Photographers use Photoshop in many ways. Some merely enhance images with color and contrast. Others use it to convert color into black and white, and some, like myself, love to create surrealism, fine art, and we like to think beyond the obvious. One of the best ways to do that is to cut and paste one image into another. The image (or I should say images) was taken during the last workshop I gave in Venice, Italy. I shot the background to use as a composite, and I chose one of the costumed models I photographed elsewhere to put in front of the sunrise. This could have been done with fill flash, but it wasn't. I made it to look like it was carefully exposed and composed in one shot, but it's two pictures.
The technique is simple:
1. Select the foreground subject, in this case the costumed model. I used the pen tool to be absolutely precise.
2. Convert the path (made by the pen tool) into a selection by clicking the upper right icon in the paths palette. This opens a submenu and now choose: 'make selection'. In the dialog box that opens, type in 1 pixel. You will now have a selection around the subject.
3. Now use this command: Select > modify > expand. Choose one pixel. This pushes the selection outward so you don't grab any of the original background.
4. Now use Select > modify > feather. Choose 1 pixel in the dialog box.
5. Go to Edit > copy.
6. Activate the background photo and choose Edit > paste.
7. Click on the move tool in the tools palette and move the subject in place.
8. If you need to resize the subject, use Edit > transform > scale.
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