Photo Manipulation - Part 2

For this lesson you'll be adding a bear to Dole Park.

After you've downloaded the images linked above, open them in Photoshop.

Use the lasso tool and draw a selection around the outside of the bear.

Don't use the magnetic lasso tool because it will get too close to the edge of the bear.

Copy and paste the bear onto the picture of Dole Park. Reduce the size of the bear using Ctrl+T.

It's important to notice that the perspective (the angle we're viewing the bear) of the bear is similar to the photo of Dole Park.

In addition, the lighting is also similar. When choosing photos to combine together you will need to pay attention to this!

Erase the edges around the bear using a hard round brush with the hardness set at about 65%. This doesn't have to be exact, it just needs to be set so that edges are a little soft when you erase.

When you're done erasing you may need to fix some areas. For example, I had to redraw part of the feet after erasing.

Use a small brush, and hold the ALT key to sample a color from the bear. Use the exact some colors on the bear to fix any areas you may need to.

Now the bear needs a shadow! Go back to the lasso tool and draw selection around the feet of the bear.

Make sure you have the layer with the grass on it selected. Then copy and paste your selection.

After you paste the grass in, go to Image>Adjustments>Brightness and Contrast and lower the brightness.

Don't make it too dark, it should match the other shadows in the photo.

Once you darken the grass, use the eraser with the hardness all the way down, and erase the edges around the shadow. You should end up with something similar to the image on the left.

You can also adjust adjust the shadow's opacity to help blend it with the original photo.

In this image I've named the shadow layer "grass".

If you look closely, the bear is just a little too dark for the photo. Go to Image>Adjustments>Exposure and lower the Gamma Correction just a little.

Remember, you're trying to match the contrast of the other objects in the photo. Specifically the tree that's to the left of the bear.