1st attempt at changing background c&c please!!!

imagesofhim

I've recently had surgery and have been confined to these walls for 10 days... I've got at least another 14 to go -- YUCK! But... I've now got time to read and youtube myself too death... Here's my very first attempt at EVER changing a background... thoughts, suggestions, critique, etc. welcome.

Original image and rock wall background:



New background - (I realize it's not really a good backdrop at all... it's just something I had on hand)

basflt

nothing wrong here , IMO

if you use different pics in one as here , there is one thing to watch for
the light-source


it must come from same direction
if that is the same , you can copy anything on top of anything [ almost ]

imagesofhim

Bas,

Thank you for the information... I wasn't aware of it, but it makes PERFECT sense!

Thank you again.

Merlin_AZ

2 nit-picks.
There is still some of the original white background behind a tuft of hair on the top of her head.
There looks to be the original crack in the wall by her right shoulder.

imagesofhim

Merlin_AZ wrote: »

2 nit-picks.
There is still some of the original white background behind a tuft of hair on the top of her head.
There looks to be the original crack in the wall by her right shoulder.

Thanks for pointing those out... Now I'll try to learn how to "fix" those areas!

pathfinder

Except for the blue spot near her crown, the selection looks pretty good.

Yes, there is the texture of the first background, showing throughout the new background, on both sides of the little girl's head.

Kind of like you didn't get an opacity slider slid all the way to 100%.

This looks more like a blend overlay, than a real replacement somehow?

I wrote this thread on Background replacement 2 years ago, and it is still how I usually perform background replacement.

imagesofhim

pathfinder wrote: »

Except for the blue spot near her crown, the selection looks pretty good.

Yes, there is the texture of the first background, showing throughout the new background, on both sides of the little girl's head.

Kind of like you didn't get an opacity slider slid all the way to 100%.

This looks more like a blend overlay, than a real replacement somehow?

I wrote this thread on Background replacement 2 years ago, and it is still how I usually perform background replacement.

Well, this background is actually a "paper" I use in scrapbooking and it's originally very dark. So, I slid the opacity down to 30%... guess that was a no-no, huh?

Thank you for the link to your thread! I'm going to keep giving this a go and see where I get. PP is really NOT my thing and I realize I can no longer avoid it... there will never be that "PERFECT" SOOC shot I strive for every time I tap the shutter release! (Darn the luck!)

Thanks again and I will definitely be posting more attempts!

pathfinder

Rather than altering the brightness or darkness via the opacity slider ( which left you original background showing through ) use the curve tool, or the levels tool, on just the background selection itself to darken or lighten the background.. You can also alter the color saturation as well. I do this frequently in conjunction with blurring the background.

I saw an article recently within the last month, Pop Photo or someplace not sure I remember where, in which they selectively desaturated slightly the periphery of an image outside of an oval selection of the subject, to help keep the viewer's eye on the subject. Same kind of idea. Like vignetting, these are tricks artists have been doing for centuries.

imagesofhim

pathfinder wrote: »

Rather than altering the brightness or darkness via the opacity slider ( which left you original background showing through ) use the curve tool, or the levels tool, on just the background selection itself to darken or lighten the background.. You can also alter the color saturation as well. I do this frequently in conjunction with blurring the background.

I saw an article recently within the last month, Pop Photo or someplace not sure I remember where, in which they selectively desaturated slightly the periphery of an image outside of an oval selection of the subject, to help keep the viewer's eye on the subject. Same kind of idea. Like vignetting, these are tricks artists have been doing for centuries.

It's weird the way my mind works... I use curves & saturation boosting in my photos ALL the time but NEVER in my digital scrapbooking. So... it NEVER dawned on me to use it on my background---duh! I've got to get out of this mindset! Maybe this leads some credence as to why I keep avoiding true PP---can't get my head out of the "scrapbook gutter"!!!

Again, thanks for the info... I will definitely keep playing with side of my photography and will post for info (growth), etc. Thank you, thank you, thank you!