I'm "standing" in front of the famous Opéra National de Paris in a hot pink silk blouse and a ruched jersey mini and Michael Kors heels. This photo looks more real than last week's so I think I'm improving. I still can't seem to get a hang of "grounding" myself so that it looks more realistic. If anyone knows how, please let me know!
To see the before images and tutorial, click on the see more...
Sorry this tutorial is not very in-depth but I'll try to add links to other tutorials that I used for your easy reference:
1. Here are the two unedited images. This really is the Opera de Paris which we visited in 2009. The photo of me was shot in RAW and color edited before being transferred to Photoshop. Once in Photoshop, I first deleted the background of the photo with me by using the pen tool. It takes a long time but I find that you get a better control of what gets deleted and the lines look nice and smooth. Check out the tutorial from webgraphics.net for tips (very useful for removing the background in between the hair)
2. Next, I placed the background image into the photo of me (you could do it the other way too). I then proceeded to resize the background image layer. To resize just that layer use the marquee tool (the dotted box up at the top of the toolbar) >right-click on the image and select Free Transform. Resize by pulling on the anchor points and then hit Enter to finalize the change.
3. I adjusted the curves of each layer (ie: photo) individually so that I can get the two photos to be similar lightness and contrast.
4. There's not much shadows in this photo but I still added a faint one. See this tutorial from ephotozine.com which makes adding shadows easy and quick.
5. Next, save the file (ie; filename.psd) and then resave it under a different name (ie: filename_v2.psd). I do this because I am going to merged my layers together and in case I don't like it, I can go back to the first file.
6. Finally, I use the blur tool (at 50% opacity) to smudge the outline of me to soften the edges so I can blend in better. For this photo, I ended up bluring me everywhere as I was very grainy due to poor quality of the photo.
There you go...all my trade secrets for free! (Well...I'm grateful for all the tutorials online so just paying it forward).
xo,
K
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