How to Use a Stand-In for Base Plate Image
Lesson 33 from: Creating Your Reality with Composite PhotographyRenée Robyn
How to Use a Stand-In for Base Plate Image
Lesson 33 from: Creating Your Reality with Composite PhotographyRenée Robyn
Lesson Info
33. How to Use a Stand-In for Base Plate Image
Lessons
Class Introduction
09:16 2Why You Should Sketch Your Composite
03:25 3What to Look for in Your Background
10:51 4Posing Your Model
08:23 5Communicate with Your Team
10:34 6Elements of Compositing
31:36 7Learning from Failure & Criticism
12:27 8On-Location Safety Tips
03:42How to Nail the Right Perspective for Your Composite Photo
07:15 10Gauging Light & Exposure On-Location
03:49 11On-Location Posing
18:37 12Cliff Shoot Location Final Thoughts
12:03 13Tips for Culling Images
09:41 14Culling Images Q&A
11:29 15Preparing Your Image for Composite
07:18 16Composite Image Cleanup
11:01 17Adding Background Image to Composite
17:04 18The Difference Between Flow & Opacity
05:41 19Composite Sky Elements
20:58 20Using Curves to Color Match
05:43 21Adding Atmospheric Depth to Image
17:08 22Using Color Efex Pro to Manipulate Color
07:37 23Using the Liquify Tool
05:15 24Color Theory & Monitor Calibration
10:35 25Adding Smoke Layer to Image
07:55 26Selective Sharpening
05:18 27Crop Your Image
02:29 28Goal Setting for Digital Artists
04:39 29Review of Location Composite
01:57 30Understand Angle & Height for Your Base Plate Image
06:15 31Base Plate Focus Point
04:45 32Base Plate Lighting Tips
06:10 33How to Use a Stand-In for Base Plate Image
03:47 34Capture On-Location Base Plate Image
05:57 35Student Positioning Demo
09:05 36Base Plate Sketching
07:33 37On-Location Sky Capture
01:53 38What to Look for in a Base Plate Model
14:30 39Building Composite Model Lighting
10:03 40Composite Model Test Shots for Angle Matching
19:48 41Composite Model Shoot: The Art of Fabric Throwing
13:34 42Composite Model Shoot: Working with Hair
05:45 43Composite Model Shoot: Posing Techniques
21:26 44Composite Test with Final Shot
06:12 45Lighting Setup Overview
04:52 46Culling Model Shoot Images
03:35 47Adjusting Skintone Colors
04:54 48Merging Background with Model
04:54 49How to Mask Hair
09:49 50Creating a Layer Mask with the Brush Tool
14:23 51Creating Shadow Layers
07:10 52Removing Visual Distractions with Stamp Tool
07:11 53Replacing Sky with Layer Mask
05:15 54Drawing Hair Strands and Atmospheric Depth
10:30 55Creating Contrast in Your Composite
12:23 56Adding Atmospheric Elements
06:43 57Using Particle Shop
11:47 58Selective Color Adjustments
07:58 59Cropping, Sharpening, & Final Touches
10:29 60Closing Thoughts
05:52Lesson Info
How to Use a Stand-In for Base Plate Image
Alright, so the other thing that I like to do is if I'm not hiking by myself, and say I have somebody with me, which, admittedly, is usually safer if you're out somewhere where you're not necessarily you're out in the forest or something and there's a risk of getting lost it's good to have somebody else with you. So in this case, if I'm hiking with somebody, that means that I could actually have them stand in and so I can figure out how tall I can make my subject. So that's going to look a little bit more realistic. So then I'm not going to be sitting here going like, "Well, how tall do I make this person if there's no doorway or nothing that's gonna say how tall this person should be in my frame?" I can have whoever hiking with me, stand in in a shot, and then I can understand exactly the height that I need. Do you have any questions on that or I can just jump into the - No, actually I do have a few questions. How often do you, honest, do you just grab a man off the street? Have you...
ever grabbed a man off the street and - No, well 'cause I'm never photographing anywhere there's other people. Okay. Although, sometimes what I'll do is if there's other hikers ahead of me, I'll totally snipe them. I just make sure that their back is turned to me so that I can't see their face. But usually I'm not places, I go in off-seasons, so if I'm somewhere that's a very popular tourist destination in summer, I don't go until November. But that usually means the weather's crappy and I'm cold, but it just, it gives me what I'm looking for, which is not a bunch of people. So I was recently in Venice, Italy, and we were there doing the winter carnival and I had all of these amazing photos I wanted to take but there were way too many humans. And so the amount of humans, it kind of ruined a lot of it for me. Even though then I could've probably had accurate compositions of what the sizes of people could have been, I would've spent an hour and a half just clone-stamping out bodies, and I guess I just don't feel like doing it, so I was always going to places where there were no people and so in which case, then if you're using something like doorways, then you have a reference for how tall you can make somebody, and you can do like a scale. But otherwise, yeah, I'm not really I guess I don't like people enough to be like, "Oh my God, hey, how's it going? Can you do this for me?" I'd feel really awkward about it. But that's just my thing, I guess. I mean other people of course are more outgoing and brave that way. I'm not as much. Yeah. So when you're shooting these backgrounds in these locations, how often do you do it sort of like panorama style? Do you move around to give yourself some cropping room? Yeah, I do that a fair bit. So I don't ever travel with a tripod because the extra weight just fries my leg, but I like being able to just stitch together images especially when I'm shooting skies or something like that as well. I'll push the lens to 35 mill and I'll just shoot all the way across and then shoot up. And I'm just hand-holding it, and so I'm always making sure I have a fair bit of overlap, and the software right now is pretty good if you're stitching things together in panorama's. So there's a lot of options with the software. And then you can also, if you're half-way savvy with masking yourself, you can probably line it up using the warp tool and get it pretty close, and then clone-stamp some of the mistakes that are there. So, stitching is fun, but as soon as you make a really big file like that, then you're PSB file, cause there's no way it's a PSD file at that point, so people who are not sure of the difference between PSD and PSB a PSD will only save up to 2 gigs. A PSB doesn't have that limitation on it and you can save it a lot bigger. So if you're working on your files and you're like, "It's never saving, it always crashes." Save it as a PSB file as opposed to PSD and you'll be able to save a larger file. But yeah, if you're stitching, then your file is going to be massive, especially if you're compositing.
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Ratings and Reviews
Dino Maez
i have to say, the class was AMAZING! in every way from the tricks and technique's of mastering this art form to the personalized attention given by Renee. through the class you are able to learn information that would normally take the average person years of trial and error. Renee gives you the gift of benefitting from her her experiences and what she has learned THE HARD WAY! Renee is an outstanding instructor full of passion for what she does, and with a strong desire to not only improve the art, but more importantly, pay it forward, by sharing her knowledge with others. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the event in person, truly a once in a lifetime experience for me, the staff at creative live were THE BEST! they are helpful in every way and really made this event something special, i can't say enough about the experience i had and would highly recommend that anyone who has the opportunity to go down for a class, it will be an experience that you will never forget. but the best part of creative live is that wether you are there in person or wether you are watching from the comfort of your own home, you are involved in the class in REAL TIME, you have the ear and attention of the skilled artist giving the instruction, being there myself i can tell you that Renee was regularly given questions and comments from the viewers via the creative live staff and she would respond to them as they came, in that way you are very much apart of the class you are never left without getting that personalized attention of an amazing artist or that specific question you have answered, and even better you have the option to purchase the class and have it as a constant resource in your tool kit that you can refer back to at any point that you need a refresher or want to recall that special technique that was demonstrated. thank you thank you to renee and all the staff at creative live you have a life long member in me. and i would recomend that everyone take advantage of this valuable resource dino maez
stephen lenman
I have completed many creative courses. This is by far the best so far. Quite the most amazing and inspiring presenter with a true passion for their craft. The core information is excellent, but the thing i liked most were her subtle tangents, dropping incredible information completely on the fly. A complete real world honest view of business and practical side of the industry. Especially her advice on how she started to her business. Saving up enough in her day job so she could pay the rent, and do photography for 3-6 months.
Sheldon Carvalho
Awesome class. I've been following Renee for a very long time. I love her work and to finally see her work and get an image done from start to finish was quite something.. I love the way she sees things and the way she treats her work and all fellow creative. I would recommend this to everyone interested in getting into composting. Looking forward to creating and making my own art work. But it now :) Have fun creating. :)
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