Backdrops In Photoshop.

Because of the backgrounds in my digital photographs were inappropriate, I decided to edit some in, I focused on the animated Disney film of Alice in Wonderland and chose appropriate backdrops from google. I would have created backdrops myself but rather than waste time if I didn't like the results, I experimented with these ones first.

I produced all of these on photoshop using the quick selection tool to delete the background and then pasting my chosen backdrop into a new layer. I made sure this layer at the bottom. I also used the quick selection tool to erase parts around the edge of my models that weren't needed from the original background. I also used the drop shadow tool to give some depth to the background making it seem more 3D and realistic rather than too flat.

This one worked very well, the pinks went well with the outfit and the depth of the dark reds and black looked professional by themselves and adding this backdrop gave it a more advanced effect and narrative combining the animation with the realistic photographs. The composition worked perfectly having her in the middle perfectly framed, the back drop wasn't too over bearing because it had less contrast and involved softer colours.

This one had quite an old fashioned vintage look to it because of the neutral browns on the backdrop, they went very well with the shading of the table and looked realistically like something you would see in a film (involving supernatural and surreal subjects) that would be the wallpaper or setting. The composition is very relaxed, the photograph works just as well as it originally did but this backdrop erases any signs or realism and take sue into a completely different and fantastical world.

This one had a slightly different twist to it, the background showed the actual animated characters, I felt this wasn't as effective because they were slightly overbearing, I really liked the composition and the fact the model is unaware that it is there, it makes it look like a thought, a fantasy or a dream.

This photograph worked well to show off the eye make-up, also the idea of dreaming in a fantasy world takes the fashion to a supernatural and magical level. The bright colours of their costumes contrast well with the dull background which I thought could represent night time/sleeping. It sits there subtly rather than overbearing and the drop shadow effect worked particularly well here because of how it blended in with the darkness and shadows already in the backdrop.

I liked the fact only Alice is aware of this shot being taken, and seen as this backdrop worked so well for the last photograph I decided to use it again for this composition, I felt it worked just as well but the last photograph was my favourite in terms of placement of the models in the composition.

This one was slightly more complex to produce because I used the backdrop of the queen of hearts as I produced the others, but also added more cards to be the flooring of this photograph so they looked as if they were standing up rather than floating, I had to right click, free transform and change the perspective of it to give realistic distance.I felt that the floor worked perfectly and was obviously appropriate subject matter, also composed very well, it wasn't overbearing and it was exactly as a floor would look on film, I felt that the queen in the background took over the contrast on the characters in the blues, blacks and reds, its contrast was also very strong and this mad fit stand out too much.

I did this the same way as the previous photograph and felt that the background here wasn't overbearing in comparison to the floor or models. All 3 costumes are clearly shown here, the backdrop editing makes this photograph perfect because the original background was what I didn't like about this photograph, the fact that the fantasy world shown by the costumes was spoilt by such normality.

I didn't change these for improvement or with my own backdrops because after experimenting with this idea various times, I realised the results didn't look 100% accurate in terms of the cutting out on the outside of the figures, it was also very time consuming and tedious, not something I would want to take further.

I chose all these specific photographs because I knew any of my Alice photograph would look good with a backdrop but felt in terms of composition these ones were most professional looking and accurately framed.

This work reminded me of Annie Leibovitz' Disney portraits, I have researched her in depth in previous projects and felt it unnecessary to do so again especially as I wasn't taking this any further.