Comments on: The 5 Deadly Sins of Photoshop Compositing http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/the-5-deadly-sins-of-photoshop-compositing/ Photography Tips & Techniques Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:32:10 +0000 hourly 1 By: Jordan Ewert http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/the-5-deadly-sins-of-photoshop-compositing/#comment-10181 Jordan Ewert Sun, 13 Mar 2011 22:18:14 +0000 http://test.picturecorrect.com/?p=663#comment-10181 You nailed it. Compositing is really simple when you keep all of these in mind. The depth of field is probably the trickiest to control because it's very difficult to generate information from an out of focus element and using a softer or harder brush to match the material is only applicable if its convincing with the environment around it... There is only so much you can do in photoshop with lighting and perspective. Some objects won't look correct no matter how much "photoshopping" you do. A couple of other things I've found very helpful in my own work is the use of convincing cast shadows from objects and adding noise to match the original picture. Masking hair is by far the toughest thing to do until you realize that painting in hair on a separate layer gets around the issue. For this specific thing having a tablet can be extremely beneficial. You nailed it. Compositing is really simple when you keep all of these in mind. The depth of field is probably the trickiest to control because it’s very difficult to generate information from an out of focus element and using a softer or harder brush to match the material is only applicable if its convincing with the environment around it…

There is only so much you can do in photoshop with lighting and perspective. Some objects won’t look correct no matter how much “photoshopping” you do.

A couple of other things I’ve found very helpful in my own work is the use of convincing cast shadows from objects and adding noise to match the original picture. Masking hair is by far the toughest thing to do until you realize that painting in hair on a separate layer gets around the issue. For this specific thing having a tablet can be extremely beneficial.

]]>