Could I have some suggestions for the best way to deal with the fence in the background of this image? The grass makes it quite difficult?

The extract filter would likely give you the best results with reasonable speed.
Regards, Murray

Hi there

The sky may not be the right background but i used it as an example.. I used the extraction filter along with the history brush to just get the separation close. Then I used the default grass brush with foreground and background set existing grass colors to fill and blend.

Butch

some cut and paste and the patch tool.
Ray

That worked good ray

Wow guys, they are both fantastic!! I have had a shot at it, but I think I had better focus on taking better images.

Thanks, Daviskw and maverick911

Hey Des151,

Well done.

I took your version and added a little DOF effect.

I used Lens Blur and created a depth map based on a modified A channel of LAB.

Oh, and Maverick, nice shot.

Regards,

Michael

Nice touch Michael.
Ray

Thanks Michael. Great job on an already great job! I only wish I knew what you were talking about :o). I had a shot at cloning the grass but....not good. My effort looks what it is, just a repeat of a small area. Any chance of some tips Ray?. Michael is there a tutorial on what you have done? I've just gotta do this. I am really pleased with the shot but clearly my background is naff! Stunning efforts guys, its a real education in what is achievable in PS. Would be real grateful for some help guys.

Michael is there a tutorial on what you have done?


There will be as soon as I finish typing! :D

I liked what Des151 had done and thought a little depth of field would kick it up a notch.

The first question is, how do I quickly and easily separate the tiger from the grass?

Having a knowledge of the Ten Channels is invaluable here. See this tutorial if you want more info http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=291

Since the tiger is more magenta than green and the grass is more green than magenta, I knew right away that the A channel of LAB is were I would find the start of my depth map. A depth map is used by the Lens Blur filter to simulate the depth of field effect. More on this later.

So the first thing I did was convert to LAB and copy the A channel. This created an Alpha channel which I labeled "tiger mask". I then used levels to bring in the white and black points, the median filter to even out the jpeg artifacts, and a soft white brush set to overlay for final cleanup.

This left me with a very serviceable mask which separates the tiger from the grass.

Then I created a new blank alpha channel. Using the Gradient tool set to the black and white preset, I created a gradient which went from black at the bottom to white at the top. I labeled this "dof". This is what creates the illusion of depth needed by the Lens Blur filter. But now we must combine the two alpha channels so the tiger isn't affected by the filter.

For combining channels nothing beats the Calculations command! So we go to Image>Calculations.

Source 1; the working document. Layer; Background. Channel; tiger mask.
Source 2; the working document. Layer; Background. Channel; dof.
Blending; Subtract. Opacity; 100%. Offset; 0. Scale; 1.
Result; New Channel. I labeled the resulting alpha channel "depth map".

Now we have the depth map needed by the Lens Blur filter.

So we go to Filter>Blur>Lens Blur. I used mostly default settings except for setting the Depth Map source to my depth map and cranking the blur focal distance all the way up.

That's it! It was actually very quick and easy. The hard part was gaining the experience to know where and how to apply the various resources and techniques used.

Regards,

Michael

maverick911,
Michael nice pickup on the dof. Maverick911 would of used a long focal length lens or be lunch for such a beautiful animal.
1st I used the green channel to make a selection of the area that I didn't want. 2nd Then I used the selection to mask out the unwanted area. 3rd I selected different areas of the grass (ctrl j float them to seperate layers). 4th Move the grass areas to fill the void and blend them with a layer mask for each one. 5th Merged the layers (not the org,). 6th Used the patch tool to clean up any repeated grass etc. (when useing the patch tool, I made jagged edges, It helps if you drink a-lot of java). 7th I used a 50% grey layer to d&b. I hope this helps.
Ray

Thanks very much for your trouble guys. Here's my shot. Just one thing, I masked out the Tiger to clone the grass, but the edge of the ears is not great? I used the lasso tool at a feather setting of 2. Any way to improve on this? Reckon I can have this on my wall now :grin:
Mark

Nice job Maverick. It looks really good.

I noticed you said you used the Lasso tool to make the selection around the ears. I find the pen tool much easier and quicker to use when making a selection like that. Although it does take a little effort to learn the pen tool, it is well worth the effort.

Maverick
very nice. You can make a more accurate selection with the pen tool.
Ray

Maverick,

Great job!

I had one more tweak to try. If you like it let me know and I'll tell you what I did and why.

I'd also like to write a full tut on this final change. With your permission I'd like to use this image as one of the examples.

Regards,

Michael

thanks for that info. I'll give it a try. Is it possible there is some flare around the ears where I used the mask? Or is the image under the mask protected 100%?

Mark

Michael, yes the tweak looks good. What did you do? I would be very happy for you to use this image in a fill tut.
Mark

Michael, yes the tweak looks good. What did you do? I would be very happy for you to use this image in a fill tut.
Mark

Hi Mark,

I did four quick things; two Channel Blends and two Sharpening moves.

First Channel Blend; converted to LAB, used Apply Image to blend the A channel into the L using Overlay mode. This darkened the grass and lightened the tiger. This change in contrast is meant to focus attention on the subject just as the dof does.

Second Channel Blend; duped the BG layer, changed its blend mode to Overlay, added layer mask of blurred L channel inverted. This gave a very subtle color boost overall.

Cmd Opt Shft/Ctrl Alt Shft E to copy everything to a new layer then applied the sharpening to this layer.

First Sharpening move; Cmd/Ctrl 1 to select the L channel, Cmd/Ctrl clicked the L channel's icon to create a selection, inverted selection, ran USM at 200, 1, 0. Deselect all. This added snap to the darker tones.

Second Sharpening move; still with the L channel active, ran USM at 50, 40, 10. This is called Hiraloam, which stands for High Radius Low Amount. It gives more of a contrast boost than traditional sharpening and generally added shape to the tiger.

I've kept things rather terse here but will go into much more detail when I create the tutorial.

Thanks for letting me use your picture.

Regards,

Michael

You're welcome. Please let me know when you have completed it
Regards
Mark

HELP! I have to say I thought I was reasonably intelligent until I started trying to use masks! I have made a more accurate selection around the Tiger and across to the sides with the Pen Tool and somehow managed to Clone the grass around the Tiger. Now I have a line across the image where the mask is which I need to blend somehow but I cant get it to work on both the masked and unmasked areas even though I have unchecked the mask. Should I have to Flatten the image in order for this to work?

You shouldn't have to flatten.

Is "Sample All Layers" checked?

Regards,

Michael

No it isn't. Thanks Michael - clearly a giant leap forward for me. However I still have a line across to the left above the tail, where I made a selection with the pen tool which I can't do anything with. I have uploaded screen shots of PS here would you take a look at my set up and tell me where I have gone wrong. Thanks

From the screenshot of your Layers palette it looks like you're attempting to edit an area that's being masked. So the edits you're making are probably just hidden. You can toggle the masks on and off by Shift-Clicking on the mask icons in the Layers palette. Turn the masks off and see if your edits are now visible.

If you're new to using masks I recommend keeping them as simple as possible. The first thing I noticed when looking at your Layers palette is you have two masks on the working layer. It's hard to tell from the screenshot but it looks like the two masks are covering the same area. I would eliminate the vector mask and focus on becoming comfortable using pixel masks.

You can turn the vector mask (rightmost icon) into a pixel mask (middle icon) by Ctrl-Clicking on the vector mask, this will create a selection. Use Ctrl Shft I to invert the selection. Then click on the pixel mask and fill with black. Finally, drag the vector mask to the trash.

Combining vector and pixel based masks is a very powerful technique. The goal of which should always be to have razor sharp and soft blurry edges in your mask at the same time. If this is not needed then the job can be done with either type of mask alone.

If you want to avoid all this and just get on with fixing that line the easiest thing would be to create a new blank layer on top and clone into that layer with the "Sample All Layers" option.

Good luck,

Michael

Thanks very much for your trouble Michael, I will give it a go.

Mark

Well I gave up on this after 2 hours (maybe there is something wrong with my copy of PS :o)) When I toggled the various layers damage appeared on the Tiger, so I flattened the image and had a go at the Simulating Depth of field with Lens Blur Tut, but it has affected the pixels around the ears. I used the Quick Selection Tool. After 6 hours on this, the original image is looking more attractive by the hour!

Hi Mark,

When I reach a point of extreme frustration due to a perceived lack of progress, I take it as a sign that it's time to switch gears.

So I'll stop working on the problem image and begin a new project.

If the frustration is bad enough I'll even step away from the computer (gasp).

You're experimenting with techniques and tools which are new to you. It takes time to develop new skills and your mind/body can only absorb so much at once.

Take a break. Either work on something completely different or better yet engage in some physical activity. I find a hike in the woods can really help to clear the head.

Don't get discouraged. Believe it or not, frustration of this nature is a good sign. It means your mind/body is preparing for a new level of understanding. Learning to recognize this and not fighting it will get you through it much better than banging your head against a wall.

Regards,

Michael