The Professional Photoshop Book - Volume 7 2015

Photo manipulation

CONSISTENT LIGHTING

Look for images that have similar lighting to each

other and similar lighting to the atmosphere in

SHARPNESS

Look for images that are at a higher resolution. Sharper images will

be easier to mask and composite. The higher quality of your work

will also be noticed, as you’ll be able to display it at a larger size and

much higher resolution.

BACKGROUND

Try to find images with cleaner

one-tone backgrounds. The

masking process will be less of a

headache and the quality of the

mask will be better.

CONSISTENT COLOUR

Finding images with the same colour tones will save

you some time during the colour correcting process.

Try searching image banks for photos from the

same set, as they’ll have been shot at the same time

and make this easier.

EXPRESSION

Choose image assets that fit the main concept of your work.

If you are creating an image where people are happy and

DEPTH OF FIELD

Look for images with the same focus, especially if you need them to feature on the same

plane of your composite.

03 CHOOSE PERFECT PICTURES

dancing, make sure to find people that are smiling and

staging your concept correctly.

which you are compositing. If you are taking your

own photos, try to use the same lighting setup.

66 The Professional Photoshop Book

064-073 Compositing Feature.indd 66 06/10/2015 15:53