Solitary Tree

[sk66]

Here's my first "before and after" post. What follows is a pretty easy, "how I did it" which ended with a pretty dramatic picture I think.

I took this picture for the assignment "leaves". I had an image in my mind which was very much like the final image I ended up with. Unfortunately, I could not find the scene I wanted to take a picture of anywhere in the real world, so I had to make do.

I found this scene and I thought "that will work". The first key to this picture is still in getting the original capture. To get the feel/look I was going for I used my sigma 10-20mm lens @11.5mm and laid down, chin on the ground. I set the camera to f8 and focused trying for the hyperfocus setting (something I've just learned about). It looks like I was a far away from from the tree, but I was just outside the branches. I love that sigma lens! I would have set it for 10mm, but there was an ugly sign to the side of the image. So now I have the original capture.


This is the photoshop layers panel to go with the rest of the details.

First I opened the image in Lightroom and did some basic functions such as cataloging, keywording, contrast and sharpening. There are picnic tables and a few other things in the image I did not like, and the brush in the picture was just too much. It really took the picture too far from what I had envisioned.

So I then exported the image as "a copy with lightroom changes" to PS CS3. Once inside Photoshop, the first thing I did was make a copy of the background on a new layer and then locked/turned off the original "background" layer. This gives me a "safe" starting point.

On the background copy layer I used the eraser and removed the background. I started with a very small diameter to do the edges being careful to cut into the leaves to create a "ragged edge", as well as into the lower branches and between trunks so I would have a realistic meshing with the new background. I then expanded the eraser size to quickly erase the remaining bulk. A graphics tablet makes this MUCH easier, but isn't an absolute necessity.

Now I had an image where the tree was sitting on the horizon. The leaves just died at the base of the trunk and it didn't look realistic. So I made a selection of the top edge of the leaves and pasted that into a new layer, "layer 3". I only used the top edge because I needed the leaves size and texture to fit. I positioned the layer below the background copy layer so that the selection sat behind the original. I then moved the selection up as far as i could while keeping a good blending. I couldn't get enough height so I duplicated the layer and shifted that copy up higher yet. Now I had the horizon looking "realistic" to my eyes.

Next was to create another layer, "layer 4" and fill that with a suitable gradient to fill the missing background with "sky". Using a gradient, or multiple gradients, works better than a solid color fill because the sky is never uniformly even. To chose the starting color I simply selected some of the original sky showing thru the tree. A few attempts at the gradient angle/distance/etc got me a transition I liked.

Now, the original sky had some clouds in it which show thru the tree and made the "replacement sky" look unnatural to me. So back to layer 3. (layer 2 was create and then later trashed during this process). Using the brush tool set to approximately a 50% flow and 80% opacity I drew in the clouds. (again, a pressure sensitive tablet really helps here). I was also careful to add some hints of clouds behind the tree trunk/branches where the background fill was too "solid" to blend with the original scene.



Before and After

After about an hour of work, there it is...the finished product. I think it came out pretty well. If you would like to see the finished product "full size", CLICK HERE. It really is better viewed full size. (well, "full size" I can put on Flickr anyways). I think it still looks a touch "fake", I'm hoping that's because I know what was done...

So, what do you think? Comments are appreciated and I'll be glad to answer any questions.

[FocalFrenzy]

I like the way this turned out. Perhaps feathering the horizon line, so that it's not as crisply in focus as the tree, would help disguise its' editing. To my eyes, that's the only "Fake" looking point. Nice job.

[candleman]

well done.. good editing!

[sk66]

Originally Posted by FocalFrenzy

I like the way this turned out. Perhaps feathering the horizon line, so that it's not as crisply in focus as the tree, would help disguise its' editing. To my eyes, that's the only "Fake" looking point. Nice job.

Ok, I've done that. To me it still looks about the same. There's a little less blue in the sky for this one, I think that helps some.

[SandeeWig]

I like this last one you posted better. Nice work overall! It was the color of the sky in the first PP version that wasn't working for me, so I was glad to see you tone it down some.

Very cool process. Thanks! I learned a lot from this.

[sk66]

Originally Posted by SandeeWig

I like this last one you posted better. Nice work overall! It was the color of the sky in the first PP version that wasn't working for me, so I was glad to see you tone it down some.

Very cool process. Thanks! I learned a lot from this.

Thanks! I agree, just wish I had started this before the contest ended. I think the final is better, and I agree that the original version's darker sky made for a harsh transition line.
I learned something too!

[FGPhotography]

Very Very Neat!!! You've completely boggled my mind, but it was well worth the boggle

Originally Posted by sk66

Here's my first "before and after" post. What follows is a pretty easy, "how I did it" which ended with a pretty dramatic picture I think.

I took this picture for the assignment "leaves". I had an image in my mind which was very much like the final image I ended up with. Unfortunately, I could not find the scene I wanted to take a picture of anywhere in the real world, so I had to make do.

I found this scene and I thought "that will work". The first key to this picture is still in getting the original capture. To get the feel/look I was going for I used my sigma 10-20mm lens @11.5mm and laid down, chin on the ground. I set the camera to f8 and focused trying for the hyperfocus setting (something I've just learned about). It looks like I was a far away from from the tree, but I was just outside the branches. I love that sigma lens! I would have set it for 10mm, but there was an ugly sign to the side of the image. So now I have the original capture.


This is the photoshop layers panel to go with the rest of the details.

First I opened the image in Lightroom and did some basic functions such as cataloging, keywording, contrast and sharpening. There are picnic tables and a few other things in the image I did not like, and the brush in the picture was just too much. It really took the picture too far from what I had envisioned.

So I then exported the image as "a copy with lightroom changes" to PS CS3. Once inside Photoshop, the first thing I did was make a copy of the background on a new layer and then locked/turned off the original "background" layer. This gives me a "safe" starting point.

On the background copy layer I used the eraser and removed the background. I started with a very small diameter to do the edges being careful to cut into the leaves to create a "ragged edge", as well as into the lower branches and between trunks so I would have a realistic meshing with the new background. I then expanded the eraser size to quickly erase the remaining bulk. A graphics tablet makes this MUCH easier, but isn't an absolute necessity.

Now I had an image where the tree was sitting on the horizon. The leaves just died at the base of the trunk and it didn't look realistic. So I made a selection of the top edge of the leaves and pasted that into a new layer, "layer 3". I only used the top edge because I needed the leaves size and texture to fit. I positioned the layer below the background copy layer so that the selection sat behind the original. I then moved the selection up as far as i could while keeping a good blending. I couldn't get enough height so I duplicated the layer and shifted that copy up higher yet. Now I had the horizon looking "realistic" to my eyes.

Next was to create another layer, "layer 4" and fill that with a suitable gradient to fill the missing background with "sky". Using a gradient, or multiple gradients, works better than a solid color fill because the sky is never uniformly even. To chose the starting color I simply selected some of the original sky showing thru the tree. A few attempts at the gradient angle/distance/etc got me a transition I liked.

Now, the original sky had some clouds in it which show thru the tree and made the "replacement sky" look unnatural to me. So back to layer 3. (layer 2 was create and then later trashed during this process). Using the brush tool set to approximately a 50% flow and 80% opacity I drew in the clouds. (again, a pressure sensitive tablet really helps here). I was also careful to add some hints of clouds behind the tree trunk/branches where the background fill was too "solid" to blend with the original scene.



Before and After

After about an hour of work, there it is...the finished product. I think it came out pretty well. If you would like to see the finished product "full size", CLICK HERE. It really is better viewed full size. (well, "full size" I can put on Flickr anyways). I think it still looks a touch "fake", I'm hoping that's because I know what was done...

So, what do you think? Comments are appreciated and I'll be glad to answer any questions.

[Misha]

That is great. I wish I knew how to do this sort of thing.