Well here's a mini-mentorship for you .

Well here's a mini-mentorship for you ... ;o). Robin Griggs Wood will be sharing her Behind the Scenes "making of"s on compositing over the next weeks directly on her stream. Stay inspired!

Originally shared by Robin Griggs Wood

RGW's BTS Hunt Special
How I managed Getting Away From It All

It was the most extreme privilege to have been awarded 4 1st place honors from judges Alan Shapiro, Barry Blanchard, Chris Chabot and Derek Kind, a 2nd place from dene' miles and a 3rd place from Jacob Lucas in Chrysta Rae's Photography Scavenger Hunt 2013 Summer edition in the category for PICNIC. I'm still giddy! … and feel very lucky to have had the opportunity from Chrysta Rae … hugs to you all!

Over the next few weeks, I am going to share posts that cover a bit of what went into making the images that I created for Chrysta Rae's Photography Scavenger Hunt Summer 2013 edition.
The images ––> https://plus.google.com/u/0/103698889037599783920/posts/45LMkSyGtLf

The primary BTS posts will be shared Publicly, but those currently in the Autumn round of the hunt (and my BTS circle) stay tuned, as you will be receiving a secondary post after each of these that covers tips and tricks to compositing or general tips for making eye-catching images (and I will be making my work as a judge so much harder! … ;oD)

Background

I was limited to shooting most of what is in these images with a non-dSLR (I have a Canon G12––essentially a "point & shoot", fixed lens). It does have the capability of shooting in raw format (more information to work with) and in manual. However, most everything I have done to create these images could be done with a "point & shoot" and Ps Elements (usually $99) or GIMP (free). I want to bring this message to some of you that may want it, there is no limit! Imagination and drive level the playing field here.

The making of "Getting Away From It All"

Getting the idea.

In the scavenger hunt, we are given only a single word to base a photograph on. The word for this one was "Picnic". The first thing I do is start "feeding my muse" with as much information relative to that word as possible. I do A LOT of this. I go to the dictionary; I do image searches (not to copy, but to get the creative juices flowing); I break it down into parts; I think of what it feels like; I think of what the concept means to me. The latter is what I hit upon for this particular word. What is a picnic to me? It's doing something that I don't ordinarily do. It's finding a special spot somewhere, being with someone or others that I love and sharing a memorable moment or two.

I could have stopped there and just shot an image of a picnic scene, however, for me, this hunt was about pushing outside of my comfort zone and creating works that no one else has ever seen before (the true definition of an artist; something I am working towards). So, what would be the most unique spot to have a picnic that is completely out of the ordinary? … and that is when it hit me to create this completely out-of-the-way picnic spot.

The Layers

In the album that you should be able to access via clicking on the image below, you will see just how many layers went into producing this image (I lost count … ;o)) and that is just the final .psb file(Photoshop's large file format), since there were other full files that I used to create many of the individual elements that comprise the final work. Not every composite requires this many layers, but I tend to make new layers for just about everything. Click through the album and the captions explain the work involved. (And, if for some reason the entire album is not available by clicking on the image below, here is the link for the full BTS album ––> https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103698889037599783920/albums/5926921233372443425 )

The key things that I needed to keep in mind were:
•resolution match
•light and shadow agreement
•composition 

For those in my BTS circle and in the current Autumn round of the Hunt, stay tuned for more in-depth information on compositing.

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cc: Lisa Donchak, you wanted me to give you a shout out when I shared this ... thank you, dear!