A little Photoshop practice.

jsmiley

I took this picture last week and decided that I would try to remove it from the background and place it only American flag.
Not as easy as you would think at least not for me. C&C please:scratch bick.jpg

jsmiley

This is what I started with.
bick2.jpg

aj986s

I'm not an expert, but a bit sloppy around the bottom of the front wheel, and some other fringes. Did you manualy try to paint out the background?
www.photoshopcafe.com has a bunch of pretty cool tutorials. This one in particular deals with masking a complicated background:
http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/masking/masking.htm

Also, I find the eagle's eye beneath the handlebar to be a distraction.

Richard

I know how much work is required for this sort of thing so I am reluctant to be too critical. Nevertheless, I agree with Tony's observations. A couple of other comments. I would have used a different flag shot. You can see a lot of sharpening artifacts around the top edge, as if it had been upsized considerably. I also would have worked a bit more on the windscreen, so that the background comes through it more convincingly. The devil is in the details in composites.

If you haven't already seen it, Katrin Eismann's book Photoshop Masking and Compositing is a comprehensive reference on the subject. It is well worth your time.

Regards,

black mamba

What you're trying to do is tricky stuff....not impossible, but to look good it must be done very carefully. This effort falls short. I agree that this particular flag shot is not too good as a back-drop. The bike doesn't stand out very well. Good luck with your continued efforts.

jsmiley

aj986s wrote:

I'm not an expert, but a bit sloppy around the bottom of the front wheel, and some other fringes. Did you manualy try to paint out the background?
www.photoshopcafe.com has a bunch of pretty cool tutorials. This one in particular deals with masking a complicated background:
http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/masking/masking.htm

Also, I find the eagle's eye beneath the handlebar to be a distraction.

Thanks Tony

I used the quick selection tool to remove the bike from a background and then there was all that grass around the wheels to contend with, so i was trying to roll the flag over those areas. I had some time to kill. And thanks for the reference material.

jsmiley

Richard wrote:

I know how much work is required for this sort of thing so I am reluctant to be too critical. Nevertheless, I agree with Tony's observations. A couple of other comments. I would have used a different flag shot. You can see a lot of sharpening artifacts around the top edge, as if it had been upsized considerably. I also would have worked a bit more on the windscreen, so that the background comes through it more convincingly. The devil is in the details in composites.

If you haven't already seen it, Katrin Eismann's book Photoshop Masking and Compositing is a comprehensive reference on the subject. It is well worth your time.

Regards,

Richard
Great eye you have. I just grabbed a photo of a flag off the web and had to up size it considerably. The windscreen I used a blur tool trying to blur out the background of the grass that was behind that windscreen, I did know how to move the flag behind it.

jsmiley

black mamba wrote:

What you're trying to do is tricky stuff....not impossible, but to look good it must be done very carefully. This effort falls short. I agree that this particular flag shot is not too good as a back-drop. The bike doesn't stand out very well. Good luck with your continued efforts.

Black Mamba

Thanks for your comments. Very tricky stuff ! I'm glad I don't make a living doing this. There would probably be many a hungry day.

black mamba

John...

I applaud you for even trying this stuff. I'm not motivated enough, I quess, to get into post processing at the level necessary to do these kind of things. There's only a given amount of time I'm willing to put in front of the computer. Keep up the good work.

Tom

Richard

Hey John,

I think we may have come down too hard on you; my apologies. You picked a rather difficult subject here: complicated, irregular shape to start with, spokes (aaack!), grass, transparent windscreen. Changing the background on this one would make a good assignment for a masters class in compositing. You did quite well for "time to kill." Despite its flaws, I think your composite is a lot more interesting than the original shot, so it was time well spent. Maybe next time you could choose an easier subject.

Regards,

Skippy

jsmiley wrote:

I took this picture last week and decided that I would try to remove it from the background and place it only American flag.
Not as easy as you would think at least not for me. C&C please

Some people make this technique look a breeze to do,
but for most of us it's a huge challenge to separate an image like that,
and place it on a new background.

You get an "A" for effort in my book
I see plenty of flaws in the image, especially around the bottom area of the image........ good try ... Skippy
.

jsmiley

Richard wrote:

Hey John,

I think we may have come down too hard on you; my apologies. You picked a rather difficult subject here: complicated, irregular shape to start with, spokes (aaack!), grass, transparent windscreen. Changing the background on this one would make a good assignment for a masters class in compositing. You did quite well for "time to kill." Despite its flaws, I think your composite is a lot more interesting than the original shot, so it was time well spent. Maybe next time you could choose an easier subject.

Regards,

Richard

No apologies necessary, I come to the well of knowledge and experience for honest opinions. And that's what I got. I deeply appreciate your honest opinions.

No Time to kill to day the sun is shining bright!! (Many thanks)

jsmiley

Skippy wrote:

Some people make this technique look a breeze to do,
but for most of us it's a huge challenge to separate an image like that,
and place it on a new background.

You get an "A" for effort in my book
I see plenty of flaws in the image, especially around the bottom area of the image........ good try ... Skippy
.

Thanks Skippy
I think it was time well spent. The next time I will choose and easier subject. But I got some good feedback and some good information. Thanks for looking and commenting.