How would I accomplish this?

[PhotoJunkieJen]

I'm wanting to accomplish something like this...
How could I pull this off in post production?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulldepeix/3385209630/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anneacaso/3146833021/

[OsmosisStudios]

The two are similar, but not the same

The basic concept is that you put the camera on a tripod. You take one image of the background (with nobody in front of the camera) and then take several with the person in it. For the first one, just use the burst mode to shoot as the person moves. For the second, a timer or remote or a combination to take pictures.

Once youve got everything, you'll need to cut the figure out of the background and then paste it onto the image of just the background. On the first its a bit easier than the second because the second has the water to deal with.

[fletch]

Stick you camera on a tripod so it doesn't move and put you camera into manual mode so the exposure will stay constant.

Then just take the shots with the person in the different places, in the case of the person jumping you will need to use continuous shooting and a fairly fast camera.

Load all of the pictures into Photoshop as a single document with all the photos as layers. As long as your camera didn't move and the exposure and focus was constant they should all line up and you can simply erase (or mask with layer masks) parts of the top photos to let the one below shine though. Pretty simple really.

[PhotoJunkieJen]

I'm pretty new to Photoshop so I'm not well versed on layer masks yet... but if I just layer up several shots and erase the parts I want to show through, that should do it?

Does this technique have a particular name?

[MikeyD]

You could also try an application called group shot from Microsoft research. Its a free download but you may have to hunt for it a bi

[fletch]

Originally Posted by PhotoJunkieJen

I'm pretty new to Photoshop so I'm not well versed on layer masks yet... but if I just layer up several shots and erase the parts I want to show through, that should do it?

Does this technique have a particular name?

Its called cloning. Eeasing does work but its a lot harder to go back if you go wrong. Layer masks are really easy so give it a go.

[dcclark]

I suspect that you could use image stacking for this as well.

[OsmosisStudios]

David has it right. Just stack the images on top of eachother, on top of a base layer (of the empty scene) and erase everything but the person from each.

[PhotoJunkieJen]

So I'm going to give this a try today. Any tips on compensating for the focus, since I can't focus on the person I want to clone... I have to keep the camera stationary.

Also, as long as I keep a steady flash level, it should be ok to use one, right?

[OsmosisStudios]

Use manual focus. This way it doesnt move, and you set it yourself.

Generally, it wont matter whether everything is in perfect focus because youre using a CONSTANT focus. It'll all look natural.