hey ive got the abode photoshop starter edition and i wont to put a back ground image behind a model (picture of one).the "help" does not tell me how.does anyone here do.


cheers
matt

I use Photoshop CS, so I'm not sure exactly how your version works but I can give you a heads up on what you need to look for. Using Pphotoshop is a bit beyond a quick post on a forum, you'll need a whole book (or two) to learn it properly.

Firstly you need to photograph your model against a plain background that contrasts well with the model. it is important to get good edge definition.

You need to make a selection of the model, you'll need to work out exactly how your program works with selections, but you are basically looking for the marquee tool, the magic wand and hopefully if your version has it, the quick mask tool. You can also use paths if your program has this feature, but they are harder to use. You'll have to learn how to use these tools by reading the help, or a book.

Using these tools you make your selection around the outline of the model. It needs to be very precise. Then copy/paste this selection to a new layer.

Drop this layer on top of your background photo and the hard part has just begun.

You will need to tweak the edges of your selection to blend it in to the background, and you will need to manipulate the contrast and colour balance so the foreground and background match.

You also need to make sure that your depths of field make sense. In other words the things in the foreground are sharp, and the things in the background are less sharp, and uniformly progress from sharp to blurry.

For example if your model is nice and sharp near the camera, and becomes blurry towards the back, you can't put this on a nicely focused background photo. In real life, things do not get blury 20 feet from the camera (the back of a tank for example) but magically become sharp again a mile away in the distance. If the back of your model is blurry, your background must be more so. This is why it is very important to ge the best depth of field possible in your model photograph.

This is the hardest part of convinving model photography when you use PS to construct the image digitaly.

When photographing the full size vehicle, it is normal to have the entire thing sharp, and the background as sharp or nearly so, this is extremely hard to replicate in miniature due to the way optics behave as you approach macro.