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Ok... looks like I better explain how this is
done...at least how I get away with it. This works best with guided frames so
you can be sure of the placement... that is the "honesty" element to all
this.
Start with a background
image in PS... pick your best image to start with. Next go to another frame and
using the lassoo tool that allows straight lines and multiple click points,
trace the outline of the meteor you want to copy. Include about 2-3 pixels
beyond the meteor. Feather the selection about 1-2 pixels. Copy it, then paste
it. Open up the layers dialogue box and drag the meteor layer icon into your
background image. The meteor should show up somewhere in there... move the
meteor to where it should go and use transformation to rotate it correctly. The
reason that you copied it from the frame and not cut it is so that now you can
compare the two and place the meteor accurately.
Use curves to make the meteor match the
background.
Repeat with more meteors... in the end flatten the
image and save as a Tiff.
Because film can only go a
few minutes at full aperture,
this technique allows the photographer to assemble
30 or more minutes worth of meteors.
Is it fake? Not if
you explain what you did and placed the meteors exactly where they were... this
is why you need to use guided frames.
Have fun,
Tony
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