Is this a convincing collage?

[George Tyndall]

http://www.morguefile.com, Free Photos area, which I learned about from Bob.

morguefile still use to make woman under waterfall (Large).jpg

[George Tyndall]

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

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.

Done:

Woman Under Waterfall per Bob_edited-5 (Large).jpg

[Bob]

I don't know about anyone else, but I think that's pretty good.

The shadow of the water on the leg is a little dark, consider making it lighter. I missed your question regarding the contrast on the earlier photo. I think the contrast is about right, but you could increase the saturation (not the contrast) of the model a tiny bit. But, don't overdo it. You don't want to be more saturated than the background. Photoshop CS5 has a Vibrance adjustment that would be perfect for this. Vibrance increases the saturation of the dimmer colors without increasing the saturation of the more saturated colors. I don't know if PSE 10 has that control or not.

[George Tyndall]

The shadow of the water on the leg is a little dark, consider making it lighter.

Done.

I missed your question regarding the contrast on the earlier photo. I think the contrast is about right, but you could increase the saturation (not the contrast) of the model a tiny bit. But, don't overdo it. You don't want to be more saturated than the background. Photoshop CS5 has a Vibrance adjustment that would be perfect for this. Vibrance increases the saturation of the dimmer colors without increasing the saturation of the more saturated colors. I don't know if PSE 10 has that control or not.

Done: Vibrance increased from 0 to +38 and Saturation from -7 to -1 using the version of Camera Raw that comes with PSE7.

The verdict, please, your Honor.

Woman Under Waterfall per Bob_edited-8 (Large).jpg

(Defendant turning blue from holding his breath in anticipation)

[Bob]

If you're happy with it, it's done! Very much improved over the original try.

It's fine just as it is. But, personally, I would like a just a tiny bit more color in the skin tones. If you feel the same way, you can try upping the vibrance a little bit more, but that is probably going to drive the purple too hot. Alternately, duplicate the layer with the model and apply the sponge tool to the skin areas. Set the tool to "saturate" and flow 10 to 15. With a soft edged brush, carefully brush over the skin areas on the upper duplicated layer to build up the saturation. Lower the opacity to tone it down if necessary. Don't make it too hot. I'm talking about subtle changes.

[George Tyndall]

If you're happy with it, it's done! Very much improved over the original try.

It's fine just as it is. But, personally, I would like a just a tiny bit more color in the skin tones. If you feel the same way, you can try upping the vibrance a little bit more, but that is probably going to drive the purple too hot.

Here I increased the Vibrance by just +2 (I, too, was not happy with the skin tones):

Woman Under Waterfall per Bob for mfVogt_edited-9 (Medium) (Large).jpg

Now, I'm happy.



for your patient guidance.

BTW, it seems that, if I open a PSD with Camrea Raw and then, after editing it, open it into PSE7, I get a JPEG, i.e., I lose my layers.

Is that correct?