making fakes

[mudmanic2011]

how do I get it so the girl ALREADY looks like she was in the mud/quicksand???????

[Fred588]

how do I get it so the girl ALREADY looks like she was in the mud/quicksand???????

While I cannot claim to be an expert in photo manipulation, I am pretty confident that the answer can be summarized as a function of what might be termed the "compatibility" of the chosen background to the chosen model-photo. This, however, is a multidimensional issue.

One dimension of compatibility is the relative sizes of the foreground (model) image and the background image. Try varying these or re-positioning the model within the background until things look right.

Another dimension, obviously, is the pose taken by the model. A pose in which she is reacting in a way that relates to the mud helps a great deal in enabling the viewer's brain to accept that she really IS in the mud.

Lighting is another dimension, though perhaps not easy to analyze. If the lighting levels and angles were the same in both photos then the two are more compatible.

A fourth dimension is the absence of any visual clues that the two photos are, well, two different photos. Such clues would be things such as too sharp a line where te model photo is cut, poor cutting such that things in the original model photo are still present when they should not be, a facial expression or body language that does not fit the situation in the composite, shadows that go the wrong way, and the like.

A fifth dimension is the camera angle relative to the model as compared to the camerea angle relative to the background.

And surely there are more dimensions.

When composites are made with intent the model is photographed in front of a blue or green, very evenly lit background, and is posed for the eventual composite. The "blue screen" background (or other color) makes it easier to accurately and completely remove the background so it can be replaced by another image.

Hope this helps some.

[mudmanic2011]

how do I get it so the girl ALREADY looks like she was in the mud/quicksand???????

While I cannot claim to be an expert in photo manipulation, I am pretty confident that the answer can be summarized as a function of what might be termed the "compatibility" of the chosen background to the chosen model-photo. This, however, is a multidimensional issue.

One dimension of compatibility is the relative sizes of the foreground (model) image and the background image. Try varying these or re-positioning the model within the background until things look right.

Another dimension, obviously, is the pose taken by the model. A pose in which she is reacting in a way that relates to the mud helps a great deal in enabling the viewer's brain to accept that she really IS in the mud.

Lighting is another dimension, though perhaps not easy to analyze. If the lighting levels and angles were the same in both photos then the two are more compatible.

A fourth dimension is the absence of any visual clues that the two photos are, well, two different photos. Such clues would be things such as too sharp a line where te model photo is cut, poor cutting such that things in the original model photo are still present when they should not be, a facial expression or body language that does not fit the situation in the composite, shadows that go the wrong way, and the like.

A fifth dimension is the camera angle relative to the model as compared to the camerea angle relative to the background.

And surely there are more dimensions.

When composites are made with intent the model is photographed in front of a blue or green, very evenly lit background, and is posed for the eventual composite. The "blue screen" background (or other color) makes it easier to accurately and completely remove the background so it can be replaced by another image.

Hope this helps some.

Thanks Fred588,that helped some...however,while I know I can make a "paper doll" ,put it in some mud and take a picture of it (have done so with at least four of my fakes,and THEY have gotten the most compliments) there's gotta be a way to do it on the computer like it seems that Dave and others have done.Quicksand Quandary!!