Photoshop editing

kellyanne1703

Suspended / Banned
Messages
181
Name
Kellyanne
Edit My Images
Yes
How can I edit my images without them looking edited? I photoshop them all to give them all white backgrounds but they look to fake!

I usually copy the layer then on the copied layer turn the lights up to make the image white then erase the person back into the white layer! (If that makes any sense)

Any advice?
 
Why not put up an example so people can advise you better?
 
Why not put up an example so people can advise you better?

Will do in the morning when get to a computer can't seem to upload images when on phone
 
How can I edit my images without them looking edited? I photoshop them all to give them all white backgrounds but they look to fake!

I usually copy the layer then on the copied layer turn the lights up to make the image white then erase the person back into the white layer! (If that makes any sense)

Any advice?

"Turn the lights up"?

You're probably trying to place a badly lit photo on a white background. That will always look terrible. If these are studio shots on a white background we're talking about, it probably wasn't lit well. Lit properly, a subject against a white background should need minimal retouching to get the background white... you certainly shouldn't need to be resorting to layers.
 
"Turn the lights up"?

You're probably trying to place a badly lit photo on a white background. That will always look terrible. If these are studio shots on a white background we're talking about, it probably wasn't lit well. Lit properly, a subject against a white background should need minimal retouching to get the background white... you certainly shouldn't need to be resorting to layers.

The photo I believe was over lit, but didn't have any backgrounds as didn't have the space for them (was in a very small living room) I will try and upload a few photos then see what you think!
 
AAhh.. I see... so it's not a white background to begin with? That explains it.

Post up the image and let's have a look. Usually, you can't just cut stuff out and stick it on a white backdrop as the subject will be absorbing light from the surroundings, will have shadows and modelling from the environment, and if you simply cut it out and paste it in, it there will be many clues to give the game away.
 
showphoto.php
 
why aint the images showing? there the first two in my gallery, if any one could have a peak

thanks
 
Yes but how do we get to your gallery :thinking:
 
why aint the images showing? there the first two in my gallery, if any one could have a peak

thanks
why don't you go take a look at the 'how to post images' guide?

As for the photos...too small to give in depth help but as David has already mentioned - you are trying to create a near impossible shot with your limited resources.

As with many of your posts, you are trying to run before you can walk.
 
why don't you go take a look at the 'how to post images' guide?

As for the photos...too small to give in depth help but as David has already mentioned - you are trying to create a near impossible shot with your limited resources.

As with many of your posts, you are trying to run before you can walk.

Yeah but got to practice or never going to get any where! I'm sure everyone's images weren't perfect to start with! Help and feedback from others help alot
 
Yeah but got to practice or never going to get any where! I'm sure everyone's images weren't perfect to start with! Help and feedback from others help alot

It is not photoshop editing you need help with but it is with your photography!

Start with the basics. Read some books or even go on a course, the info you will get on here will be usually too concise and rarely cover what you need to do without a basic understanding of how it all works (and why it works).

There is no instant fix to learning.
 
It is not photoshop editing you need help with but it is with your photography!

Start with the basics. Read some books or even go on a course, the info you will get on here will be usually too concise and rarely cover what you need to do without a basic understanding of how it all works (and why it works).

There is no instant fix to learning.

I'm currently on a evening course
 
Tom is right... these photos will never look right for 2 reasons.

1. They were not shot on a white background, so cutting them out and pasting them into one removes things that SHOULD be there.. like shadows. Even if the baby was lying on a white floor on a nice smooth white scoop, there would be shadows under the baby where it makes contact with whatever it is lying on.. see below.

W1xb8HJ.jpg


On yours, there's nothing.... so obviously he looks cut out and pasted in.

2: Your lighting.. you're effectively lighting that baby from below. He/or she (I never can tell with babies) is lying down, but you are lighting it from the left... so in effect, the light is hitting the baby's face from below... giving that torch under the chin, spooky, let's tell ghost stories around the camp fire look. If I rotate your shot you'll see what I mean...

g8k48aB.jpg


There are shadows ABOVE the nose, and ABOVE the cheeks... you've lit him from below. If a baby is lying down you need to think in terms of rotating everything 90 degrees from how you would normally do it.


So in short, you need to work on your lighting, and if you want a white backdrop, you need to shoot on one.

The biggest mistake with shooting on a white backdrop though, is that people always put the subject very close to it, and that causes all manner of problems because the light(s) that are lighting the main subject, are also lighting the backdrop, and hence you'll get shadows on the backdrop... and then you're back in the same boat, spending ages in post trying to remove the shadows and "whiten" your backdrop. You need distance between subject and backdrop.

I don't often shoot on a white backdrop, but when I do, separating the subject from the backdrop is the only way to get a pure white backdrop straight off camera.

Here's a shot of mine.. utterly un-retouched and unedited... not even levels, curves.. nothing.... straight from camera.

lvzdA8o.jpg


Here's how it's lit as a top down view.

mjlMtE2.jpg


You need to light backgrounds separately if you want them purely white. It's also a myth that you have to expose them 2 stops more than your main subject. The white background in the above shot is lit to the same aperture as the main exposure. If you are correctly using a hand held meter, the correct exposure will render white as white, or close enough to it as to make clean up easy. Go much over, and your background becomes a light source, and you'll get light wrapping around your subject from the side/ from behind.

So with kids moving around on a studio floor... you'd so the same thing., but if they are ACTUALLY on the studio floor you won't need to cut them out, and the shadows under their feet or hands or whatever will be genuine.

l56Zonj.jpg


90dhORz.jpg
 
Last edited:
Tom is right... these photos will never look right for 2 reasons.

1. They were not shot on a white background, so cutting them out and pasting them into one removes things that SHOULD be there.. like shadows. Even if the baby was lying on a white floor on a nice smooth white scoop, there would be shadows under the baby where it makes contact with whatever it is lying on.. see below.

On yours, there's nothing.... so obviously he looks cut out and pasted in.

2: Your lighting.. you're effectively lighting that baby from below. He/or she (I never can tell with babies) is lying down, but you are lighting it from the left... so in effect, the light is hitting the baby's face from below... giving that torch under the chin, spooky, let's tell ghost stories around the camp fire look. If I rotate your shot you'll see what I mean...

There are shadows ABOVE the nose, and ABOVE the cheeks... you've lit him from below. If a baby is lying down you need to think in terms of rotating everything 90 degrees from how you would normally do it.

So in short, you need to work on your lighting, and if you want a white backdrop, you need to shoot on one.

The biggest mistake with shooting on a white backdrop though, is that people always put the subject very close to it, and that causes all manner of problems because the light(s) that are lighting the main subject, are also lighting the backdrop, and hence you'll get shadows on the backdrop... and then you're back in the same boat, spending ages in post trying to remove the shadows and "whiten" your backdrop. You need distance between subject and backdrop.

I don't often shoot on a white backdrop, but when I do, separating the subject from the backdrop is the only way to get a pure white backdrop straight off camera.

Here's a shot of mine.. utterly un-retouched and unedited... not even levels, curves.. nothing.... straight from camera.

Here's how it's lit as a top down view.

You need to light backgrounds separately if you want them purely white. It's also a myth that you have to expose them 2 stops more than your main subject. The white background in the above shot is lit to the same aperture as the main exposure. If you are correctly using a hand held meter, the correct exposure will render white as white, or close enough to it as to make clean up easy. Go much over, and your background becomes a light source, and you'll get light wrapping around your subject from the side/ from behind.

So with kids moving around on a studio floor... you'd so the same thing., but if they are ACTUALLY on the studio floor you won't need to cut them out, and the shadows under their feet or hands or whatever will be genuine.

Thanks for the info, I will take it in ;) I'm redoing the shoot again so hopefully second time lucky, the baby was actually lit from both sides but for some reason one lamp was brighter than the other even tho they were on the same settings and at the same distance.

I did use a light meter to set my camera settings up correctly to the lights.

Thanks
 
Wow!..love that second photo David. Great lighting and great subject expression. Sorry to go off topic.
JohnyT

I agree with you there both amazing photos
 
Pity not all of us have the room for setups like that, I'd have some fun if I did :(
 
Learning a bit of art and being able to add shadows really helps.
Also helps to show reflected light on the skin. If you look at a picture of a snooker player taking a shot you'll see the green reflected in his face. If you were to change the baize to white and not change the green in the face it would look artificial.
 
Pity not all of us have the room for setups like that, I'd have some fun if I did :(


Even if you can get 6 feet between your backdrop and subject, it makes a hell of a difference. You don't need a full on studio and full size colorama backdrop.
 
Even if you can get 6 feet between your backdrop and subject, it makes a hell of a difference. You don't need a full on studio and full size colorama backdrop.

Unfortunately due to going to people's homes they don't have a very big living room or a big area, so once got everything set up you got a tiny space to work in, especially photography babies it's hard to get on the floor to be at the same height as them.
 
Yes but how do we get to your gallery :thinking:

I will unsubscribe from your thread as you never responded and unless you make it easy for people to help they will not want to help
 
I will unsubscribe from your thread as you never responded and unless you make it easy for people to help they will not want to help

I have been responding, I don't know to view the gallery
 
I will unsubscribe from your thread as you never responded and unless you make it easy for people to help they will not want to help

The gallery is in her 'TP' info......just click her name above her avatar to find her gallery.
 
The gallery is in her 'TP' info......just click her name above her avatar to find her gallery.

Oh yes I've learnt something :bonk: but she could of helped me out when I asked so......
 
Oh yes I've learnt something :bonk: but she could of helped me out when I asked so......

I would of helped, but the layout on my phone is different than what's on the computer, plus I didn't know how to
 
I would of helped, but the layout on my phone is different than what's on the computer, plus I didn't know how to

All good as it seems we have both learnt something :thumbs:
 
The gallery is in her 'TP' info......just click her name above her avatar to find her gallery.

It's even easier than that... just click the gallery icon next to the edit icon at the bottom of the avatar panel.


[edit]

She's on a phone... different entirely.
 
Pookeyhead said:
Tom is right... these photos will never look right for 2 reasons.

1. They were not shot on a white background, so cutting them out and pasting them into one removes things that SHOULD be there.. like shadows. Even if the baby was lying on a white floor on a nice smooth white scoop, there would be shadows under the baby where it makes contact with whatever it is lying on.. see below.

On yours, there's nothing.... so obviously he looks cut out and pasted in.

2: Your lighting.. you're effectively lighting that baby from below. He/or she (I never can tell with babies) is lying down, but you are lighting it from the left... so in effect, the light is hitting the baby's face from below... giving that torch under the chin, spooky, let's tell ghost stories around the camp fire look. If I rotate your shot you'll see what I mean...

There are shadows ABOVE the nose, and ABOVE the cheeks... you've lit him from below. If a baby is lying down you need to think in terms of rotating everything 90 degrees from how you would normally do it.

So in short, you need to work on your lighting, and if you want a white backdrop, you need to shoot on one.

The biggest mistake with shooting on a white backdrop though, is that people always put the subject very close to it, and that causes all manner of problems because the light(s) that are lighting the main subject, are also lighting the backdrop, and hence you'll get shadows on the backdrop... and then you're back in the same boat, spending ages in post trying to remove the shadows and "whiten" your backdrop. You need distance between subject and backdrop.

I don't often shoot on a white backdrop, but when I do, separating the subject from the backdrop is the only way to get a pure white backdrop straight off camera.

Here's a shot of mine.. utterly un-retouched and unedited... not even levels, curves.. nothing.... straight from camera.

Here's how it's lit as a top down view.

You need to light backgrounds separately if you want them purely white. It's also a myth that you have to expose them 2 stops more than your main subject. The white background in the above shot is lit to the same aperture as the main exposure. If you are correctly using a hand held meter, the correct exposure will render white as white, or close enough to it as to make clean up easy. Go much over, and your background becomes a light source, and you'll get light wrapping around your subject from the side/ from behind.

So with kids moving around on a studio floor... you'd so the same thing., but if they are ACTUALLY on the studio floor you won't need to cut them out, and the shadows under their feet or hands or whatever will be genuine.

I found your explanation really clear and very helpful, you could be a great teacher :)
 
A rough version with shadows put back in as David and Tom mentioned, to do it properly (or leave them in) there would be more shadows around the waist from the blanket/paper and around the decoration on her bonnet, but this should give an idea of showing her "grounded"

How did u add the shadows?
 
A rough version with shadows put back in as David and Tom mentioned, to do it properly (or leave them in) there would be more shadows around the waist from the blanket/paper and around the decoration on her bonnet, but this should give an idea of showing her "grounded"

kellyannebaby.jpg

How did u add the shadows?

Christine has done a good job but it still looks rubbish and photoshopped.

Get it right in camera and you will save yourself a fortune in time and effort which means more money as you could be shooting another session instead of sat in front of a monitor.
 
Black backdrops and backgrounds are so much easier to PP
 
A rough version with shadows put back in as David and Tom mentioned, to do it properly (or leave them in) there would be more shadows around the waist from the blanket/paper and around the decoration on her bonnet, but this should give an idea of showing her "grounded"

kellyannebaby.jpg


That's an improvement, and seems to agree with physics more :) Seriously though... photography is about lighting, not editing images that don't work the way you want them to. Work on lighting, and getting as much right in camera as possible. Also, unless your masking is perfect on that.. printing it big may well still look obviously cut and paste. At the size it's posted in here it's relatively easy to do that, but the full resolution file for print? You also prepared to do this with every file the client wants?
 
Last edited:
How did u add the shadows?

I extracted the baby, put in two layers underneath painted black lines on them and then blurred them to different amounts and erased the rest with soft brush, then a hue saturation layer overlay to try and match the colours to what the reflection should be a little more. It would need more work as the actual line between subject and floor would normally be very much darker. Much easier to get it right in camera and then if necessary clean up the surrounding floor a little afterwards where necessary.

Much as I enjoy using photoshop I prefer to use it for creative purposes rather than correction, workflow is much faster that way
 
Back
Top