help me make this more believable (shadows maybe?)

[WRM]

I'm trying to make the baby blend in better with the leaves, as though he were actually laying on them instead of just copied and pasted onto them. I've experimented with drop shadow and darkening the leaves directly beneath him, but didn't care for the results. Feel free to use this image if you would like. I'm using PSP 8. Thank you,
Ross

[Doug Nelson]

Overall it looks pretty darn good. About the only giveaway parts I noticed was he has light on one side that isn't on the leaves, he's obviously got his hand out but the leaves are flat (3d object on 2d surface), and the top of his head is pretty sharply cut out.

My suggestion would be to move some of the brightest yellow leaves up to the top to simulate sun on them, and more prop a couple of leaves against the top of his head (and that bottom cheek). You might also want to blur his head outline just a few pixels.

Fixing the arm might be more difficult. The first thing I'd try is putting some perspective on the leaves but not the baby, so it looks like he's just laying along them, not popping out of them.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll get many more suggestions. Don't forget to post your final version with the solution that worked for you.

[Duv]

The main thing that jumps out at me is the lighting on the baby. With soft light coming from above you need to adjust the left side of the face. Perhaps White Brush, soft edge, low opacity, set to Soft Lite.

Cheers
Duv

[WRM]

updating (still a work in progress)

Thanks for the tips guys. I made some changes on the bottom side of the face using Duv's suggestion. Also softened some areas up a bit and tried to make that arm blend in a little better by sticking a couple of leaves under it. I really appreciate the advice, keep it coming...
Ross

[sdubose99]

Hi Ross... good job, I agree with the light change but the other thing that sticks out to me is the drop shadow on the leaves makes some of them look like they're levitating. I'd prefer to see a smaller drop shadow distance or something like that...

FWIW
Scott

[Duv]

Actually, the side I thought should be lightened is the baby's left side or broad side of the face. It's the broad side that would be getting the soft light from above.

Cheers
Duv

[rondon]

well two things I like to do..
first was the sharp edge between hair and leaves.. If I had the baby as a layer i would take a soft, small eraser and set it at 10% or so and just partially erase the edge of the hair..
where I didn't have the layers I used the clone brush in the same manner...
cloning a bit of the leaf color into the edge of the head.
The leaves looked too light by the head so i used the clone brush again.... set on multiply at 10% .. in case you haven't tried this... don't move the brush after sampling... clone over the same pixels ... this darkened them without any real fear of bumping the baby's head.. easier again if it's layered... with a small soft brush you can selectivly darken leafs. I think I may have traveled too far with the darker leaves but it will work as an example alright.

The second photo looks much nicer.. I hadn't seen it when I touched this one up.. the head looks better also... but you might want to try this way..
Nice photo
RonDon
p.s. the link below to art tag might interest you... that's what we do with Art Tag .. clone things into a common photo and pass it on to the next player. There is a new game starting this week.

[Doug Nelson]

Although, with too many leaves on top of him he starts looking less like he's asleep in the leaves and more like he's...well, I'll not be morbid.

[WRM]

thanks

thanks for all the help...although i'm sure i'll tinker with it some more, I have made some adjustments based on the advice i received here and came up with this. Duv-- I understand now what you meant, i was a little slow to figure it out! So I lightened the top side a little bit. I also threw some shadow in there...great tip from Rondon, didn't know that one. Also tried to clean up the hair a little bit and lessen the drop shadows on some of the more obvious leaves. I may have some more questions for ya'll before too long. By the way, that is our first child born three weeks ago.
Thanks again,
Ross

[Duv]

Well, gee. Now that we know Luke is a very special boy, don't let him get chilled in those leaves. Maybe add some sunlight on the top leaves to warm his side. Good Luck!

Cheers
Duv

[venivedi]

It's so kind of you, Duv. Interesting idea.