Selective Background color change

[yjoshi]

This is the first time i have done such extensive masking and background color changes.. so though of sharing with you guys...

So here is the Original And here is the Process version::
>

And here is the processed followed (and why i did so!!):

When i showed this photo to Anshum ~Urban Prowler~ [http://www.flickr.com/photos/34330548@N07/] on camera he pointed out that this kind of picture will look better with contrasting (green) background!.. so what i did was i changed the background color.. now that may seem quite simple but took me about 45-60 mins and 8 layers in GIMP to reach there...
1. Original Image
2. Created duplicate and changed the hue to get the green (full image)
3. created another layer copy to do edge detect
4. next levels increased to get better selection with edge
5. created layered mask with the selection
6. Manually edited the mask with paint brush to get exact masking on the twisted twig (this took me 30+ mins!! and i was working @ 400% enlarge not to miss even a single pic-cell for perfect sharpness
7. Layer from View
8. highpass filter

huff... too much for too little? any faster way guys?

[windrider86]

I have to ask, what is an edge detect?

[pacheco78]

Nice! Although I must say, the original image was very good too.

[hifigraz]

edge detect is an algorithm, which detects areas in a picture where image brightness changes rapidly.

Edge detection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

kr
robert

[crickm]

Love it, I haven't yet used masks but i agree think it does look better in green, stands out more

[MrRod]

These might help you.

YouTube - You Suck at Photoshop #5: Select Color Range

YouTube - Making "perfect" masks based on your image