combining images by snapapple

snapapple

Ginger's original shot:


The new version:


I tried levels. I could not brighten the beach without blowing out the sky. When I selected just the beach for brightening, it left a halo around the grasses. Jagged edges are not good for this treatment.

I clicked on Enhance>Adjust color>color variations (in PS Elements). I tried different treatments and finally settled on just reducing the green. Then I selected just the water and increased the blue.

I took my picture of the dog and flipped it. Then I cut him out and moved him into a layer over the original pic. I darkened him and cut way down on the contrast until he fit in with the light. I placed him over the sand dune and rotated him a little bit to the right to lower his back leggs. I flattened the layer.

I cloned around him very carefully. When I cut him out I took the old background with him under his belly and between his leggs, so all that area had to be cloned. I couldn't bring his shadow from the original pic, so I had to create a new one. I took some dark shadow from near the bushes, reduced the opacity so the sand texture would show through and cloned in a shadow under him. His hind feet looked like they were floating, so I cloned in some grass around his feet and a little brown seaweed to disguise the edge of the shadow under him.

Then I wanted to integrate him into the light a little better and try to add some "pop". I went to Filter>Render>lighting effects. I chose spotlight and rotated it so that it was coming from the upper right. I opened it to beyond the edges of the frame so it would not leave dark areas in the corners. I adjusted the ambient light pretty high so it would effect the whole picture. I changed the color of the light from white to pink/orange. Clicked. Done. Now the sky is more pink and the dog, especially his tail, is a little pink too. He fits right in.

The original of the dog.

snapapple

Thanks Andy, you made my day...

andy wrote:

really fine, snappy.

Thanks Andy. I enjoyed the challenge. I put in a little post to let everyone know how I did it.

ginger_55

Great tutorial, Snappy.

snapapple wrote:

The original shot:


The new version:

I clicked on Enhance>Adjust color>color variations (in PS Elements). I tried different treatments and finally settled on just reducing the green. Then I selected just the water and increased the blue.

I took my picture of the dog and flipped it. Then I cut him out and moved him into a layer over the original pic. I darkened him and cut way down on the contrast until he fit in with the light. I placed him over the sand dune and rotated him a little bit to the right to lower his back leggs. I flattened the layer.

I cloned around him very carefully. When I cut him out I took the old background with him under his belly and between his leggs, so all that area had to be cloned. I couldn't bring his shadow from the original pic, so I had to create a new one. I took some dark shadow from near the bushes, reduced the opacity so the sand texture would show through and cloned in a shadow under him. His hind feet looked like they were floating, so I cloned in some grass around his feet and a little brown seaweed to disguise the edge of the shadow under him.

Then I wanted to integrate him into the light a little better and try to add some "pop". I went to Filter>Render>lighting effects. I chose spotlight and rotated it so that it was coming from the upper right. I opened it to beyond the edges of the frame so it would not leave dark areas in the corners. I adjusted the ambient light pretty high so it would effect the whole picture. I changed the color of the light from white to pink/orange. Clicked. Done. Now the sky is more pink and the dog, especially his tail, is a little pink too. He fits right in.

The original of the dog.

I may have some questions later.

ginger

ginger_55

I don't know how to do it, but why don't you ask Andy about getting this put with the tutorials, or the halls of "wisdom" .


It is really useful and should be saved. I am writing down where it is now. Want to copy it later, let me know where it is.

ginger