Weird... I was just looking at that photograph yesterday... 

You put it to nice use mate! 

spitfire boy wrote on May 27^th, 2007 at 7:08am:


I could only agree with everything you said

Kleen Harry wrote on May 28^th, 2007 at 10:21pm:


You must have some great skill to be able to make composites like that. I would be completely lost with trying to blend it in with the city skyline and mountains like that

Nick

Nick, there's no question whatsoever that you could blend it just as well, probably BETTER! 

It's really not "skill", Nick, it's determination! There is no "secret formula" for blending! Here's how I do it:

1) When I have the plane cut out on a transparent layer,  I drag the plane layer onto the background layer. That is where you really begin to see whether or not it blends well.

2) I simply look at what's "wrong" with the aircraft! I ask myself, "What is it, precisely, about the aircraft which is causing it to look "pasted on". Then, one by one, I start tweaking those things UNTIL it looks OK to my eye.

Now, sometimes that means a HELL of a lot of messing around! That's where the "determination" comes in! It is not uncommon for me to spend more time on blending tweaks than on any other aspect of the image! It can be tricky BECAUSE changing one parameter often affects OTHER parameters and, after making a change, you make have to go back and re-tweak something that you've already tweaked!

For example, after changing the saturation you may have to go back and re-tweak brightness, contrast and lightness! It can be a little like chasing your tail at times, hee, hee! 

I think that perhaps the most important part of tweaking is color! The sky will often have some yellow or red to it. If you don't match the lighting on the plane to that then the plane WILL look "pasted on". The thing is that often the color adjustments of the highlights, shadows and midtones is VERY small and VERY subtle BUT that small change makes all the difference!

Two suggestions for you as regards the blending process:

1) SAVE, SAVE, SAVE! Every time you make a change which improves the blending, SAVE! Why? Because if the next change you try makes things worse, you can return to the last best and try something else. Keep on trying adjustments. If they improve things, then SAVE your work. If they make things worse, delete and go back to the last best!

2) Be patient. Sometimes it seems as if that "right look" is going to evade you forever! It can get to be very frustrating. Sometimes you need to save the last best, go away for a while and have at it again later or the next day when you can see things with "fresh eyes".

For me, Nick, it's more sweat, patience and determination than it is "skill"!