The Anatomy of a Photoshoot

[txcollector]

How do you go from this

to this?

Step 1: Composition and Lighting

The first thing you need to decide is your theme. As soon as I saw the Ploprof I thought a composition with my diving equipment would be a must.

You want you composition to be dynamic so I position the regulator in one side of the shot with the hoses running across and the watch on the other side.

Next I needed to decide what kind of background I'd like to use.

Nowadays it's a lot easier to add the background in Photoshop than it is to shoot on location or to add some elaborated prop to the scene.

For this shot I decided I wanted some nice beach sunset to complete the scene.

To make this realistic I needed 2 light sources. 1) a high speed flash (Speedlite 430EX II) on the side to provide nice contrast and shadows 2) a warm continuous light at the back of the light tent to provide the warm tint on the watch and the rest of the equipment.

Step 2: The Shot

To get the maximum detail in the foreground you want to use a high F stop (22 for this one). I also decided to use average metering and use brackets to make sure I get the right exposure across the whole shot.

Because I had many reflective areas to worry about I decided to use my 300mm zoom lens and of course a sturdy tripod for the 7D. That allows me to shoot from a distance minimizing any camera reflection on the regulator.

This is how the raw shot looks like.

Step 3: Post Processing

One of the advantages of shooting raw is the flexibility to change white balance, contrast, exposure, black levels, etc..

Since I was looking for a warm end of day kind of light I tweaked the picture a little to add a yellowish hue.

Step 4: Adding the New Background

Before I can add a new background I need to remove the existing one (kept neutral for the shot to make it easier to remove). You will notice a little halo around some parts of the picture that I'll cover later.

Also in Photoshop this layer had the removed background as transparent but jpegs will add a background color (in the case white) to the picture.

The easiest part was so use Google to search and find a good image that would have all the elements I was looking for: sunset, beach, waves breaking, clear sky, etc.. Here's what I found.

The original picture was a lot sharper and the Sun was on the right side of the pic. To mach my light direction I flip the picture and I added lens blur to the picture since in a real shot the background would be a little out of focus.

Step 5: Making it Look Natural

At this point I had to 1) find a position for the Sun that would match my background lighting 2) make sure I blend the foreground and background pictures.

One the bigger issues with removing areas from the foreground to show the background is the number of sharp, uneven edges that we end up with. The solution for that is to use a blurring tool and use both layers to create a alias effect across the 2 pictures.

That's the effect you see here

Showing both layers you get this

Nice but not great. So we go to our last step. Enhancements.

Step 6: Enhancing You Image

I like to play with effects and my favorite package is the OnOne Software PhotoTools 2.5.

For this shot I used the "Color Treatment" "Cool & Warm" to make the scene more interesting. Adding warm colors to the middle to coincide with where the sunlight should hit and the cool areas around to compensate and balance the scene.

I could have added a lens flare to make it more realistic but I just don't like those. I'd rather the shot was cleaner.

Here's the final result

Thanks for reading. I hope this can be of use for other shutterbugs around here.

[vafarmer70]

Thanks for the great tips. You really should be in photography, not IT

[wheaton26]

wow, amazing.

[maxman]

Thanks for the tips,very Informative.

[Jkay]

Can you be more specific about making the edges between the layers look so clean and real? This is my weak point, and has been for years.

[importr]

Brilliant tuto that is, thank you

[asf]

Great tutorial! I've always had problems blending the 2 layers

[txcollector]

Can you be more specific about making the edges between the layers look so clean and real? This is my weak point, and has been for years.

2 important things:

1) Patience removing the background. Make sure you take your time removing all of it but not more. I use all kinds of tools for that (magic wand, polygonal selection, color match selection, etc.)

2) Make sure you use the "blur tool" to smooth the edges of the foreground cut outs. In regular photos there's an alias that happens and blends the colors. I use a brush size that's not too big or small for the selection. I usually zoom in and work the details. Make sure you select "use all layers".

If you look at this picture you will see the blur used background colors, make it more natural.

[krpster]

Wow! That is impressive work. Thanks for shedding the light on how you achieved such a fine result.

[plaifender]

awesome Tuto... thanks TX

[ubiquitous]

Great pic! If I didn't know better, I'd swear it was shot at the beach!

[flex]

nice..thanks the tutorials. very awesome post

[Eton]

Great tutorial, thanks for taking the time!!!

[MarkA]

Nice shot.

Paths are a much better way of doing a cutout. you can feather and blur them afterwards. I'd also question at shooting at f22 - quite often that will introduce diffraction, especially on a smaller sensor.