Simulate stadium lights in composite

[petersweden]

Hi

I want to composite a photo of a soccer player on top of a background layer with stadium lights. I want to simulate the stadium lights casting the light on the player.

Right now I have tried to simulate the light by adding a layer between the player and the background where I have painted with a white brush at approx 20 % opacity, then added gaussian blur and added noise. I am not happy with the look plus I got some banding as well.

Any ideas how to make this realistic?

If you want to mess around with the photo you can find the layers and composite here: http://wip.psportraitphoto.com/#1

Thanks

/Peter

[Tony W]

Hi Peter, thought I would give it a try - not great as it needs a lot more work to appear realistic, but I think it is heading in the right direction.

For me the biggest issue with your original composite is the fact that if the lights are to be seen to illuminate the player they should be much brighter - even to the extent of burned out. I think the fall of light near the player needs to be much brighter, otherwise how could they possibly light him as much as it appears to on the face and clothing.

For this image I just increased the contrast of the lights to get a burned out look and also added a slight blue halo around both. Then added a layer with light spread approximated and filled with white and adjusted layer opacity.
I think the shape of the light spread needs a lot more attention and also it may look more realistic adding a little shading for the seperate lamps.

As I said my image very far from correct but hopefully it will give you some ideas

[petersweden]

Thanks for your input. Yes that makes sense. Perhaps I should also make the player darker as well as turn up the lights.

[chillin]

Google spotlight, like this link.

[Repairman]

Google 'images' instead of 'web' for stadium lights and you will get plenty of samples for reference. Only a searchlight could illuminate the scene in the way you propose whilst floodlights would spill light over a greater area. Although visual impact is important in this case the effect could be improved by removing the beams near the player. Remember, you can't see light - only the object on which it falls. The lighting on the player will fill in the rest of the story so to speak. I'm eating my cornflakes at the moment but I'll take a look later.
R.

Posts crossed - IMO Chillins image is going the in the right way

[Tony W]

chillin and Repairman are correct and the shading I referred to is so much better in chillin's version.