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need help on how to make the subject(man) more realistic to the background


REDELL

Active Member
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Hi ,

Any help ideas is very much appreciated.

thanks,
Redell
 

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  • makenatural.JPG
    makenatural.JPG
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  • blendman_to_background.psd
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Rich54

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In my opinion there are two issues here.

(1) The beach scene has a lot of yellow and golden tones, but the man has a purple tint, so he doesn't seem to be standing in the same colored light as his immediate surroundings. In the image below, I added a curves adjustment (clipped to the man only) and reduced the blue channel (which has the effect of boosting the yellow in his skin tone).

(2) The sun is obviously low and directly behind the man, so he ought to be backlit and he also ought to be evenly lit on his front side, since there is no other apparent light source. But instead, the man seems to be lit from his left (our right). The inside of his left arm is in shadow while the inside of his right arm is brighter. Both arms ought to be the same if the sun is the light source, so there is an entirely different light source on the man that does not seem to exist in the beach scene. Similar story with his face (deep shadow) vs. his torso (much more brightly lit). Where is the light source causing those shadows on the man and why doesn't that light source seem to affect the sand where the man is standing?

blend.jpg
 

REDELL

Active Member
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Thanks so much, Rich54. I think this is fine. Looks more natural. The color of the skin matches now the background. So the technique is curves adjustment. Added to my knowledge notes :).

The photo is taken inside a room where there's not much light - so the light is just coming from the flash of camera.


Then again, Thank you for those very informative notes. I really appreciate your time.

-Redell
 

IamSam

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jackbirley29 Thanks for your input.

Just remember that the subject is being back lit by the sun, the shadow would be cast forwards and not backwards.
 

IamSam

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I would move him back further in the sand. (I would fix his feet though) He doesn't look right so close to the edge of the image.

Blend his body color with a Hue & Sat adjustment layer set to colorize, Add and inner and outer contour glow with a layer style.

And lastly, an appropriate shadow, blurred and faded.

Please note I have exaggerated the inner and outer glow so their visible for the demo.
Screen Shot 2016-11-20 at 2.53.17 PM.png
 

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