Urszula Stachowicz Dog's answer rules! ;D
Satoshi T Nice short story and lovely pic! It reminds me "Kiki's Delivery Service" <3
Yumi Miyazaki I like gramma's answer! LOL
Yumi Miyazaki Again, i am sooooo impressed with the idea of small stuff like this!! I have difficulty in stitching object. Edges cant blend well. For now i can just admire you, katrina!!!
Katrina Yu
For miniature edits like this,
1. It always helps to take both your BG and subject with the same light (very important). If the light source is on the right side, make sure the subject is illuminated from the right too etc2.
2. Don't shoot with a very shallow DOF. It's just harder to blend them together (learned this the hard way haha).
3. If the colors don't match, try to adjust the BG or subject then add a new color to make them look whole. :D :D
Feel free to ask me anything about PS Yumi! I'd be happy to help if you have any particular questions :D
Yumi Miyazaki Wow! Thank you katrina! I see, the planning shall be right from the beginning. Did u take just the BG without object first? Very shallow DOF as in bokeh, right? I see! I m always at F2.8 mostly. I should put at 8 perhaps! Right now the idea is just in my head. I tried to stitch such as Yumi inside the tulip (like thumbelina) or inside a cup, edges just look so sloopy. I cannot "blur the edge for stitching" thats my problem. but i think the next problem is without planning, i was just using some stock photo. Its good idea to planning it. Thank youuuu katrina! I ll think of idea.
Katrina Yu
I either take the BG or the subject first. Doesn't matter either way because after you take the first one, you have to adjust the 2nd one accordingly (i.e. after taking the BG for example, when taking the subject you have to match pose, angles, and lights etc to the BG).
Yes, very shallow DOF as in bokeh. I usually love F1.4 for portraits but with miniatures,you need to at least shoot F4 up. That is because the distance of the lens towards the subject and the BG are different and you can lose a lot of details. But if you're just shooting two things at the same distance you can use shallow DOF no problem (e.g. when adding a person on a regular background, not a macro).
Also, make sure to aim your focus at the right spot (where your person will be placed etc2.)
A little trick I learned with "blur the edge for stitching", to make it look more natural, I'd use filter>blur>tilt-shift and blur the image (adjust accordingly). Then I'd just masked out the subject leaving the edges. That way the subject matched the BG.
Can't wait to see what you come up with! The Thumbelina is a cute idea!!! Can't wait to see it Yumi!
Margie I enjoyed your descriptions! I hope you have a Lovely day!