Final Multiple Image Evaluation

Full size version of the image

I have created my final multiple image by merging four separate photographs I have taken using a camera set on a tripod. I have used the tripod in order to have the pictures taken on exactly the same background so I could merge them easily in Photoshop. I did not change any exposure settings during shooting because I wanted all of the photos to have the same brightness. I have changed my original plan, which was based on fashion shoot in a studio. In the end I have taken the photographs outside, on a sunny day, with trees and bushes as background, but I kept the idea of one person acting as a model and the other one as a photographer.

Good points of my final work are:

• People on the photograph seem to interact with each other
• Colors are saturated quite strongly due to local color corrections I have made for grass, bushes and sky
• A person in front of the photo is partially out of the frame, what creates a sense of movement and makes the image more dynamic

 Some of bad things I can say about my multiple image include:

• I have deleted a shadow of the first person on the right side of the picture. It can be overlooked easily when not paying attention to details, but once noticed it makes the photograph look manipulated
• Some parts of the frame lost details in shadow areas due to strong sunlight

I could have improved my work by spending more time on post-processing of the picture in order to get more details in shadows. I could also have thought about deep shadows caused by the sunlight during shooting and tried to overexpose the frame a little so I got more details in dark areas. By looking at the photograph now I noticed that I could have done it without fear of getting the entire frame overexposed because I have enough details in bright parts. I could also have spent more time on getting the shadow of one of the people correct. I had to remove this shadow because it collided with the background picture and I could not place the shadow underneath.

Multiple image - using layers in Photoshop

To create a multiple image in Photoshop I have used two photographs of the same cat. I have first opened one of the pictures and used it as a background. Then I have pasted the second picture as a new layer and changed its size and position so that the cat from the second photo was behind the one in the background. I have also added a layer mask to the second layer by clicking 'Add layer mask" button in the Layers window. I have then changed color of the mask to black by clicking 'Image --> Adjustments --> Invert' to temporarily hide the new layer. In order to reveal the cat from the second layer I have used a soft, white brush and painted on the mask precisely the area I wanted to be visible. At the end I have used the 'Brightness and contrast' adjustment layer to darken the top layer down so its brightness was matching that of the background. In order to be able to save the file as a JPG image I have also merged the layers by clicking 'Layer --> Flatten Image'.