Producing a composite image.

I enjoy producing composite images. To clarify, a composite is an image where two or more shots are combined together to appear as one, natural picture. The great problems with composites are compatibility between components, relative scale, angle, and position of components, and an effective blending together of those components.

I usually do composites with only two images. This often involves a background and a foreground. Green-screening is an example of this and is commonly done in cinematic productions. You can see an interesting composite I did by clicking here. The composite I produced today was a little more natural. I had photos of the parent and chick separately, but not together. I decided it would make a more interesting composition to combine the two. The process took about an hour. These are the steps I took:

  1. Take the Raw image of the parent (Image 1 above) and open it in Photoshop Raw.

  2. Manipulate image using the various Photoshop controls to produce the desired quality.

  3. Transfer the image to Photoshop CC.

  4. Take the image of the chick (Image 2 above) anopen it in Photoshop Raw.

  5. Copy previous adjustments to this image and transfer it to Photoshop CC.

  6. Select the chick and hole using the Selection Tool.

  7. Copy the selection Open the first image and paste the chick image onto it.

  8. Chose the Move Tool and make sure the chick layer is the active one.

  9. Rotate the image to line up the two holes (done by hiding pasted layer and checking, showing layer and repeating until images are lined up).

  10. Chose the eraser tool. Erase extraneous materials. For this I had to play a lot with the size and hardness values of the tool. This took most of the time. I had to make sure the two images would blend together well.

  11. Flatten composite to produce a final image.

  12. Crop image down to desired image. Resize and save.

What I love about this shot is the mire of bugs the sapsucker has in its beak. It has visited many trees, each with dozens of small holes that bleed sap and trap insects. The concoction is greedily collected and brought home for the chick(s).

Thanks for reading.     Ericspix     Eric Svendsen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Harjit Bahia - Science teacher and colleague from Garibaldi died August 2, 2024

Image
You will be missed Mr. Bahia.  You made a difference and we are sad you are gone. I keep in loose contact with my fellow retired teachers from Garibaldi Secondary School.  I talked with my long-time friend, Mike Lynch, today, and discovered that Hargit died over the summer.  Unbeknownst to him, he had an underlying heart condition and passed away after working out on his treadmill.  The date was August 2, 2024. I was shocked to hear this.  He was only 49 years old, turning 50 some 3 months later.  It was a shock to everyone, for he was loved by all who knew him.  As a teacher, Mr. Bahia was kind and fun.  He contributed to students in many ways and was always available to help those in need.   For myself, I knew him as a fellow science teacher and taught in the adjoining room to him.  He was always available to help, share ideas, and work together.  Easy to approach, I found that I could talk to him about anything and appreciat...
Read more

I found a black widow spider in a plant pot today

Image
The spider I found is a western black widow spider, one of three species of black widow that occur in North America.  The fact that this one has another red patch on the back of its abdomen above the spinnerettes tells us that it is an immature individual. The one thing that people know about black widow spiders is that they are extremely poisonous.  Their venom is something like 15x more toxic than that of a rattlesnake.  The saving grace is that there is very little venom injected from a black widow bite than what a rattlesnake can deliver.   The good news is that black widow bites seldom lead to death.  You are more likely to suffer nausea, muscle pain, and swelling around the bite.  Symptoms usually last only 12 hours or so.  Death may be a result in people with compromised immune systems or in the very young or the elderly.   In 2018, it was reported that there were 1015 cases of people bitten by black widows.  Of those, there ...
Read more

The passing of a generation

Image
Kathryn's mom and dad with our children, Josh and Leanne. A generation, for North America, tends to be between 20 and 30 years.  During that time a couple will give birth and raise children to see them repeat the pattern as they themselves have done.  Each generation has its own set of standards, values, and ideals based upon their experiences and culture, and some of that is passed down to their offspring.  What changes are the life experiences of the following generation and the new customs and ideals that are blended together as a couple becomes a family. Kathryn's mom passed away a few days ago, she was predeceased by her husband several years ago.  Both of them were the grandparents of my children, the mother and father of my wife, Kathryn.  It was my pleasure to know them and to love them as my own, for to me they were Mom and Dad.  And they were there to welcome my children into the world just as my children were with them in spirit when they left it...
Read more