Expert: Scott Valentine - 12/13/2007

Question
Hi!  I have CS2 & Windows Vista(ick).  Hope that’s what you wanted to know.

I have not used Photoshop for photo manipulation a whole lot, I use it mostly for coloring drawings.  I want to take pictures of my Aunts Animals "separately" since it would be impossible to get all of them together without someone eating the other.  Then use Photoshop to put them all into a group photo.

I noticed you said you were listed for Digital photography too, so I thought you'd be most helpful.

1st part:  When taking the pictures should I set up the background, lighting etc and leave it exactly the same and bring each animal to the so called "set"?  Everything I found online says that the picture will look choppy if the lighting is different for each photo.  Also if I want a background for the image should I shoot each animal w/ the background or on a white background and then try to put them into the background?  (the background would be a fireplace w/ fluffy white rug in front).  

2nd part: After getting all the pictures into Photoshop what would be the best way to start?  Like I said I am a beginner and really don't know were to start.  If you know of/or have any online tutorials with pictures that would be great.  Or if you could give me steps, hints that would help a billion too!  The part that really bothers me when adding photos together is when they looked chopped not blended with the other objects of background.  That seems to be my real downfall when I try to attempt adding photos together myself.  


Thanks for you advice,
Christina


Answer
Hi Christina - I'm really sorry for the delay. Hopefully I can make up for it here!

Ok, the 2nd part will require more time and interaction than I can provide here, so I will redirect you to a forum I help run:
http://photoshoptechniques.com/forum

I use the name 'lokki', but there are tons of folks who can help you through every step. You'll want to ask about "photo compositing" or something similar.

The first part is easy to explain, but may be tough to pull off. You are right that the lighting is extremely important to get right. Since you are going to be spending the time to photograph each animal independently, I'd say just do it in front of the fireplace (unless you have a fire going, which will change the light - more on that later).

You will need a very good tripod, and some way to mark the position of each animal in the final composition. This is much easier if you shoot in a studio-like environment where you can put marks on the floor with each pet's name and approximate size. The reason you want to do this is the angle of lighting will change from left to right, front to back, so get them in the right spot to begin with.

Put down your rug (that's hard to composite in), and use dark colored paperclips to hold little name tags, and maybe some string so you don't ruin the rug. Place and photograph each animal, making sure you do not move the camera or lights at all - try to choose an aperture that will work for the whole shot so you don't have to change focus or anything else. You want the camera and lights identical in every way for all shots.

Do some testing with chairs or other objects first, so you can make sure everyone is in focus. You may also want to bracket each shot, especially if some animals are much lighter or darker than others - you can fix that in post processing.

Finally, if you need to strip in the fireplace later, be sure to use some kind of replacement in your background, like a bright orange gel on a work light pointed at the white or gray back ground. This will help get you a nice glow on any fur or feathers (or scales) that will be hard to reproduce later.

Keep in mind that the environment really changes the light on your subjects. To go for utter realism, you need to approximate things as closely as possible in the original shot. Realizing that the fire will be different in every shot, maybe you can take your pictures in front of the fireplace, and put some foil in it with an orange or yellow light. That will help make things consistent, and then you can light a real fire with your same camera and light settings after the photoshoot.

There is a lot to consider, and I do hope you will go to the forum I mentioned. They can help with both the photo parts and the composite, and if you ask for me by name, I'll be sure to jump in with more details.

Happy shooting!!

-Scott (lokki)