Snack Lady Variation

I thought I'd have some fun today and practice a few editing techniques. I don't really know how well this works but if I hadn't posted the original would you know?

Variation



Original

Slight issue with the fact that the right side of the background is oof and the further stuff is sharp, at odds with the dof there would be.

The compositing is first class (refine edge???), just that think if all the background was a little oof would work a lot better, or a grad layer mask incresing blur from right to left.

Just my opinion, feel free to ignore me

Nicely done - some really good editing skill there.
Itdid look 'off' to me, but that was because of the background you have used, not beacuse of obvious editing marks.
Like Stanokella my eye was instantly drawn to the background where the far corner was in focus so that gives away the trickery.
Another problem is the 2 different lightings. The background has a yellow cast and the subject doesn't.
Finally the cut off edge of the table feels a little false.
Overall good job though.

Certainly not ignoring you. I was playing with OnOne's Plug-in called Focal Point that allows selective blur/sharpening. It's my first attempt at using it so I really don't know what I'm doing. I was also using their MaskPro filter for the blending for the first and had better luck their. You've got to start somewhere in toying with these things, Thanks for your input.

You both didn't miss much. The cutoff table was an issue I didn't handle well. I was more concerned with learning the masking software than the time it would have taken to accurately color balance the foreground and background. I did add a golden hour enhancement filter to the lady in an attempt to balance the color but didn't go far enough. Kudos to all for telling me the truth. I agree whole heartedly about all your observations. It's when you can't spot these oddities that I've properly learned to use my new software.

I may have mentioned that OnOne gave me their entire suite of 6 plug-ins when I told them the 3 I had already purchased were destroyed by a virus. I've just begun learning the 3 new ones.

Nice work Bob!

I did notice the finer details were a bit skewiff - but I really like it - it makes for a very interesting and pleasing image, especially if a few little nags were sorted out. The original is awesome too - I never have the guts to photograph people like this - so I lose out - and I always wish I could!

xx