Entering composite world

[rahullele]

Hey Damien, Big fan of composites for making those images larger than life. I see one fellow member falon doing this kind of work a lot (Latest example being Ava Unicorn) . I want to do that kind of stuff for my little one.

Something like .. where to get those cool backdrops or images for the composite .. If there are any tutorials to follow or the classes i can do to get me started with it? 

You have some tutorials or input you can provide me ? 

Is there any way i can contact that member ? or if at all its ok to contact member ? appreciate if you can get me into this dreamy world of composites. 

[Damien Symonds]

@Falon, do you have any advice to get Rahul started?

[Damien Symonds]

This is the most important advice from me: https://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/09/extract-then-copy-vs-copy-then-extract.html

Also this: https://www.damiensymonds.net/2015/07/blue-or-green-screen-for-background.html

[Falon]

Hi there,

I get a lot of the backgrounds from Etsy. I just search the particular theme I’m looking for and then I go from there. I sometimes also add more to an image myself and use overlays etc that I purchase through Etsy as well.

So your first step is to find your digital image that you like.

I haven’t used any tutorials I have just taught myself so I can’t help you there sorry. 

Then I photograph my subject on a black background or a white background depending on the digital background I have purchased. If it’s a darker background I go with black if it’s lighter white. Remember to make sure your lighting matches your background. 

Once you have your image of your subject add it to the digital background as Damien has linked above and mask out the unwanted areas. Next step is to get that size correct so it looks most realistic. Then it’s your levels and skin work. Once that’s all done I add shadows which plays a big role it getting it to look like the person is actually in the photo.

Hope this helps and good luck they are loads of fun to create.

[rahullele]

Thank you Very Much @Falon and Thanks as always @Damien Symonds !!