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Tricky and fiddly Photoshop task. How to do it?

N

NStocks

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 3, 2008
1,567
18
England
Hi,

I want to insert this image of a Funeral Hurst into my own Photograph. I want to place it behind the metal gate so it looks like it's driving in to the 'woodland', therefor the gate needs to cover half of the car.

The obvious problem is that due to the gate having such small pieces, it's incredibly hard to mask around it, and selecting colour range selects too much material.

Are there any clever tricks I'm missing in order to execute this task? How would you go about doing this?

I know the car will need blending in etc. I'm just seeing if it's possible to make it look as if it's already in the scene...

Thank You
 

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wonderspark

wonderspark

macrumors 68040
Feb 4, 2010
3,048
102
Oregon
Ever since I discovered the magic of the pen tool in Illustrator, I use the pen tool for Photoshop 99% of the time for things such as this. You can precisely cut that fence out with relative ease, and duplicate as top of three layers.
Bottom = background
Middle = car
Top = fence
 
arkitect

arkitect

macrumors 604
Sep 5, 2005
7,084
12,538
Bath, United Kingdom
As above, use the pen tool.
There is sometimes no quick solution and the extra work will pay dividends.

You could also erase the gate and draw a new one. It is a very simple object to fake easily.

But, more importantly, pay attention to the direction the light is coming from and the perspective.
Right now the hearse seems to be too far from the picture plane. It should be nearer for it to be "driving through" the gate. If you project the lines of the gate towards the gate post you will see the junction is somewhere below vehicle. And unless it is floating it shouldn't be there.
 
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N

NStocks

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 3, 2008
1,567
18
England
I've had a go with the pen tool and found it is fairly easy to do, however, I'm not sure how to edit the 'in-between' parts of the gate (grid part) as it will look like I've just cut it out?

Also, I see what you mean about the hearse, Google images hasn't provided many different angles :rolleyes:

Thank You

EDIT: I've attached the original (cropped) to show better the gate...
 

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wonderspark

wonderspark

macrumors 68040
Feb 4, 2010
3,048
102
Oregon
NStocks said:
I've had a go with the pen tool and found it is fairly easy to do, however, I'm not sure how to edit the 'in-between' parts of the gate (grid part) as it will look like I've just cut it out?

Also, I see what you mean about the hearse, Google images hasn't provided many different angles :rolleyes:

Thank You

EDIT: I've attached the original (cropped) to show better the gate...
Click to expand...
You're doing great with the fence... keep it up! Use pen tool on vertical bits of fence like you did with horizontal. Sure, there are many more clicks involved there, but... "If it were easy, anyone could do it." Have fun with it!
 
arkitect

arkitect

macrumors 604
Sep 5, 2005
7,084
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Bath, United Kingdom
Hmmmmm.
Judging by the pic you just sent, perhaps the hearse isn't too far away but actually too close. :eek:

Try this for an idea of where it could go.

Also try to use the polygonal lasso tool on the gate/fence and save the selection. Then copy it from the original and paste it into a new layer on top.

Edit: Why is the hearse going "off road" though? :)
 

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N

NStocks

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 3, 2008
1,567
18
England
That looks interesting ;)

Do you think the hearse is OK or should I look for one at a different angle?

It'll be interesting to see the final result too, hopefully tonight :)
 
arkitect

arkitect

macrumors 604
Sep 5, 2005
7,084
12,538
Bath, United Kingdom
NStocks said:
That looks interesting ;)

Do you think the hearse is OK or should I look for one at a different angle?

It'll be interesting to see the final result too, hopefully tonight :)
Click to expand...
I have no idea if another angle would work as that would affect the direction it would be driving.

Do not forget to add the hearse's main shadow that falls towards the camera's POV.
Follow the shadows of the trees.
 
N

NStocks

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 3, 2008
1,567
18
England
Designer Dale said:
Impressive piece of work. When you first posted this, I had no idea how to get to where you are now.

Dale
Click to expand...

Thank you, I still have some other image to add but this is the main piece done. I've learnt quite a bit in PS from this too!

Thanks for all your help everyone :)
 
arkitect

arkitect

macrumors 604
Sep 5, 2005
7,084
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Bath, United Kingdom
Looking good!
Have a look at the two areas I highlighted.
The gate right next to the car will have a shadow falling over it — more or less inside that yellow triangle. There won't be any highlights on the gate.
(And the hearse will also have far less bright refelctions, but I don't know how you will reduce those without losing detail.)

Check the tree inside the yellow circle.
You have lost part of the trunk at the base and it now looks as if the wheel has crashed into it.

Small stuff, I know. :)
But if it is worth doing…

Good luck!
 

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