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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Please help? Sharp criticism needed.
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04/03/2007 02:05:56 PM · #1
Hey,

This is a photo that I originally wanted to submit to a competition:


However, it just doesn't seem to be coming together in the way I wanted it to, and I'm not too sure what to do to it.

Could someone tell me what's wrong with it?
Followed by: is it possible to fix in post-processing, or shall I just go out and shoot a different picture?

Thanks!

Jelena

04/03/2007 02:07:04 PM · #2
Abondon it.
It's a very poor attempt to blend two very poor images in my opinion.
04/03/2007 02:08:52 PM · #3
Yeah, that sounds about right actually.
04/03/2007 02:12:03 PM · #4
there is something distinctly odd about the photo. I assume that this is a combination of two images - the backgound image on the beach seems to have much better focus than the image of the model. The model seems to have very soft focus and the lighting on her does not jive with the contrived shadow. Also, her knees don't quite look right - as if it was processed to make it look like they were in the sand.

04/03/2007 02:15:45 PM · #5
Actually, that's spot on. It's my first attempted montage, and I quickly discovered I'm pretty bad at them.

I might be in a place near a beach this weekend anyway, so I'm tempted to do the same composition, but for real this time.
04/03/2007 02:22:47 PM · #6
I imagine that would work much better. I would just recommend that you pick a time of day that is agreeable for beach photographs. Morning/ evening light (depending on the coast) tends to work much better to get good lighting rather than middle of the day. It might be a good idea to consult the forums for the best time and equipment needed to take beach photos - there are some great portrait photographers on this site that should be able to help you out (I'm not one of them!!!)

Originally posted by purpleflutterby13:

Actually, that's spot on. It's my first attempted montage, and I quickly discovered I'm pretty bad at them.

I might be in a place near a beach this weekend anyway, so I'm tempted to do the same composition, but for real this time.
04/03/2007 02:24:30 PM · #7
the light on the beach appears to be coming from the north west (if the top of the picture were north), the light on the model seems to be coming from the south - and slightly east, and the shadow is being cast from the south east. Light that doesn't add up in the scene will normally make the picture appear fake.

Also the details are too smooth, perhaps too much noise reduction?
04/03/2007 02:40:26 PM · #8
The beach lighting is near-horizontal (slightly from the rear) to the image, while the model's lighting is near-vertical.

The focus is off between the two photos, as other people mentioned.

She's floating.

The lighting color temperatures seem to be quite different, as well as the diffusion - outdoors you don't usually, if ever, get soft, directional light. You either get hard-directional or soft omni-directional.
04/03/2007 02:44:19 PM · #9
One of the things that seem to give this a slightly off-kilter feel is that it looks as though the viewpoints of the two photos don't appear to match. It looks to me as though the lady was shot from a higher position than the landscape was. This disparity is something that stands out, although the reason for it standing out is not always obvious.

I could always be wrong. I most often am.
04/03/2007 03:15:45 PM · #10
Originally posted by purpleflutterby13:

This is a photo that I originally wanted to submit to a competition:


However, it just doesn't seem to be coming together in the way I wanted it to, and I'm not too sure what to do to it.

Could someone tell me what's wrong with it?
Followed by: is it possible to fix in post-processing, or shall I just go out and shoot a different picture?

Blending two images into one composite image is an artform and a skill that needs to be practiced to be learned. Both the blend and the lighting are not done that well in this one. With practice you will do better.

1-Lighting
If you are going to blend two images you need to have the lighting right for both of them. That means that the lighting direction, shadows, brightness, color and quality of lighting need to be EXACTLY the same. Yours isn't. The lighting on your model isn't anything like the beaches', the back shadow is in the wrong direction and your model lacks shadowing that should be there if she were really on that beach.

2-Blend
Generally it looks fairly good with the notable exception of the legs. They look very unnatural both in the blend and the lighting. You would need to clone sand from the beach over the front of the knees in order to make it look right.

Btw, in case you did not do it this way, when blending images avoid using the eraser tool; use masking to control the blend instead. That way you can make corrections later should you find errors and need to do further adjustments (and, believe me, you will! :) ) It is impossible to un-erase after an image is saved. If you use masks you just adjust the mask. Its easy either way you need to go!

Another thing, Blending images is an exacting task. You can get away with a lot more sloppy processing in a web graphic like yours than you'll ever be able to do in a print. This image will never work as a print.

I'd consider reshooting, redoing and/or finding a much better background to use.

Last advice... practice, practice, practice!
04/03/2007 06:55:09 PM · #11
Wow, thanks for all the feedback! That's fantastically educational.

Having never done one of these before, I didn't even consider the directions of the light in the two photos, etc. Oh, and yes, I did use an eraser tool... What is masking? I suppose a quick forum search will tell me :) God, I love this website.

Anyway, I'll go out this weekend and shoot some real life photos. And leave learning to blend images as a future pet project...

Thanks again :)

04/03/2007 08:52:25 PM · #12
Originally posted by purpleflutterby13:

... What is masking? I suppose a quick forum search will tell me :)


Just in case there are two tutorials here about the use of layer masks in PS:

//www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=44
//www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=34
04/03/2007 08:57:24 PM · #13
And here is a little video I made on layer masks:
//www.konador.com/pp/files/layermasks/
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