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I’ve included a PSD file of the finished background for you to start with. Let’s say you don’t want to spend the time selecting the person from their background, like I do in each chapter. Again, no sweat. I’ve got a PSD with the selection already done for you. So, you can literally jump to the composite tutorial in each chapter and start with the portrait and background photos already done. Or, if you’re the kind that likes to do it all themselves, then you have all the originals, as well. Either way, it’s your book and I’ve done everything I could think of to make it as useful and easy to follow along with as possible.

Okay, that’s it for the up-front stuff. Now, it’s time to dig in. Have fun!

10 Things You Need to Know About Compositing

I wanted to kick off the book with 10 tips, secrets, and overall things you should know about compositing before we get started.

1. Which Comes First, the Background or the Subject?

I get asked this one all the time. Unfortunately, it’s not a definite answer one way or the other. For me, I’d say that 75% of the time the subject usually comes first. Give me someone interesting to photograph, and I’ll find a fitting background for them. Most of the time, I don’t even know what that background is before I photograph the person. The other 25% of the time, I’ll have a background specifically in mind before the photo shoot. I’ll photograph the person in a way that I know will work for the background. Sometimes, I’ll even try a quick composite in Photoshop while they’re still in the studio.

2. Stock Photography

If you’re not a stock photographer, then you’re probably thinking that stock photography doesn’t play that important of a role in your work. In most cases, you’re probably right (as a photographer, that is). However, when it comes to compositing, you can use stock in a much different way. Chances are you’re going to want a certain element in the photo that you simply don’t have. That’s when stock photography becomes a supporting design element, an element to help add to the overall impact of your photo. Let’s say you want a helicopter in your photo. Most people don’t have the access to shoot a helicopter, so what do you do? Just go to a site like iStockphoto (www.istockphoto.com) and search for “helicopter.” You probably won’t find one isolated on a white background, but, hopefully, after reading this book and the selection secrets in Chapter 1, you won’t care, because you’ll know you can pull just about any image you want from its background.

3. Build a Background Image Library

Building on the previous tip of using stock photography is the use of backgrounds. If you’re compositing, the background is almost as important as anything else. And if you don’t have to go to a stock photo website to get one, that makes it all that much better. I know you always hear, “Keep your camera with you at all times.” But, before I started compositing, I never did. If I wasn’t someplace spectacular, or in good light, I just didn’t bother. But, since I’ve started creating more composites, I find that no matter where I am, it has potential. I literally take photos of everything, from clouds, to baseball fields, to streetlights, cars, doors, boats, old warehouses, alleyways, you name it. Anything you think you may one day use (and even if you think you’ll never use it) becomes fair game for a photo. Why not, right? That click doesn’t cost anything, so shoot it.

Once you start shooting backgrounds, make sure you organize them. I’ve created a Backgrounds folder, and in that folder are categorized subfolders. You don’t have to have an official cataloging system—it doesn’t have to be that sophisticated. As your collection grows, though, you may want to consider a program like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (which I use for most of my photography), with all of its keywords and collections, but as you’re starting out, keep it simple.

4. Selections in Photoshop CS5 Rock!

Everything you do in compositing is based around one key part of Photoshop—selections. Without a good, clean selection, your