Changing a Background for Dramatic Effect in Photoshop

Swap out the background of a portrait with something new, and add visual interest and drama to your photographs.

In this course, the first in a series dedicated to creative portrait adjustments, Chris Orwig shows how to swap out the background of a portrait with something new. This technique is similar to photo illustration and can result in some really striking and visually interesting photographs. Chris begins in Camera Raw, where he creates multiple exposures of the original raw file and combines them in a PSD file, and then moves to Photoshop to mask the subject and copy the mask into the new background. In the second half of the course, he'll show you how to make the subject look at home in her new environment using Edge Glow; brightness, color, and tone adjustments; and lens flares.

Introduction

• Welcome
• Using the exercise files

1. Replacing the Background for Dramatic Effect

• Editing the background image
• Improving and duplicating the portrait
• Combining two raw files into one Photoshop document
• Selecting and removing the subject from the background
• Using masking to combine images together

2. Improving Details, Color, and Tone

• Cropping the image and cleaning up mask edges
• Adding a glow effect
• Improving the brightness
• Enhancing color and tone
• Retouching away distractions
• Adding a lens flare effect
• Final adjustments and overall project review

Conclusion

• Next steps