How to make this more realistic?

[FlyAwayFaith]

*looks around* OMG it's been so long...

I've tried editing a dog into this old pic of my dad, but it still seems a bit unrealistic.

What can be done to make it blend in better?

 

[Rich54]

Hello. I'm just a photoshop hobbyist, not a professional or guru, but in my opinion the dog is sharper and has more contrast than the original photo, which is what's making it look a bit fake. The original photo is grainy, faded, stained and slightly blurry, but the dog is none of those. In particular, the bottom edge of the dog's tail looks like it was cut-out with scissors. Same with the dog's back and ears. I think softening the dog's edges, possibly adding some grain and reducing the contrast would make him (or her) better match the rest of the photo.

 

[IamSam]

Great idea Rich54! How does the OP do this and with what tools?

 

[Rich54]

I'm at work (it's a slow day), so I don't have photoshop available to experiment, but here are some things I would try to make the dog equally blurry and "distressed" as the rest of the photo:

• Use the blur tool, set to a small pixel size and perhaps 50% opacity, to go around and soften all the hard edges of the dog. If possible, work with only the dog on its own separate layer.
• Try the smudge tool, set to a very small pixel size, to "pull out" some fur to make the dog's edges look like little wisps of fur. If the smudge tool isn't satisfactory, possibly try drawing wisps of fur with the brush tool set to a low opacity. Don't overdo this because the entire photo is somewhat blurry, so we shouldn't be able to see very much detail of individual hairs.
• Pay particular attention to the edge below the dog's tail, which is the most "fake" looking part of the entire composite. Try to make the transiton from the dog's tail to the sidewalk less distinct.
• Use a Brightness & Contrast adjustment layer to slightly reduce the dog's contrast.
• This may or may not work on the dog's fur, but try adding grain. Select the outline of the dog, and on a new layer fill with 50% gray, blend mode of Overlay. Then go to Filter>Add Noise. Play around with the amount of noise, the layer opacity, and possibly a slight blur on the noise to try to match the graininess of the rest of the photo.

 

[IamSam]

Excellent advice Rich!

 

[SCTRWD]

I think adding the shadows from the dog would help a lot here.

Just make them shadows realistic: they have to be very complex given that they fall at some angle against the legs of your dad.

Also sample the noise from the pavement or the sky(find the most noisy channel) and apply it to the dog with some Blend mode or use the Apply Channel or Calculations....

 

[IamSam]

The only thing I might add would be to make the dog a Smart Object after you import him into your Dad's photo. This way, any filters you use like blur or noise, can easily be changed at any time.
I also think that a gentle and carefully placed shadow would help. This is easily done by creating a new layer beneath the dogs layer, making a selection of the dogs layer by hitting comnd/contrl + clicking the thumbnail, then filling with black.
Blur the shadow layer.
Use your Move Tool to position the shadow. Add a layer mask to the shadow layer to remove unwanted areas.
Decrease the layers opacity.

When your done with all of your adjustments and before you use the Blur or Smudge Tool, highlight the uppermost layer and hit shift + alt/option + cmnd/cntrl + E, this will merge all visible layers to a new layer above the currently selected layer. This gives you a clean merged layer (which you could duplicate) to work with. If you make mistakes, your originals are all preserved.

Good luck!

edit: Sorry SCTRWD, typing and did not see your post!

 

[sprucemagoo1]

Scale is always a give away.

 

[chrisdesign]

Very good job Spruce, the proportions look perfect now.

 

[ibclare]

Good job Chad. I would just add a teeny more shadow. I thought the original made the dog look blended right into dad's legs, growing out of him. With shadows adjusted and the size as well, the dog stands out as a dog, not a poster 2 dimensional object. I think increasing contrast and exposure adjustments are important. Lots of good observations one and all.

Let's see your final solution "son," lol.

One more thing, consider cropping it some, maybe a lot more or less. The vignettes are not balanced and are not a good thing for the picture. You can always give it a black or dark blue border, even brown to pick up some shepherd color, or replace the vignettes.

 

[IamSam]

I agree with Spruce on scale. I used some reference to help with that.

 

[FlyAwayFaith]

*stares in awe* OMG you guys are awesome

Thank you for the tips; wasn't expecting such a great response. *hugs each and every one*

I'll try out the methods as soon as I get a chance.

Edit: My dad already post the original one on facebook, and is now trying to convince everybody he had a dog when he was younger. -.- I TOLD him it needed editing.