Blending two Images

I would love to have an experienced PS user to take a look at this image, does it look like one image or is it pretty obvious that it's a blend. Thanks, Harry

The bird with the blue looks a little bit pasted in and it's shadow is missing. Also looks just a bit brighter to me. Be interesting to see the two images by themselves.

It's hard to tell with a web size image as so much of the information is gone. It's probably only %5 of the original picture but the top bird looks added. The shadows between the two do not match and the shadow for the top bird seems to start from no where. It's not connected to the tree as the bottom branch is.

It would help if you posted a tight crop of just the birds and tree. It's the edges that always give it away

D Thompson wrote in post #19064461
The bird with the blue looks a little bit pasted in and it's shadow is missing. Also looks just a bit brighter to me. Be interesting to see the two images by themselves.

Yes that is weird. Is that a shadow under the lower bird or is it a burnt spot? Compared to the shadow under stump where the branch was cut off nothing looks right.

gjl711 wrote in post #19064463
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The shadows between the two do not match and the shadow for the top bird seems to start from no where. It's not connected to the tree as the bottom branch is.
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I'm not sure what you're talking about, JJ.

There is no shadow from the top bird; that is the problem.

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There is something just to the left of the top bird that looks shadow like. It's not aligned with the lower shadow and doesn't seem to fit. Just assumed it was the birds shadow but looking closer, it might be a shadow from the cut off branch. Then below that is a shadow of a twig that is unconnected.

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I see the shadow from the cut off branch quite clearly; perhaps you thought it might be the bird's shadow?

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Tom Reichner wrote in post #19064475
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I'm not sure what you're talking about, JJ.

There is no shadow from the top bird; that is the problem.

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I think it may be that dark area just to the left of the stump where the branch was cut off. There is a sharp point at 12 o'clock that appears to a beak in the shadow and the actual birds beak is at 9. Again I'm not sure of those two shadows are burnt spots or some other anomaly but it looks weird to me.

digital paradise wrote in post #19064484
I think it may be that dark area just to the left of the stump where the branch was cut off. There is a sharp point at 12 o'clock that appears to a beak in the shadow and the actual birds beak is at 9. Again I'm not sure of those two shadows are burnt spots or some other anomaly but it looks weird to me.

That's the one. It look rather bird like, like the one below, but the size and positioning are not correct. Still, my brain scream bird shadow.

Just my .02 on the shadows.

1 & 2 shadows seem to be from the 2 cut-off limbs.
3 - shadow from bottom bird and also can see the branch shadow.
I see no shadow from the top bird or the branch it is on.

It'd be nice to see the 2 images that were blended.

harryv wrote in post #19064433
I would love to have an experienced PS user to take a look at this image, does it look like one image or is it pretty obvious that it's a blend. Thanks, Harry

No, it isn't obviously a composite. It's pretty good work. But since you called attention to it, I zoomed in for some pixel-peeping, and I see a few small telltales. The camera-left edge of the top bird looks a bit ragged, and a tiny bit of his tail appears to be in front of the branch instead of behind it. Both should be simple fixes on the layer mask.

D Thompson wrote in post #19064524
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Just my .02 on the shadows:

1 & 2 shadows seem to be from the 2 cut-off limbs.
3 - shadow from bottom bird and also can see the branch shadow.
I see no shadow from the top bird or the branch it is on.
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That's exactly the way I see it.

Funny that there can be different interpretations as to what the shadows are from ..... I guess that just goes to show the OP how important shadows are when blending two images.


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Thanks everyone, all comments and observations help as PS has quite the learning curve. Here's both shots straight out of the camera with a small amount of crop.

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thanks for posting the original images - that is quite helpful when it comes to giving you suggestions.

I would suggest using the top image (the one with the male) as the base image, and then bringing the female into that.

Why?

Because then you won't have that nasty looking out-of-focus tan object that is along the right side of the tree trunk. Something like that can ruin what would otherwise be a nice image.


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