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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> how to blow out a sky or background to white ?????
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09/04/2009 05:45:32 PM · #1
Hi everyone

I want to blow out a few pics and get rid of background elements. I was wondering what would be the best way to do it. Something like this pic


I have some pictures of some BMX tricksters airborne and want to get rid of the backgrounds.

For example this one

How would I whiten everything so its just the rider airborne ??? Without blowing out the rider ???

Any ideas ???

Is there a way in photoshop to make this happen ? Anyone have a step by step ? PS is not my strong suit :)

Message edited by author 2009-09-04 17:58:19.
09/04/2009 05:52:00 PM · #2
This will come naturally if you have light background. Just manually meter off the dark object. 40D should be able to spot-meter, but you can experiment with manual settings to achieve the correct exposure on the object of interest.
For those BMXers, you'll need to get low to put the sky in the background, otherwise photoshop is your last and only resort to whiten the background. Especially with the white shirt that guy wears on your photo...

not much help, eh?

-Serge
09/04/2009 05:53:06 PM · #3
In general, you have to be shooting with the sky (as opposed to the ground in your photo) as the background because it is usually more the few stops brighter. If you expose for the object the sky will usually blow it self out.

In your case you could do it post production with photoshop. Just mask the bike off and paint the background white or some jazz. PS is not my strong suit.
09/04/2009 05:56:46 PM · #4
Yes sorry I forgot to convey i wanted to do this in post processing. Would the extraction tool in photoshop work in this type of situation.

Message edited by author 2009-09-04 18:02:09.
09/04/2009 06:01:59 PM · #5
Layer mask is your friend. This will help you achieve what you want in a nondestructive manner. Of course, we are talking DPC-illegal stuff now, but you're not planning on using it in a challenge?

Create a curves adjustment layer, with mask. Lighten up everything to your liking. Add mask to your layer. Grab a paintbrush, use the black color, and start painting your cyclist in the layer mask. It will pop back out. Use the black and white colors, different brush softness and opacity and go for the boundary between the fg and bg.

Good luck!
09/04/2009 07:21:02 PM · #6


About 3 minutes of work with Play with Pictures. A few more and you can clean out the spokes.
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