Special Additions, Manipulations & Adjustments

The following examples show various special effects and alterations that can be applied to a photograph.

Replacement Backgrounds
There is a special service available whereby you can have the background in your photograph replaced with something more aesthetically pleasing.
Perhaps you have a photograph of a friend or relative and you particularly like the way the subject is portrayed but the picture is let down by a poor or unsightly background. An excellent way to improve the photo and produce a wonderful portrait is to have the background replaced.
This service can generally only be applied to head and shoulder shots where the subject is in isolation from the background. Because of the extra work involved in isolating a subject from it's background an additional charge has to be made.
The charge for this service is £20-00.

If a full figure cut-out is required whereby the subject consequently interacts with the background (eg. casting shadows) a specific quote would have to be given as this is a far more involved process.
If you are interested in this service please send enquiries to;
enquiries@portraitzone.com


Evie, original photograph.

Evie
This example shows well how the removal of a cluttered background can greatly enhance a photograph.
Here a flat but textured background has been added to keep the picture simple and a complimentary coloured vignette used to frame the subject producing an image reminiscent of a studio portrait.

 


Gary, original photograph.

Gary & Trees
This example shows the removal and replacement of a scenic background.
Notice how a sunlit background has been chosen to match the lighting on the figure. It is worth remembering when choosing your background to select one with similar lighting to your original photograph if you would like a natural and convincing union between the two.
The images below show how the background can be blurred which has the effect of removing detail from the background thus focussing attention on the subject. It is worth mentioning that the background should never be more in focus than the main subject therefore sometimes the background has to be blurred to a certain degree if the original photo is not in sharp focus.

Gary & Trees (Blur 1)

Gary & Trees (Blur 2)

A moderate blur has been applied to the image on the left and a greater amount to the image on the right. It is possible to take the blur effect much further which produces an almost abstract effect. You can indicate if you would like blur applied to your background and the degree by selecting the corresponding button on the order form when ordering. Alternatively you could have the existing background in your photograph blurred to make the figure stand out more but the £20-00 charge would still apply for this service as a cut-out mask would still have to be made. If you would like this done just choose 'blur existing' from the list of backgrounds on the order form, and select the degree of blur.

There is one final point to mention concerning replacement backgrounds. If you would like the background in your portrait replaced that in no way affects the style of the portrait, ie you can choose a different background and still have any of the styles available applied to your portrait. See the example below.


Here you can see the same photograph from the above example,
with it's replacement background, has been treated using the watercolour effect.

 

Another way of combining a replacement background with a subject is to merge them together in a montage where one fades into the other. There are two basic types with examples below.

Gemma
In this example a soft oval vignette mask is made and the original photograph then fades away into the chosen replacement background one merging into the other.


Lee & Wispy Clouds
This second example shows a different combination of subject and replacement background where the figure has been cut out from the original background and parts have then been allowed to fade into the new background, typically those parts that would otherwise have bled out of the frame. This type of merging seems to work best with simple backgrounds.

If you would like to view some replacement backgrounds click the backgrounds button below.

If you cannot see a suitable background it is possible to have your own from another photograph merged as a replacement in your portrait. Just send both photographs together. Please note that it is not advisable to send pictures from books, magazines and catalogues because apart from the obvious reasons of copyright infrigement such printed media would not be of a high enough quality for such an enlargement. With printed material a gridded pattern or moire effect is always visible which is not the case with original photographs.

Feel free to add any hand written comments either on a blank piece of paper or the back of the order form pertaining to the treatment of your portrait and these will be taken into consideration by the artist and implemented if at all possible.