Skylar

[Wandjina]

I took the original image of Skylar during a lighting workshop. I was considering dropping in a different background, when I remembered a talk I attended given by a lady who mentioned she had a collection of "textures." Her blended images with "textures" were extraordinary. So I headed off to the precast concrete yard and collected some "textures" of my own.

The image on the left hand side is my original portrait of Skylar and the image on the right hand side is a slab of precast concrete



This is the result when I blended the two using the Overlay blend mode. I masked out the texture over the face and skin but left the remainder.
I know some people may say there is a yellow cast over the image, but that is the effect of the "texture" and I like the warmth it adds to the final image.

[pschlute]

I like the background, but the straight-on pose does not work for me I am afraid. You also have some severe "bleeding" of the replacement background onto the models shoulders

[Wandjina]

You also have some severe "bleeding" of the replacement background onto the models shoulders

Thanks for your comments, Peter. I was in two minds whether to let the background bleed onto the shoulders or not. I decided to leave it, but maybe it should be a case of "all or nothing."

[Manfred M]

Nice shot with loop lighting; it works very well here. Unlike Peter, I have no problems with a straight on shot.

I noticed the bleed through as well. I personally prefer shooting my subjects on a white background if I am going to do a background replacement as this process is fast and reliable using the alpha channel masking technique. The main thing one has to watch is to ensure that the background is evenly lit and not too much light is bouncing back on the subject.

[escape]

I like the image. Your model looks terrific as posed. Well done.