Advanced_Photoshop_141_-_2015_UK_

TECHNIQUES ACHIEVE REALISM IN COMPOSITES

QUICK TIP: CHOOSE PHOTOS CAREFULLY

In this tutorial you’ll realise that it’s rare that you

find the perfect photo. Obviously there isn’t a

picture of an elephant in a bottle, so you must

04

INSERT THE GREEN BOTTLE

Now let’s put the bottle into the scene. We

have used image 58302712 from shutterstock.com.

It’s always important after adding an image into a

scene to apply a feather effect (Shift+F6) to soften its

edges. In this case apply it at 4px. To bring out the

highlights and shadows use the Burn and Dodge tools.

Now add a shadow to the bottle. When you select the

bottle you will add it on a layer without its white

background. Put the original image (with the

background) in Multiply mode behind the cut-out layer.

05

ADD SOME WATER

Let’s get started with adding some more

details into the scene. At this stage it’s very important

to think about the whole scene in order to make a

more interesting image. Imagine that the bottle is

splashing into water; add water picture 244540522

from shutterstock.com and put it in Multiply mode,

then duplicate the layer and put it in Soft Light mode.

With Quick Mask (Q), erase the edges of the image.

Then apply a High Pass filter (Filter>Other>High

Pass) at 3px to make the image clearer.

06

CREATE A SPLASH

A very important factor in the success of

your image is the technical knowledge that you must

have in order to be able to do what you are

imagining. So, study and practice a lot! Add image

63759796 from shutterstock.com and change the

blend mode of the image to Screen. By setting the

blend mode to Screen you can eliminate the black

background with a single click. Once you have done

that, make a mask on the front of the image to give

the idea that the splash is behind the bottle.

07

ADD MORE SPLASHES

In this step you’ll give depth to the scene by

adding a few more splashes. (Images 299753486,

86696167 and 95071948 from shutterstock.com)

These will be placed behind the bottle. This is a very

important step because after that, the scene will be

ready to put the elephant inside the bottle. The principle

to eliminate the black background is the same as the

previous step. Duplicate the layer, keep the original

image for the first layer and Flip Horizontal the second

(Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal). Don’t forget to

balance the colours using the green and yellow.

08

BODY SQUEEZE

It’s time for the coolest part; let’s begin to

put an elephant in the bottle. This is not an easy

challenge, so we will have to work separately with

each part of the elephant’s body. Use image 1749985

from shutterstock.com. Start from the bottom. To fit

have good photographic and technical knowledge

to know how to choose the right photos that

together will form the image that you want.

the shape of the bottle use the Warp tool (Cmd/

Ctrl+T). Move all the sides until it forms the bottle

shape. Don’t worry about the details, in the next

steps we will work with this. To smooth the edges

apply a feather effect (Shift+F6) of 4px.