Is this a convincing collage?

[George Tyndall]

In other words, did I "cheat" adequately?

in advance for sharing your informed opinions.

Young Woman Under Waterfall copy (Large).jpg

[Steve Grisetti]

She looks more ghostly than integrated into the scene, George.

I'd suspect the culprit once again is the difference in color temperatures. She is lit more red while the background is lit more green and blue. Also, she is very crisp and high resolution, while the background is softer and grainier.

[Jayell]

The shadow on her left leg is a little abrupt. But this photo would be very difficult to integrate into the water, which has different density levels .. let alone the color differences, as Steve mentioned.

[Bob]

Not bad, but you are showing too much through the waterfall in places. Study how the flowing water obscures the background. Notice that as the water becomes whiter the background becomes more obscured. In your collage, that isn't happening. Parts of the model that are covered by white water that should be completely obscured are showing through. I'm assuming you used a mask. Can you try using a soft edged brush on the mask to make the white water areas more opaque (use the whiteness of the water as a guide -- less white more transparent, more white more opaque). Use a lower opacity brush setting and build up with multiple strokes.

[George Tyndall]

I'm assuming you used a mask. Can you try using a soft edged brush on the mask to make the white water areas more opaque (use the whiteness of the water as a guide -- less white more transparent, more white more opaque). Use a lower opacity brush setting and build up with multiple strokes.

Thanks for the insight, here is the first new version. Further refinement suggested?

Young Woman Under Waterfall_edited-4 (Large).jpg

When you have time, here are some others for your evaluation.

Yellow Dress Lily Pond_edited-1 (Large).jpg

Young Female Narcissus_edited-1 (Large).jpg

Young Woman in Garden no SJP (Large).jpg

Young Woman in Library_edited-1 (Large).jpg

Young Woman in Park_edited-1 (Large).jpg

Young Woman in Red and Gold_edited-1 (Large).jpg

[Bob]

George,

It can be tricky in a photo like this to decide which streams should be background and which should be foreground. The two streams to the immediate left and right of the model's head appear to be in the background and would be behind the model if she were actually there. The model should block them out, not the other way around. Likewise, the background shows through the model's chest and abdomen. This makes the model look transparent. There's a spot near the upper arm on the left side of the image that a background stream shows through also.

[George Tyndall]

George,

It can be tricky in a photo like this to decide which streams should be background and which should be foreground. The two streams to the immediate left and right of the model's head appear to be in the background and would be behind the model if she were actually there. The model should block them out, not the other way around. Likewise, the background shows through the model's chest and abdomen. This makes the model look transparent. There's a spot near the upper arm on the left side of the image that a background stream shows through also.

Everything that you write seems so obvious--now. I'm amazed by the 3-dimensional effect that results from making the changes that you suggest.

Any other refinements indicated?

Young Woman Under Waterfall_edited-6 (Large).jpg

[Chuck Engels]

I think the main thing that makes this unrealistic is the fact that the water hitting her should be splashing and she should be very wet, that isn't visible in your image George. Plus, the image of the girl is still very blue compared to the background which is much more green.

[George Tyndall]

I think the main thing that makes this unrealistic is the fact that the water hitting her should be splashing and she should be very wet, that isn't visible in your image George.

Thanks for your evaluation, Chuck. I did apply the Ocean Ripple filter to her to make her appear wet, but I haven't figured out how to make the water splash on her, so I used Bob's suggestion to try to make it appear that she is standing between the "front" and "rear" streams of water. I'll re-edit with more of the Ocean Ripple filter.

Plus, the image of the girl is still very blue compared to the background which is much more green.

I did apply a green photo filter to her, but when I turned up the density it made her look ill, so I backed off. I'll tweak that a bit, too..

Young Woman Under Waterfall_edited-7 (Large).jpg

[George Tyndall]

Bob, this one makes use of the first of the shadow-creating techniques demonstrated by Scott Kelby in the link that you provided.

Should she be more green?

Any other suggestion(s)?

Young Woman Frolics in Stream_edited-1 (Large).jpg

[Bob]

This kind of reminds me of one of those Escher scenes where things look plausible until you look closer. The fall on the left now has her shoulder in front at the top and her feet behind at the bottom. It will look better if it covers he shoulder so it would be consistant wih her being behind the fall. The arm on the other side looks like it is inserted into the water. It would look better if the arm blocked the fall in the background. I think it would help the illusion that there is depth to the falls by cropping the top where the falls begin. With it there, you can see that there really isn't that much depth. The legs need some work, the one on the right is missing from above the knee down. Here's an example with the crop to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I didn't try to fix the legs. The water over her shoulder still needs work, but with the original photos you should be able to do much better.

Young%20Woman_mod.jpg

[George Tyndall]

The legs need some work, the one on the right is missing from above the knee down. ....The water over her shoulder still needs work, but with the original photos you should be able to do much better.

I did start over with the original photos:

Woman Under Waterfall per Chuck and Bob_edited-1 (Large).jpg

[Bob]

It's getting there. You raised the model up in the frame and it now looks like she's standing on top of the water. Where you placed her before was better. Lower her down until her ankles are centered in the white turbulance area where the falls hit the pool and hide the feet so it looks like she's standing ankle deep in the water. Check the area on the left just above where her top and underarm come together. It looks like the water is showing through. That vertical stripe is part of the background falls and should be covered by her torso.

On my calibrated monitor, the skin tone is fairly close. Don't make it greener. The issue is contrast. The model is more contrasty than the background you're fitting her into. I'd reduce the contrast of the model ever so slightly to match the softness of the background lighting. Doing so will also tone down the saturation and reduce the apparent redness. It should be a good match.

If I were doing it, I'd use Photoshop CS5's curves to do this. I think your version of Photoshop Elements has a curves function also, but I don't think it's the same as the one in Photoshop. I'm not familiar with that curves feature and don't know if you have similar control or not. You can use levels to make the adjustments too, or use the individual adjustment layers for contrast, saturation, etc.

[George Tyndall]

It's getting there. You raised the model up in the frame and it now looks like she's standing on top of the water. Where you placed her before was better.

I wanted to 1) demonstrate my abiity to select the heels of her shoes and 2) force the viewer to imagine that she is stannding on a concrere floor or pedestal and 3) avoid the criticism that good portrait photographers never crop an arm or a leg at a joint and 4) have her head come closer to the top of the backgroud.

Lower her down until her ankles are centered in the white turbulance area where the falls hit the pool and hide the feet so it looks like she's standing ankle deep in the water. Check the area on the left just above where her top and underarm come together. It looks like the water is showing through. That vertical stripe is part of the background falls and should be covered by her torso..... I'd reduce the contrast of the model ever so slightly to match the softness of the background lighting. Doing so will also tone down the saturation and reduce the apparent redness. It should be a good match.

....You can use levels to make the adjustments too, or use the individual adjustment layers for contrast, saturation, etc.

This is the result after doing all of the above plus 1) repositioning her slightly and 2) adding a bit more ocean ripple filter to her to make her look wet. Note the apparent splash of water on the back of her left foreleg,

I may have lowered the contrast a bit too much. Ya' think?

Woman Under Waterfall per Bob_edited-4 (Large).jpg

stil once again for your advice.

[Bob]

3) avoid the criticism that good portrait photographers never crop an arm or a leg at a joint and

That has to do with how the subject is cropped by the edge of the photo. If you can leave enough space between the edge of the frame and the end of the legs so that it's clear that they are in the water and not cut by the frame, it should be fine. Mask the legs off a little higher (but keep them in the white water) and make them rounded to suggest that water is being displaced and see if that improves things. If you want to have it appear that she is standing or a rock or platform, add one. Unless you are deliberately going for the walking on water look, the support needs to be visible.

Edit: Yes, It also applies to how you compose the shot. Posing the subject so that objects in the shot can cut off the limbs at a joint is not generally good either. But if you have a good logical reason, such as standing in a hole or a pool of water, that makes sense as to why it's cut off there, I would think you should be fine.