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Posted on 27/03/08 09:06:32 AM |
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MarkJohnsonSD
* Posts: 1 Reply  |
Matching face onto a distorted picture with weird shadow
Hey Steve and everyone, This is my first post! I recently purchased the book and have really enjoyed going through it and have learned a lot from it. But I have a picture that I was working on for fun and couldn't seem to get it right. And of course after working on it for a bit I can't figure out why it looks weird anymore but I know it does. I think it has to do with the shadow on the face but I can't find a way to darken in to match. the dodge and burn tool makes it too black and then the contrast doesn't match. So the only thing I've changed in the photo so far is that I've moved the writing on his hand and I replaced the head on the body with my own. Any advice would be great. Thanks everyone in advance!  _________________ We all need mirrors to remind ourselves of who we are, I'm no different |
Posted on 27/03/08 09:35:52 AM |
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David Asch
Tech Support Posts: 1913 Reply  |
Re: Matching face onto a distorted picture with weird shadow
It's a tricky one. Looking at the original it seems the light is coming from slightly behind the person top-left. The right hand side of the face should be in more shadow but not too dark as there is ambient light too. This also means lightening up the left side, adding highlights around the back edges (as with the collar, neck and shoulder). Your best bet is to first create a neutral (50%) grey layer above the photo and set it to hard light or overlay mode. Use a very low exposure with the dodge/burn tools and build areas up. By doing things this way you can experiment with the opacity and contrast without affecting the tonality on the rest of the photo. _________________ A happy-go-lucky chap, always dressed in black |
Posted on 27/03/08 09:53:09 AM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply  |
Re: Matching face onto a distorted picture with weird shadow
Hi Mark From your comments I assume that the original photo consists of the hands and picture, but without your head. The original shot looks low in contrast, so I would suggest that boosting this will help add interest and make the photo appear more integral with the overall image Your own face seems to be higher in contrast anyway, so this will help. I would approach this by placing a Curves adjustment layer above the background layer and pull the curve downwards from the centre until you're happy with the blend. Fill the Curves mask with black (Invert - CTRL I) and paint back with white using a soft brush and low opacity. This will allow you to add in the adjustment to the level you desire and where you want it to be. The effect should possibly be more pronounced under the fingers. Your own face, sitting on its own layer, is likely to mismatch now, so you will need to create another curves layer above the face layer. If you ALT click the adjustment layer icon, a dialogue box will appear asking whether you wish to clip the Curves to the head layer, so tick the box. Any adjustment will now only apply to the face and not the entire image. If you then play around with the technique described above and balance the lighting on the face, you should achieve a good blend. The final problem area will be the neck and it may be appropriate to build this up on a new layer with the clone tool before applying the step above. You will need to merge the head and new cloning layers first, once you are happy with the result, to ensure that the Curves adjustment applies to both areas. Hope this helps and apologies if I've made this complicated. Nick |
Posted on 27/03/08 11:43:08 AM |
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katew
Virtual Virtuoso Posts: 681 Reply  |
Re: Matching face onto a distorted picture with weird shadow
Re your comment about not being able to see what's wrong when you've been working on it for a while, I get that problem too. My husband, who's an artist, suggests either looking at it in a mirror, or temporarily flipping the picture horizontally. He says it's an old artists' trick and it makes what's wrong jump out at you. I haven't tried it, but he says it's worked for him. |