posted on May, 2 2007 @ 10:52 PM
I figured I'd show how I did the crocodile photo now I've mentioned what it is. It may ruin it for some people, but I had fun making it and don't
mind showing. I generally don't do major modifications of my photographs like this—this is actually the first image I've posted here or on my
blog that has had anything more than a bit of cloning to remove dust or a few unsightly bits of things.
First I photographed just the head sitting on a blue cloth—a somewhat wrinkly blue cloth, which led to a bit of cleanup work later, but it still
ended up working—with a single softbox at the top left.
Then I used the Select Color Range tool to select all the blue and mask it out. It didn't do a perfect job, but it was good enough for what I needed
at the moment.
At this point, I went outside and took a few photos of the sky and ground and, after a bit of testing, settled on these two images for the background.
A bit of lighting adjustment on the ground made it fit in fairly well. I had figured at this point I'd be going with black & white or duotone, so I
didn't even bother trying to match color, as you can see.
Then I made it B&W and darkened the sky a bit.
And then sepia.
Although, to be honest, I think I like it better in B&W now that I'm looking at them side by side. Additionally, since completing it, I've noticed
one mistake I overlooked—the light source on the crocodile is from the left, whereas the sky is lighter to the right, throwing it a bit off balance.
I'll probably end up either flipping the sky horizontally or replacing it with another image at some point.