First photo attempt... editing issue

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fwells2

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Name
Francesca
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi guys,

I'm a newbie when it comes to photography. I've always enjoyed taking photographs but never really considered how much technique is involved until my husband bought me a DSLR for my birthday. Since then I've caught the photography bug! It's something I really enjoy and have been fortunate enough to be able to convert my garage into a little photo studio.

I two Elinchrom D-lite 2 RX studio lights and a polaroid flashgun mounted to a tripod as my lighting set up.

Unfortunately my husband isn't in the least bit interested in photography so for now my practice subjects are my three rescue dogs, two greyhounds and a staffie!

I know studio photography requires a lot of consideration in regards to placement of lights, the power of the lights, angle of the camera, positioning of the subject etc but I'm finding that since my dogs seem to enjoy running around like lunatics that as soon as they stop moving I'm taking a photo as quick as I can before they run off again!

I've managed to get what I think are a few relatively ok photos but I'm struggling with editing them. When I put my photos on the computer my backgrounds appear off white (I use standard white photography paper). I've tried cloning the background to make it appear more white but I end up with an uneven tone. If I brighten the image too much then the subjects (my dogs) look too washed out.

I've rummaged through the forums but there's so many topics I couldn't find an answer to this issue. I've got photoshop elements 11 and am trialing lightroom 4 but being a novice I'm not very good with which tools do what! I was just wondering if anyone could offer any assistance?

Here are a few photo's that I'm struggling with...

Billy3_resized.jpg


Tyler3_resized.jpg


Lenny1_resized.jpg


Lenny17_resized.jpg
 
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:wave: Hi Francesca & welcome to the forum & I'm sure somebody will come along and help but, unless it's just me, there are no photos showing :thinking:
 
Francesca
you need to copy the direct image code and paste it into the yellow and grey square box to get them up here
 
like so

very good shots by the way i can see what you mean by the BG.

I would use a mask and a white level background, then mask the background out. If no one has done it for you before i get home i'll do one when i get home from work....

Obviously to save doing this it would be better to get the background shot right first, but i think it can quite add up on kit....

this instruction is quite useful.
 
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Thanks Steve, took me a while to work out how to get the photos to come up but hopefully they're showing now!

Thanks for the link, hopefully if I get the lighting and the background right in the first place it will save the hassle of fiddling around in PSE.

I'm not too sharp on using layers yet (still learning!) so if you have time to post an example that would be greatly appreciated :)
 
Are you firing at least one of the lights directly onto the backdrop? That will blow it out and give you that clean white look.
 
No i wasn't lighting the background directly which was probably a bit part of he problem. I've tried that now and it works much better thank you.

I've also been rummaging through the portrait section and tips on using the adjustment brush in lightroom has also helped greatly with leveling out the background.

Thanks for your help guys :)
 
You could cheat and change the background colour. The dogs have a lot of white in their coats so another colour may provide a nice contrast.
 
fwells2 said:
Thanks for the link, hopefully if I get the lighting and the background right in the first place it will save the hassle of fiddling around in PSE.
Click to expand...

This is very true, particularly if you're trying to achieve a pure white background.

Gr8Shot said:
Tyler3redone.jpg
Click to expand...

I think this one is fantastic, shame about the front paws being cropped but I still love it. Great work for your first attempts :)
 
Personally I love the background as it is! I think it gives the shots a vintage-esque edge. I think you've done the dogs proud, and agree with Rob - even though you've cropped the feet out, it doesn't matter. That is a winning pic that draws you in! :thumbs:
 
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4 obvious ways to do this.....

1. Pop in the lighting forum and they will tell you how to spend a lot of money to get the b/g white in camera. It's tricky and expensive but gives great results.

2. Send them to a cut out firm who will cut these out for you for $5 or so (each)

3. Learn to use the pen tool (if Elements has it - I lose track....)

4. Get a copy of Topaz ReMask. That's what I used....

(note this would work a LOT better on high res files)

Billy3.jpg


Tyler3_resized.jpg
 
Rob L said:
I think this one is fantastic, shame about the front paws being cropped but I still love it. Great work for your first attempts :)
Click to expand...


Unijak said:
Personally I love the background as it is! I think it gives the shots a vintage-esque edge. I think you've done the dogs proud, and agree with Rob - even though you've cropped the feet out, it doesn't matter. That is a winning pic that draws you in! :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Thank you for your kind comments, gives me a bit more confidence! :D Wish I'd noticed I had cropped his front paws out of the picture but will remember to bear it in mind next time i get him to stand still for long enough to take another photo!
 
Unijak said:
Personally I love the background as it is! I think it gives the shots a vintage-esque edge. I think you've done the dogs proud, and agree with Rob - even though you've cropped the feet out, it doesn't matter. That is a winning pic that draws you in! :thumbs:
Click to expand...

I'd never looked at the photo in a vintage kinda way but now you've mentioned it, it does have that kind of feel to it! Since I didn't intend for it to look like that, I doubt I'll be able to intentionally recreate it, always the way! :bonk:

JonathanRyan said:
4 obvious ways to do this.....

1. Pop in the lighting forum and they will tell you how to spend a lot of money to get the b/g white in camera. It's tricky and expensive but gives great results.

2. Send them to a cut out firm who will cut these out for you for $5 or so (each)

3. Learn to use the pen tool (if Elements has it - I lose track....)

4. Get a copy of Topaz ReMask. That's what I used....

(note this would work a LOT better on high res files)

Billy3.jpg


Tyler3_resized.jpg
Click to expand...

Aha that was what I was trying to achieve! Seems like the best (and cheaper) option to get the white background is to adjust it in an picture editing program. Not heard of Topaz ReMask before, will look it up, thank you :)

Bit of a stupid question but I'm guessing you can lighten/darken the background by adjusting the exposure PP. Is there a simple way of changing the background colour (to red for example) in a similar way or is the best way to do this by using gels?
 
fwells2 said:
Is there a simple way of changing the background colour (to red for example) in a similar way or is the best way to do this by using gels?
Click to expand...

Yes ;) What I did wasn't to alter the b/g at all. I removed the dog from the b/g and basically erased it. Then I added another layer underneath that I made white. I could have made this layer any colour (or really put anything on it).

woof.jpg
 
Haha that's brilliant! Will have a little play about in elements and see what effects I can do. Thanks for your help :)
 
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