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[bribrius]

yep, pretty sure i will get a list on this one. i used elements for the transfer digital backdrop. My daughter.

 

[bribrius]

and well... sorta still working on that post processing thingy. i actually think the original image was probably better before i touched it...

 

[limr31]

The boundary of her hair and the fake background is far too obvious. I wouldn't know the first thing about how to do it better, but that's just the first thing I noticed.

 

[bribrius]

The boundary of her hair and the fake background is far too obvious. I wouldn't know the first thing about how to do it better, but that's just the first thing I noticed.

i knew that one was coming. And me neither lmao. It isn't a "fake " background it is a digital background, which just happens to be not real. Get it right...

 

[Granddad]

The first question I'd ask myself is "Is the photo worth working with?" It looks soft and while your daughter is a very pretty girl, she has that "Oh Dad, do I have to play model for you again?" look.

It looks to me like you shot the original against a light background and have tried to transfer it onto a dark background. I've tried doing this before and failed miserably. Hair is usually the factor that shows up the flaws. Being a graduated dark background makes it more difficult still. I've been working on the same issues and I'm starting to recognise what will work and what won't... and even the ones that will work are far from easy (or convincing) when hair is involved.
Keep trying! I'll post one of my recent efforts, someone may have some tips that will help us both.

 

[bribrius]

The first question I'd ask myself is "Is the photo worth working with?" It looks soft and while your daughter is a very pretty girl, she has that "Oh Dad, do I have to play model for you again?" look.

It looks to me like you shot the original against a light background and have tried to transfer it onto a dark background. I've tried doing this before and failed miserably. Hair is usually the factor that shows up the flaws. Being a graduated dark background makes it more difficult still. I've been working on the same issues and I'm starting to recognise what will work and what won't... and even the ones that will work are far from easy (or convincing) when hair is involved.
Keep trying! I'll post one of my recent efforts, someone may have some tips that will help us both.

bingo on all accounts. Except the soft. The original is actually good. i softened the chit out of this in post TRYING to make it blend. Didnt work. i would like the option of using digital backgrounds in a pinch though. It , well just is proving difficult for someone in my skill range (lack of) in pp.

 

[Granddad]

Here's my latest effort. The scrappy hair edges don't show too badly at this size but in the inset you'll note that they're still far from perfect.
The radial gradient allows me to hide much of the nasty bits and looks a lot like I had a coloured background with a white spot ... which would have been much faster and simpler! LOL!!

 

[bribrius]

it's the hair. night mare . This is far better than mine.

 

[Buckster]

Found it.

Yeah, it looks like you cut her out with scissors or an exacto knife, and that's why it looks fake.

You'll want to work on your selection, masking and feathering techniques. A great place to learn about that stuff for free is Phlearn.com and there's a search engine there where you can put in those terms and find videos that show you how to do it.

They will be demonstrated in Photoshop, rather than in Elements or Gimp, so you'll have to translate the techniques and ideas behind them to whatever application you actually use.

 

[Buckster]

By the way, can you post one of the original photo, before the cutting out and edits?

 

[bribrius]

By the way, can you post one of the original photo, before the cutting out and edits?

think it is long gone now. Not sure how it saves. I will try to see if i can go in and hit "undo" over and over if it will let me.

And yeah, i am wondering if i am using the wrong tool because it basically comes up with its own line as i move the pointer, rather than allowing to go in and out of the hair and such. i did apply feathering but apparently it was already gone pretty much on the cut out.

 

[Buckster]

By the way, can you post one of the original photo, before the cutting out and edits?

think it is long gone now. Not sure how it saves. I will try to see if i can go in and hit "undo" over and over if it will let me.

Common quick tip when it comes to editing: ALWAYS, ALWAYS keep the original, and ONLY work on a copy. That way, no matter how messed up it might get, you can always start over from scratch with another copy of the original.

 

[Buckster]

And yeah, i am wondering if i am using the wrong tool because it basically comes up with its own line as i move the pointer, rather than allowing to go in and out of the hair and such. i did apply feathering but apparently it was already gone pretty much on the cut out.

Yeah, the "right" tool for cutting a person (or anything else) out can change from image to image, depending on the image itself.

Speaking with Photoshop in mind (I've never used Elements, so I don't know what it has vs what it doesn't, compared to PS), sometimes the pen, sometimes a quick selection, sometimes a color range selection, sometimes a channel selection, oftentimes, combinations of more than one applied to different areas is the best way to go. For each, there are other tweaks that can be made in conjunction with them to make them select more accurately what you really want to select. There are even times when a simple brush and a mask work well.

Always make the selection, then apply it to a mask, so that it can easily be revised later if needed.

EDITED TO NOTE: Apply the selection to the mask, rather than using it to delete the pixels you think you don't want. Use the mask to hide or reveal areas at will. If you delete stuff around the subject, it's just gone, and you get those horrible sharp cut lines.

Again, with Photoshop in mind, from there, drop in a background on a layer below, then if needed (usually) jump back up to the masked layer of the subject and refine the mask's edge with any or all of the following: shift, feathering, contrast, and decontaminate. The edge detection tool works great on hair.

EDITED TO NOTE: Again, the feathering and stuff happens to the MASK, rather than to a cut out image of the subject pasted onto a background. It makes a huge difference, especially when it comes to make it all blend together in a natural-looking way.

From there, you may need to adjust color, hue and brightness of either the background or the subject to get them to appear to fit together more naturally, keeping in mind that subjects tend to pick up a little color from their surroundings, and backgrounds in particular tend to reflect a bit around the subject's edges.

 

[bribrius]

Thanks buckster. Much appreciated. Going to look back on this for reference. Wasn't doing this the right way at all. And it became sort of a domino effect of a mess.

 

[pixmedic]

have you considered getting a green screen? they are cheap and effective for this sort of thing.
not as nice as an actual background, but we do use one occasionally. quick test shot.
Hair is the worst...

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