Digital Technology and Production
Car Montage
Okay, I'm a big fan of capturing the picture that I want in the camera, but that isn't aways possible. Maybe there was a stop sign in the way. Sometimes you want to use technology to make the image match reality in a way it should be. Or maybe you want to create an imagined reality.
Here is a simple compostite that still take some effort and gives you a bit of room for polishing it off.
Creating a montage in Photoshop
These sample pics come from a family holiday a few years ago. I took the first shot, to get the lovely blue sky and water, but the family and the car are a bit dark.
I asked a helpful person to take over so I could be in the frame, and he unfortunately gave us lots of parking lot. But Hey! look at how good the exposure on the people and the car! Obvious solution, take the best bits of each and put them together.
Presto chango-a little selection tools here, a little cloning and erasing there, and you get:
I didn't even do a great job. Notice the too bright water in the gap under my arm, and next to my wife. Maybe you can do better? Pretty convincing, though, if I hadn't told you how it came together.
So download the two main files here,
car-bay-step1.jpg
car-bay-step2.jpg
1) First you will save a copy of each file, using your name at the start of the filename, in the job folder you create.
There are many ways you can combine the files. I like this technique.
2) With the 'step-2' file, use a selection tool to draw around the car. I prefer the 'polygonal lasso' tool, so that I don't have to draw one continuous line around the item since I always screw up and have to start again.
3)When you have a complete selection and the little dancing ants moving around the car, copy and paste or alt-click and drag the car into the 'step-1' file. Your 'step-1' file should now have two layers.
4) It should be too big, so you'll have to edit-transform-scale and resize the image you just pasted in place. When it is the right size, use edit-transform-rotate to angle it closer to the original car.
5) You probably have messy edges that need to be cleaned up. The two pieces don't match exactly, so you have to decide how to mesh them together. That might mean zooming in and using the eraser tool to wipe out extra bits. I had to go into the 'step-1' file and clone bits of the water and sky where the boy's head didn't overlap properly. You can turn off and on each layer with the eyeball symbol in the Layers palette.
6)You can see you need a lot of tools and techniques to get the composite right. You are working on a copy, so you can always go back and start again. You can use the history palette to back up if you don't like what you have done. Blending the tree trunks, the shadows, and in the gaps around the people is a bit tricky, but great practice.
Don't worry, you'll remember this assignment and the fun you had for years to come...