Every now and again as I learn new photography skills, I like to re-visit old photographs and see if I can change them. The silhouetted girl in these pictures is my eldest daughter, Helen and I took the picture in 2017 when she was using a climbing frame.
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I was recently doing a little bit of work, learning how to use ‘layers’ when editing photographs using Photoshop. I wondered what would happen if I merged this picture with another one.
I felt the image could be perfect for merging because it only featured black and white. Any new colours added to the picture should stand out in an interesting way.
I merged it with a photograph of a street scene I took earlier this year in Ottawa when I was visiting Canada. I don’t know what it is about North American street scenes, but they are incredibly photogenic.
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I have made two versions of the image. I won’t give you masses of technical detail (unless you’re a committed photographer, I’m sure you’d find it boring!). Suffice it to say the second image is more experimental. I moved Helen’s image and used a ‘hard light’ setting to amend how the Ottawa street scene looked when placed over the picture of Helen on the climbing frame.
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Which of the pictures do you like? Do you think this kind of effect works? If you are a keen photographer, do you have suggestions for improving them?