[atupdate]

I posted this side by side composite in the Show Us Your Pets thread.




What I really would like is some feedback on how this composite looks. I'm sure there has to be something that looks odd, as it took several layers to put this one together.



Tim

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Last edited by atupdate; 09-13-2013 at 06:26 PM.

[jford]

It's just my opinion, but to me the eye of the bottom center pup looks odd, and it's partly due to how its muzzle is square to the photographer, in spite of the pup on its right pushing ITS own head onto the muzzle of the bottom center pup. Just seems odd. I also feel that the positioning of the center and right-most bottom pups seem to be positioned too "unaware" or unaffected by one another.
Otherwise, pretty good, I'd say.

[rayallen]

As an exercise in building a composite image using layers, it is extremely well done and I salute your efforts and expertise. But, for me, it really lacks appeal as it is too confusing. I much prefer the first image as I think it is much simpler and stronger.

[BrianR]

In the first one, your angle to the pots changed between shots. The outer two are the same. The middle two are the same. But the outer two don't match the inner two. The white balance has also appears to have changed from the outer to the inner. These things scream 'composite'. Line it up, lock down the camera, and fix all exposure settings to get things to 'match' up better. Cute subjects and a cute idea.

There are several odd things about the second image. The body of the dog on the left in the red collar is behind the centre bottom dog's body but manages to get his head comfortably in front (red collared puppy also appears to be behind the back edge of the pot). This sort of defiance of 3-dimensionality screams composite. It's very tough to cut out a furry edge and have it look realistic- you did a great job on the top most puppy, but the one in the red collar is pretty obviously cut-out under it's chin. The white balance also appears off, the centre puppy's fur has a noticeable green tint compared to the others. If it's not scrutinized too carefully, it will probably make lovers of cute things go 'awww'.

[atupdate]

I've fixed the eye and the white balance. I'm experimenting with the placement of the puppy on the left to bring her forward. The comments were extremely helpful. I'll post the improved image later this week.

Tim

[carrrlangas]

I quickly saw that White Balance and Tint is not the same for every puppy. The first one looks ok; Second and third are a little green and forth one is a little magenta.

[amoringello]

First thing I noticed was the left-most pup's muzzle needs to be better feathered. It looks like a paper cut-out over the other pup. (The head of the right-most puppy suffers from the same problem but not to the same degree.)
The paw on top of this one, though, is very well done. It alone made me take a second look to determine this was in fact a composite.
- The paw could use a bit of shadow on the underlaying muzzle. Elsewhere all shadows are dark and harsh.

Note on merging with black backgrounds... make sure your blacks are black. The whiskers on the top most pup have large gray splotches around them.
Add a temporary Levels adjustment add move the sliders all the way towards one end then the other. This will show where your whites are not white and your blacks are not black.

I would also comment on the white balance. Dunno why they are all different. Maybe the camera was left in AWB mode? When working with flash and in studio, pick a setting and keep it there.

A few spots got blown out, but maybe that is due to the compression/low quality image save??? Dunno if you're working in RAW or JPEG, but either way, you may consider working in 16bit mode if your photo editor offers it.
Even 8bit JPEG will benefit from being edited in 16bit mode and you won't run into loss of color and detail, should the images require a lot of modifications.

Over-all, not a bad job.

[sergysergy]

I love the 1st one but I would get rid of the black lower part. Pots and pets are too different in color

[atupdate]

I tried to fix the composite per the great suggestions provided but ended up starting from scratch. What I ended up doing was increasing the size of the pot to make the puppies fit together better. Any feedback on this version would also be appreciated.



Tim

[paulh]

Not bad at all (in my not-so-expert opinion)! Much improved over your first version - the bigger pot helps!

[carrrlangas]

V2 Looks great! I would totally fall if told it´s a real photo

[atupdate]

Thanks Paul and carrlangas for taking a look. I want to get this printed for the rescue group the puppies came from (SICSA.org).

Tim

[Lowell Goudge]

Thanks Paul and carrlangas for taking a look. I want to get this printed for the rescue group the puppies came from (SICSA.org).

Tim

The end result is pretty good, and the effort you have spent is clearly for a worthy cause.

I know it will be well appreciated.

The only way to really tell it is a composite now is that the bottom left dog really should have a closed eye, if there is a paw over it, but that is really nit picking on my part. Maybe though, in looking at it you could shift the top pale pup just a little to the left, with the paw on the ear, not over the eye. I am not sure what that does to the overall symmetry if any that you are trying to achieve with the shape of the mound of puppies, it might make the overall outline look unnatural if you shift the top dog over too much

I have always loved puppy shots, they were a big thing back in the 50's and 60's, usually with the pups all lined up on or over the back of a big sofa.


Edit note. Perhaps also move the right hand pup closer in, to keep the nose to nose spacing on the bottom 3 more consistent, basically lining up the jaw of the right pup to the shoulder of the middle one, and then maybe, just maybe, reduce the size of the top dog just a little, although it might make the perspective look odd. Just some fine thing thoughts. As I said, it is a pretty good composition as is.

[atupdate]

Thanks Lowell. You gave me a couple of ideas to play around with.

Tim

[atupdate]

Here is what I hope is the final version using most of Lowell's suggestions.



Tim