Good Morning! Thought I would share some links and a how-I-did-that today before all the holiday festivities set in… This month’s photo group assignment was for everyone to try out a Topaz Remask tutorial. Although I shared it with the group the previous month, I didn’t do a very good job explaining it… Remask is one of those techniques where following along and actually doing it is much more useful in achieving a good result. So I’m not going to try to explain it here either, but if you need a little bit of help with removing your subject from the background give it a try {click}. So what’s the purpose of this post then? Well, it’s about the other things I learned while while working on this image.
So this is my original. I definitely did not pick it for it composition qualities. I picked it solely for my model’s hair and to try out the Remask tutorial. First, a good crop and a quick touch-up using the Portrait Professional plug-in. Then I moved on Remask.
Following the tutorial , I still wasn’t getting the result I was looking for. I was left with a green halo – backlash from using the green screen/background. But not only did it leave a green halo in and around her hair, her complexion, the dress, and flowers all had a slightly green hue (i.e. color cast).
I know my mistake now… not only was the backdrop behind her, but she was standing on it. Did I mention I rarely do studio portraits? Lets just say working with lights (other than natural) and backdrops is an education in progress for me. To deal with the green color cast I tried a variety of methods from using levels, to color balance, to color selection and masking – all just falling short of the mark; whites may have gotten whiter, but skin tones and hair suffered or vise-versa. After a few trial and errors, and a number of complete do-overs, I finally came across this You Tube color cast tutorial
using the hue blending mode. Turns out not only is it a quick and simple technique, but very effective.
Once satisfied that my model no longer looked like she was suffering from a bad case of seasickness, I could get to work on some finishing touches, although not 100% where I would like it to be, I’m a lot closer … and a lot less green.
So that’s my share. I hope you like it… It’s a keeper for me. I can already see it coming in handy when the trees and grass turn lush and green again…
Until next time,
Maria