First-time Photoshop - keen to learn..

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dancook

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Dan
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So I subscribed to Adobe creative cloud yesterday, since I was about to purchase lightroom 5 anyway and I wanted to start using photoshop.

Spent a few hours last night playing around with this photo.

Made edits to the armpit, skin, eyes, tidied fly away hairs, changed background and adding some shading/blue lighting tints.

Now I think I could do more with her right arm, and maybe some harsher blue lighting on the subject from the lighting behind.

I'd be interested in people's CC, maybe if they would have chosen to go in another direction? I've taken a few portraits at comic con with crowds of people in the background - and thought changing the background, if done right could be a good idea?


Alisa_original by dancook1982, on Flickr


Alisa_alternative by dancook1982, on Flickr
 
The lighting in the original image is incongruous with the background you've chosen. It looks obviously comped in. You can't just drop any image, into any background, no matter how great your photoshop skills are.. it will always look suspect. You have to shoot your models with the same lighting as the background, or at least choose a background with the same lighting qualities.

Also, you need to work on your masking and selection. It's very hard edged, and again, even viewing at this forum res, it's obvious. Looking at the largest size available on Flickr (2048), it is very apparent.

Try looking at some masking and selection tutorials, and also learn how to use "refine edge".


As a first attempt it's pretty good though!


I really, really hate using my own work as an "example".. and is bad etiquette, but it's really hard to find high resolution examples of what I'm talking about online.

This shot is a composite. It has to be, as the exposure is too long for the model to stand still, and it was halfway up a mountain in Galloway in the middle of the night. Even if I COULD get the model to stand still enough for 30 seconds, I'd never get her up the mountain in that dress, and expecting her to change out there is unreasonable. The only way get what was in my head onto the image, was to shoot her in a studio.

As the background was shot first, I knew what the lighting was... it was the moon behind clouds... so I knew it was softish in nature, but highly directional. I knew how high to have the studio lights as a result, and knew I;d need a small beauty dish, or gridded softbox (can't remember which I used now.. probably a dish now I look at it again) to get the directional properties without being too hard. Even if you can't get the angles precisely correct, it has to look believable.. as if it COULD be the actual lighting used.

Putting the two together, just works as a result.

The masking had to be to a high standard though, as this was printed at A0.

Please click and look at the full size version.
 
Last edited:
dancook said:
Thank you for your feedback, I will do better!
Click to expand...

You're doing fine.... BTW.. added a shot as an example above. I think I was editing as you were posting.
 
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