Something from nothing

First off...I did not shoot the pics but have full permission to use/edit. My son was married in April and they hired a student to do the pics. They just paid him for his time and pics on CD. When all was said and done, my DIL realized that they forgot a pic of just her. :/ For Christmas, I did the following project for her. I welcome feedback on how I could improve it. TIA

Original:

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nice work

The background lighting seems brighter and more contrasty than that on the bride, causing the composite to look a bit unnatural. You may want to try lowering the highlights/exposure on the background.

That's some nice work! Can you give a brief tutorial on your workflow? I am reasonably comfortable with Lightroom now and looking to take the next step in PP which is to selectively modifying backgrounds, etc., like you have done. I assume I need PS for that, right? Are there books or tutorials that could help me get started?

pophoto wrote in post #15495791
nice work

Thanks

davidgp wrote in post #15495886
The background lighting seems brighter and more contrasty than that on the bride, causing the composite to look a bit unnatural. You may want to try lowering the highlights/exposure on the background.

Thank you. Kinda like this?...or perhaps more so?

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That is a very nice job, but I think I could make a couple of minor suggestions for improvement:

1. It's difficult to tell on such a small image, but it appears that you could have feathered the edges a bit more when you selected and extracted her from the first image.

2. There is a Defringe function that will help to eliminate that little bit of dark edge that comes along with a selection. I don't know where it is in Photoshop, but in Elements 11 it is under Enhance > Adjust Color > Defringe Layer....

3. As already mentioned, you could work a bit on the brightness and contrast to make the two parts match a bit better. The background looks to be lighted by a thin overcast sky, while the bride looks to be under similar sky plus shade from the trees.

Scrumhalf wrote in post #15495912
That's some nice work! Can you give a brief tutorial on your workflow? I am reasonably comfortable with Lightroom now and looking to take the next step in PP which is to selectively modifying backgrounds, etc., like you have done. I assume I need PS for that, right? Are there books or tutorials that could help me get started?

Thanks. Yes, I used Photoshop elements 11. I mostly used layer masks with a lot of trial and error. I was working from jpg as that was all I had. A site I am fond of for my PSE questions is http://www.photoshopes​sentials.com/

Since I am so visual, I watched a couple of youtube videos to grasp how the layer masks worked. Once you use a layer mask, you will hardly ever find a need to delete backgrounds, etc. in these type of situations.

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=tqrevtuMyO8

Rimmer wrote in post #15495978
That is a very nice job, but I think I could make a couple of minor suggestions for improvement:

1. It's difficult to tell on such a small image, but it appears that you could have feathered the edges a bit more when you selected and extracted her from the first image.

2. There is a Defringe function that will help to eliminate that little bit of dark edge that comes along with a selection. I don't know where it is in Photoshop, but in Elements 11 it is under Enhance > Adjust Color > Defringe Layer....

3. As already mentioned, you could work a bit on the brightness and contrast to make the two parts match a bit better. The background looks to be lighted by a thin overcast sky, while the bride looks to be under similar sky plus shade from the trees.

Thanks for the tips. I haven't feathered the edges at all. What pixel measurement do you recommend? You are absolutely correct about the lighting differences.

Scrumhalf wrote in post #15495912
That's some nice work! Can you give a brief tutorial on your workflow? I am reasonably comfortable with Lightroom now and looking to take the next step in PP which is to selectively modifying backgrounds, etc., like you have done. I assume I need PS for that, right? Are there books or tutorials that could help me get started?

You can get started for free with this:
http://www.ononesoftwa​re.com …cts/perfect-effects-free/
PS is better, but you can learn with this and it integrates with LR.

NewCreation wrote in post #15496122
Thanks. Yes, I used Photoshop elements 11. ... I haven't feathered the edges at all. What pixel measurement do you recommend? You are absolutely correct about the lighting differences.

You can experiment to find what works best, but I would think something around 1.0, 1.5, or maybe 2.0 would be a good starting point. Not too much, just a slight feather. Same for the Defringe, one or two pixels. Those two things will make a big difference, I think.

Rimmer wrote in post #15496179
You can experiment to find what works best, but I would think something around 1.0, 1.5, or maybe 2.0 would be a good starting point. Not too much, just a slight feather. Same for the Defringe, one or two pixels. Those two things will make a big difference, I think.

Doh! I meant defringe as you suggested not feather. I'll play with it a bit and post back the results.

Thanks again.

How's this? I do appreciate the helpful comments. One looks at a pic so long that you can no longer see what needs to be changed.

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NewCreation wrote in post #15496409
How's this? I do appreciate the helpful comments. One looks at a pic so long that you can no longer see what needs to be changed.

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Much improved!

It is better as far as the upper portion goes, but it looks like she is floating now. You need to add some shadows under the train to help with the realism. Take a look at the shadows under the train in the train picture and try to mimic those.

NewCreation wrote in post #15496254
Doh! I meant defringe as you suggested not feather. I'll play with it a bit and post back the results.

Thanks again.

Oops, sorry! From my studies the guidance I have read is, "Try one pixel; if that isn't enough try two pixels."

The comment regarding shadows is a good one. What I have done in the past is insert a transparent layer between foreground subject and background then use a low opacity, soft black brush to paint in the desired amount of shadow on that layer. Just keep your left hand on the Ctrl-Z key combination so you can apply a stroke and then immediately undo if it looks wrong -- then try again. With a little trial and error it will come together.

gregr2 wrote in post #15496587
It is better as far as the upper portion goes, but it looks like she is floating now. You need to add some shadows under the train to help with the realism. Take a look at the shadows under the train in the train picture and try to mimic those.

Like this? More or less shadow?

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