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Need help to create realism on photo manipulation


HannoSLM

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Dear ,

I started using photoshop to create some apocalyptic backgrounds. First test was with a wallpaper from bing, which i replaced the fog with water/waves. My problem is the lack of realism.

FloodApocalypseProject.jpg

I had problems matching the colors of the waves and at the end i made all of them black&white and put a gradient layer with blue on the waves side and yellowish on the land side of the picture.

Any ideas how to approach this problem and make it look real?

Looking forward for your feedback

Many thanks in advance
 

IamSam

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Hello Hanno and welcome.

This is a nice image and concept. I think you have done a fantastic job with your blending, so that's not much of a problem.

The most obvious issue I see is that it's hard for me to see that this is a seaside city/village. When I first looked at it I thought it was just a rocky beach. It took me a few seconds to realize what was going on.

The next issue is the water at the top of the image, these look more like clouds than water. I get that it's a curvature of the land or island, but the wave would most likely come from one direction only, so you should not see it coming from that direction as well. The (curved) wavefront would not have hit that portion of land yet.

Also, we know from our unfortunate and devastating history that the water recedes before the wave. If this is meant to be receding water, it would not be turbulent. It would be uniform and smooth. For me, the water in front of a large mega wave detracts from the realism. First, it should not be there and second (assuming this might be a second set of waves) the water would not be white and foamy, it would be dark, filled with soot and debris.

Don't give up! Your on the right track just a few minor changes and you will have it!
 

HannoSLM

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Hi IamSam,

Many thanks for the constructive feedback, I appreciate it. I will rework it in order to see how it will look with the still water and will remove the top wave (totally agree that it looks ridiculous). One of my biggest issues is to match the scale of the different objects, are there some tips, or just by looking should be enough? In my opinion some of the waves are too big, compared to the foamy water around them which also substracts from realism quite a bit.

I tried to make debris, but the resolution is so low, that if they look realistic they are too blurred :(

Thanks again
 
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Hi Hanno

You've done a great job on this one! Really well done!

Blending water and land is extremely difficult to do in PS. Generally I agree with Sam's comment.
My suggestion: If the colors of land and water are similar then the blending will be easier to do. See my version, I hope you don't mind. I went for a more greyish look.

FloodApocalypseProjectChrisdesign.jpg
 

HannoSLM

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Hi Chris,

Thanks a lot for the feedback. It is true that it is easier to blend pictures with similar colors, but i was wandering if they are not (and not possible to be - for example lava on building etc) how do u advise to blend them? is applying shadows/highlights enough or there are more tricks? :)
 
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Lava on a building...never tried this before, sounds challenging.
I would tell you all my tricks, if I would have some up my sleeve. Photoshop work is a constant curve of learning and improving. My advise is: A composite should always look natural to the viewer.
 

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