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j3rry

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Much better (to an already great piece). Like any piece of art, artists will invariably revisit them and tweak here and there. In the eye of the artist, some pieces are never "done," rather, there may always be something that they think could be better/different color/ etc. Keep creating beautiful work.

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Nice.

If it were me doing this I would have used a dark green for the shadows rather than black. A sample from the dark green shaded areas of the picture is a good place to start.

Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.

These are not my own words but I sure like this quote.

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35 minutes ago, AffinityJules said:

Nice.

If it were me doing this I would have used a dark green for the shadows rather than black. A sample from the dark green shaded areas of the picture is a good place to start.

Good point. As I mentioned before, I think j3rry will be revisiting this a few times and tweaking it. The point about the color of the shadows is well taken.

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5 hours ago, j3rry said:

Thanks @AffinityJules and @dannyg9. Why didn't I think of that? 

Shadows are the resident problems that dwell alongside all the other difficulties that exist when composting pictures. I say that because I have been mucking about with composites for years, and although I have become better at it than what I was when I first started out, I still haven't discovered the science or definitive formula required for creating perfect shadows on every picture I do, but I have picked up a few tricks along the way.


A technique I now use a lot is this:


Regardless of the background or object that I am creating a shadow for, I always use the backdrop/background itself to create the shadow rather than making a black layer to put on the top of it. The idea and method is quite a simple thing to do and in my view makes a better result than any other I have tried through the years.


Method:


As an example, and to use your grassland picture to describe this technique (it will work using any object or background), I will try to explain what it is that I do.


1. Make a copy of the subject that will be casting a shadow in the picture. (in this case the Buddha)


2. Stretch/pull/distort the copied layer to suit the time of day to simulate the length and width of the shadow that is needed.


3. Once you're happy with the size and shape of the proposed shadow, place it exactly where it is to go then make a selection of the layer.


4.  Turn the selected layer off. The marching ants selection will still be there.


5. Select the background layer (grass) and make a copy from the marching ants selection. Make sure the background is a pixel layer before you do this operation.


6. Hit paste and you will now have a new layer of the selected grass area in the shape of your created shadow.


7. You will not be able to see this new layer simply because it is a copy of the grass area itself and is a perfect camouflage. Now you can use a brightness & contrast adjustment, a curves adjustment, or any other adjustment that benefits the creation of the shadow for your picture. Adjust opacity etc to taste or preference.

Tips:

In general, the flatter the surface area, the harder the shadow cast will be, and areas with a feathery texture, the softer the shadow will be. Most shadow edges will have to be softened by some means, or blurred in others, a happy medium will have to reached in order not to over cook it. Length, light strength, and distance are also factors to be taken into consideration. The rule of thumb is to study the shadows that already exist in the base picture being used as the foundation of the composite and attempt to match them.


Benefits:


Using the actual background helps because it includes all the peaks and troughs that exist in a shadow where light might be present or not. If you look closely at your own picture where the natural shadows are, it is not all one shade of dark green and it has lighter spots scattered here and there. Using my technique will pick up these fluctuations or variants in light and make the finished shadow sit better on top of the composite picture.


A bit long in explanation, but I hope it helps.
 
 

Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.

These are not my own words but I sure like this quote.

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As a quick example of what I mean. . .I didn't take as long as I normally would over this, but it illustrates the idea of retaining the ground information in the picture.

we3.jpg

Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.

These are not my own words but I sure like this quote.

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I think I understood the principle well and tried to implement it in my picture. So thanks a lot to the experts @AffinityJules and @dannyg9  

What I noticed is that the light direction of the bushes is different from that of the Buddha and the sheep. But I do not have a simple and quick solution for this. I have to consider this fact much earlier in the process.

1706_Mols_Bjerge_Italienische_Route_007.jpg

24" iMAC Apple M1 chip, iPad 8, MACOS Sonoma & iPadOS, Affinity V2-Universallizenz 

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It's certainly a step in the right direction.

If you look at the top tree on the left hand side of the picture and study the shadow cast, it shows the correct angle. One thing to note here is: where there is a dip in the ground or a sudden change of pitch, this will make the shadow skew off a little to reflect the change of angle. The case in point is just behind the Buddha where the ground begins to rise, it wouldn't make much difference in this picture but it's something to bear in mind in the future.

Study the shadows in the foreground and try to match the colour tone in the shadows you have created, they are obviously green but have a different tint.

Like I said. . .this is by no means easy and takes a lot of trial and error before you reach the point that touches upon realism. And thanks for the plug, but I am far from being an expert - just an enthusiastic hobbyist trying to make sense of the digital age like yourself. 😀

Tip: When I need to know if I am getting close to a colour match I use the colour picker and take a sample from the background and compare it with a sample from my own shadow layer. Double click the colour circle and when the window pops up it will show you the colour range, and more importantly, how close your shadow tone is or should be when held against the background picture.

Advanced tip: Because the shadows are falling on grass it's useful to use a grass brush (if you have one) or the masking brush that comes with the Affinity package on your shadow. Mask the layer and zoom right in on the patch of grass and mask out parts of the outline trying to match the angle of the grass blades where needed. Again, this will result in a more realistic finish. 

Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.

These are not my own words but I sure like this quote.

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