EDIT THE SHOT
1 CLEAN UP YOUR IMAGE Do the basic edits in Lightroom or your preferred software. Import into Photoshop and duplicate the layer. Use the Spot Healing tool and the Content Aware tool to clean up the image.
2 ADD ADJUSTMENT LAYERS Use adjustment layers throughout the processing, with layer masks to fine-tune the image. Brightness/Contrast and Levels adjustment layers will give the image more dimension. Include a Colour Balance adjustment.
3 REMOVE THE BACKGROUND Press Cmd/ Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E to combine layers into one and move it to the top of the layer stack. Then use a layer mask on this layer to remove the background.
4 PAINT THE BACKGROUND Begin with a blank canvas in your chosen software (I like Corel Painter) and use harmonising colours to paint the background. Combine several layers of paint strokes with different blend modes for the best results. Place the background into the image below the layer mask.
5 PAINT THE REMAINDER On a new layer in Photoshop, start painting using the Mixer brush. Set the ‘mix’ to a low opacity – around 10-15%. Brighten the highlights in the image by adding colour to the paint brush.
6 CHECK THE VALUES Throughout processing, use adjustment layers to convert the image to black and white. This step will reveal whether the image is too flat, which will help you to make corrections in tone and value.
Begin with a blank canvas and use harmonising colours to paint the background