Posts tagged green

In some cases you need to add things to an image to make it seem more interesting or balanced. Obviously, it can be done subtly or you can actually build a concept around the technique.

In this example I found that the original photos weren’t too interesting by themselves. Also, I thought both kids were cute and was disappointed that it wasn’t possible to get them both in the same frame. The solution was to clone the little boy in blue into the other picture in PhotoShop, using a lot of careful masking. The key ingredients here are patience, and returning to the image with fresh eyes to make sure everything seems natural.

This photo is from my Autumn photoshoot with Asra

Another shoot where I used the same technique was The Ocean’s Awaiting where I cloned the model. This was done by carefully masking out the model in different photos and then layering them in a composition.

It’s important to mask out the layers using brushes that are appropriate for the level of detail in the photo, if you want it to look realistic.
Another good tip for something like this is to remember to blur the different layers according to the background. In this case, further away meant more blurry than closer to the camera.
Finally, once you have achieved a good composition, adjusting the colors, levels and curves helps to make things look more consistent.

Check out the reverse of this technique: Object removal