New Manip

[D-Frag]

ehhhh, messing around to come up with images for our catalog, we didn't have any pictures of the actual costume in use, so I threw together these 3 images.

the sky and tree im still iffy about, and the drop shadow on the costume...tell me what you think...

http://i.buzznet.com/img/2279778/large.jpg

[Mynock]

Looks like he's levitating. Is it david blaine in there?

[D-Frag]

yeah, i cant get his feet to hit the ground, any suggestions?

[EC]

It's a nice composition otherwise ... the sky leads down to the tree which leads down to the levitating smoothy dude.

[Mynock]

It's the shadow. It is like they are below the feet not next to them. I would start over with out them and establish your source of light.

[D-Frag]

thats the problem though, there is no light source, I was basing my light off of the bus stop bench in the background, but ill kill the shadow and start anew

[EC]

maybe if you then removed the tree, if he was "back" a bit on the sidewalk, the angles might be a little better for you?

[EC]

that little guy cracks me up. lol what is this for d-frag?

[D-Frag]

well this particular image is for our catalog, we do custom inflatables, games..etc. we are one of those one stop shops for promotions, we do it all!!! mwhahahaha

[Jason Fraker]

It may also help to blur the background a bit, placing more emphasis on Mr. Smoothie. Just use the lens blur, and a cast shadow, and you're set!

[steve-o]

maybe kill the shadows at the front of the shoes. Also, look carefully and you will see a light outline between the shadow and the shoes. Maybe remove that outline also.

You may want to soften the edges of the blow-up guy's red slurpy head against the green of the tree.

Just my 2 cents.

[D-Frag]

all great suggestions, thank you!

[JaCkinbOx]

So the tree and the sky and the David Blaine guy are imported, right?

Hola, imported amigos.

But yeah, it's cool. More later, must go.

[Silence04]

wow, looks good! i didn't even notice anything but the smoothie guy!

as for the "floating guy," try adding some more shadows at his feet... remember, for every ray of light that hits something there is always a shadow, even if its really really faint.. so i'd try adding a couple chrisp shadows a few pixels off from the feet.

over all, very nice manipulation d-frag!

[Epectasis]

the clouds in the sky seem to not be in the same angle as the buildings...anyways, that's the first thing i noticed. there is something wrong with the sky. perhaps it is too bright as well???

[Neballer]

nice.

Try to blend the edges of the tree with the smudge tool, or the blur guy.
I would also say that Mr. David Blaine smoothie man's white is too bright in comparison to the foreground of the image.

[Whacha]

The reason the sky looks wrong is because it's a very staurated blue. This isn't reflected anywhere in the street scene below, I take it the sky wasn't that colour before? The photo of the street looks like it was taken on an overcast day with dispersed white light. If it were me, I'd find a more suitable image taken on a sunny day, if you want to keep such a blue sky.

[balou]

Your light source for shadow sample is shown on the sidewalk - look at shadow from the bus bench enclosure. I agree about the lighting - blue sky and the street scene don't fit. Fun project!!

[Mynock]

The shadows are off to the left, they are subtle, but they're there.

[AlexNJ210]

My suggestions would be, to omitt the shadow beneath levitating smoothie, give the background more of a yellowish tint, or yellow green, find a different tree that is recieving light from the foreground side(tree seems to be lit from behind, it looks too dark), and focus on the highlights on the smoothie suit. If you notice hes got a hightlight right down the middle( shouldnt be there considering the light source around him). He should have a shadow going down the left side(considering the slight left shadow indicated by the bus bench) and since the suit is a tapered cylinder he should also have a slight shadow going from top to bottom. Also you may want to at a slight grayish highlight to the red top of mr. smoothie. I think these adjustments would set him in the scene better and allow you to guesstimate better on the shadow. Lastly, to deal with the sky you might just try and use the perspective tool on that a bit and give it more of look of being "on top" of everything, the original image of the sky may have been a shot that was looking up instead of toward the horizon. Hope that helps you some.

[steve-o]

Whacha makes an excellent point. Welcome to the forum!

[rockem]

the picutres are all have very different levels of saturation like has been said, for the guy it looks like a drop shadow effect? not a hand made drop shadow, the effect ones rarley look good. Look where your placing the guy to, its on an incline (where the sidwalk goes to the street) and your placing him level in the pic, if you do that it will always look like he is floating, you would half to distort him or move him somewhere else.

[Mitch Wood]

To get the shadow sorted look at using different subtle (hard to soft, dark to soft) smudges. Sharp shadow at the base that flare/blur out. Pay attention to the bus stop behind and emulate that. Also have a look at a grounded object and take notes of how the shadow interact the object and surface. Remember them still life/life drawing classes! Your light source is obviously from right to left. (Well our right to left)

Also it is obvious the sky is from another day, as the image of the street is lower contrast (cloudy day) to the clear sky which would make the street a higher contrast with loads morte saturation.

I reckon get an image in that is not a super sunny day like yours, but has more overcast 'type' clouds in it. (lower pressure day, without the fluffy Cumulus Clouds)

[Mitch Wood]

Oh yeah, if you were thinking of finding a new skyline, make sure the light source in the sky is also from 'our' left to right.

Enjoy it and get stuck in!