This Photoshop 911 forum post was referring to the wonderful photograph created by Kevin Batangan, Photojournalist.
We knew at once what all is involved with this kind of photo -- as did the poster -- but rather than second-guessing the extraordinary talents of Kevin Batangan, we decided to contact him and get his tips.
Kevin says:
Here is how I took that picture:
1- Put your camera on a tripod
2- Set the camera to continuous frame shooting.
3- Have her do the dive five times
4- Shoot plenty of frames of each dive.
5- Open up all the images in photoshop.
The first image should show her standing on the diving board.
6- Use an image of her taking her first step and cut her out by using the appropriate selection tool.
7- Go to EDIT on the file menu and CUT.
8- Go back to your first image and PASTE.
9- Use the eraser tool to erase around the image you just pasted. This should blend it in nicely.
10- Do this for as many images as you please.? Eight times was good enough for this purpose of the diver.
TIP: - Each layer can be adjusted by brightening or darkening the image.
Also make sure to pick a diver who is capable of doing a nice consistent dive with good form in the first place.
Thank you Kevin!
Sequential Photos
Most digital cameras these days have a "sequential" or "continuous shoot" mode. You'll need good lighting so that the camera can pop short exposures with little blur.
Also be mindful of the speed setting. This kind of shot takes a fast recovery. If the flash were used, it wouldn't be able to cycle to the next shot fast enough. You'll also want to set the resolution at a comfortable size for the intended use -- but no larger. Remember the higher the resolution, the larger the file size is, and the longer it takes the camera to capture the shot, write it and recover for the next shot.
My 7mp Canon allows me to set the camera at continuous shoot capturing up to to three shots per second. It's pretty sophisticated, because it writes the image to the memory buffer and immediately recharges the next shot. While shooting, it's writing the images to the Flash card in the background independently of the actual shooting. It will continue to shoot in that fashion until the battery goes dead, the card is full, or the shutter button is released. So, it's ideal for shooting subjects in motion.
Your camera manual will have the correct settings for these operations.
This particular shot had some luck involved. The sky was a nice consistent blue, making the assembly of all the steps easier than if there were clouds -- requiring more careful selection of each iteration. The diver was also very obviously accomplished, and was able to execute the dive flawlessly enough times for Kevin to get the number of shots he needed.
If you want more digital shooting inspiration, Kevin's Flicker site "Coach Cash Money's photos" can occupy your entire day looking at his stunning photography. A good place to start is on his "Sets" page where there are literally dozens of sets containing hundreds of great shots, including the Swim & Dive set. www.kevphotos.tk
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from the Editor:
I was delighted that day back in 1989 when Peggy Killburn called to ask if I could handle one more speaker in my "Great Graphics Tips & Tricks" session scheduled for the 1990 Macworld Expo. "Yes" was my response to her request to add Russell Brown to my panel. After all, we loved Adobe's young "Illustrator" program, and were quite anxious to try out their upcoming new product called "Photoshop." After seeing his demo, I was convinced Photoshop would be big. So the next month we added "Photoshop Tips & Tricks" to our regular DTG Magazine uploads to Compuserve, GEnie and AOL. The rest is history.
I only regret that I didn't trademark the name.
Editor / Publisher: Photoshop Tips & Tricks, DTG Magazine.