MMC140 - Wk 6: Changing image content

Last week's tutorial was more about changing tone and colour. This week focussed on changing the actual content of images, including adding and removing items within an image, replacing parts of an image with parts from another image, and creating panoramas from multiple images. The tutor used the term "creating fake photographs of things that don't really exist". I call it "removing unwanted items to enhance an image", but whatever! :)

Some of the new tools used this week include:

• Crop tool. I've cropped countless times over the years but never used this tool, I usually just highlight the image and then clicked Image, Crop. Using the tool allows you to straighten up images that are slightly crooked at the same time as cropping so I'll have to try to remember this in the future.
• Cloning tool.
• Opacity of adjustment layers.
• Increase canvas size so you can add other images, to create a panorama - use % instead of guessing pixels. Don't know why I've never thought of that (!!)
• Layer masks - to apply Curves, etc. on just that single layer, not all layers below.
• Blending 2 layers together using a Gradient.

This week I decided to try to create a panorama from 2 photos I took last year when I went to Machu Picchu in Peru. Here are the 2 "Before" pics. The photos are slightly different shades and taken on slightly different angles so I had to rotate one a bit to get them to line up. They were also taken at 7am with very bright sunlight at high altitude, so they were a bit hazy:


And here is the "After" pic:

I added a Curves Auto layer which helped clear things up quite a lot. I also applied a Deep Blue photo filter, and altered the green Saturation. Don't know if that's all right, but I'm pretty happy with the result!