Chica's Photo Competition - What I did.

How I did it...

Blue Day
I wanted the look of a really cold day, but I wanted the warmth of the walker to be evident. After altering the colours on the jacket I selected it and inversed the selection. Then I went into the Channels and selected the Magenta Channel and deleted (or filled with white can’t remember) everything except that jacket. I did the same with the Yellow Channel. Once I flattened the picture I played around with the curves until I had the balance and mood I was looking for.

Penguin bridge
I worked with many layers and layer masks.

The penguins are photos I took at Boulder’s Beach in CapeTown South Africa (they don’t usually wear scarves but this was a particularly cold day! ☺

1. Select All
2. Copy and then Paste (this should create a new editable layer that is exactly the same as the original)

Jacket
3. Zoom into Jacket (make it big on the screen)
4. Select the Pen tool to make a path around the Jacket.
5. In the Path Dialogue Box click the right arrow at the top and select “Make Selection.
6. Top tool bar Edit>Copy then Edit>Paste (this should create a new layer with just the jacket on it)
7. Top Tool Bar Image>Adjustments>Curves
8. Select the Red Channel – have a play and make it redder (I tend to play in the CMYK channels so I’m not sure how the red channel will work – but have a go). Click OK When Done
9. KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR LAYERS – or you will edit the wrong layer
10. Remember the HISTORY Pallet – great help when needed.

SKY
11. Make sure you are in the copy of the background layer
12. Select the Magic Wand
13. Click on a common colour in the sky (give the wand a tolerance of about 40)
14. Top Meu Select>Similar and then Select>Grow. Keep doing that until heaps of the sky is selected. You may get bits of the bridge too – don’t worry
15. Go to Quick Mask Mode (under the colour swatches in the main tool bar). Here you can edit your selection with a paint brush – Black will paint red in this mode. Paint in the bits of the sky that were not selected and erase red in areas you don’t want selected. (It might be the reverse depending on your settings - but I’m sure you can see whether RED if for selected or unselected parts).
16. When happy go back to Standard Mode and the selection should become little running ‘ants’
17. Top Menu – Select>Save Selection (call it SKY)
18. Open a photo of a sunset - not too red or it will look false in this setting
19. Select All in your new photo of the sunset and Edit>COPY
20. Click back to the Bridge Photo and Edit>PASTE. (the new sky should be pasted into It’s own new layer
21. Top Menu Layer>Add Layer Mask>Reveal All
22. In your layers pallet the Mask of the SKY layer should be highlighted – this is what you should be working in.
23. Top Menu Select>Load Section – choose SKY
24. Top Menu Select>Inverse
25. Top Menu Edit>Fill – fill with black. Now your new SKY should look like it is behind the bridge.

Well the picture took me a fairly dedicated day and in this minutia detail I might be able to write a book on this one post. But if you follow the basic rules above and have a play – you’ll get the same result