the photo as is to enhance. If your plan was to extract, you'll have a very difficult time getting it to look right.

[VictorValencia]

One thing I suggest is to have some black velvet handy and use it as a backdrop.
Then expose to the right and bring it back down in PS to make the background
as black as possible. I am no expert in PS but I think it will be tough to
make it look realistic. Nuthin's better than the real McCoy.

Here's an example...

http://victorvalencia.smugmug.com/gallery/3907792#233636803-X2-LB