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I was visiting a friend\u2019s airplane hangar recently when we were suddenly aware of a louder than normal plane approaching on the ramp. We looked outside and were treated to the arrival of a beautiful Waco biplane, possibly the nicest airplane I have ever seen. With its impeccable paint job, it turned and stopped in front of the hangar.<\/p>\n
![\"Waco](\"https:\/\/thelawlers.com\/Blognosticator\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Waco-biplane-orig.jpg\")
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This is the original photo, reduced in resolution for this blog.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n The pilot got out and walked to the adjacent hangar, while I snapped a few photos with my iPhone 4s. The sky was slightly overcast, making the light very nice, and the resulting photos are surprisingly good.<\/p>\n I have been teaching digital photography for several years now, and one of my assignments to my students is a masking assignment. I thought this might make a good one because the plane was photographed in front of an unimpressive steel building, yet it\u2019s worth separating from its background to make the photo nicer. It also has criss-crossing cables from one wing to the other, and cables are a nightmare to keep in a mask while maintaining realism.<\/p>\n This is my final mask. It\u2019s final until I open it again and obsessively correct it more than I have already corrected it several times, most recently August 3, 2103.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n So, I started masking it myself, a test of how long it would take and how well I could do it. I used a number of tricks of the trade. I started by copying one channel, green, and adjusting its tonality with the Levels tool to make a starting mask of the plane. Then I used the brush tool to correct large sections of the interior of the body, then I started on the hard work of drawing the mask.<\/p>\n In this close-up you can see that the windshield areas are masked in gray, which lets part of the background through, making them look more realistic.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n I also used the ellipse marquee tool to select the tires, where they cannot be seen clearly in the photo. I drew the ellipse as the tire should be, and then I drew my mask up against the selection. I did this a couple of times before I was satisfied with the shape.<\/p>\n To get the wheel covers, I used Photoshop\u2019s pen tool to make smooth, flowing lines that followed the parts on the plane as accurately as I could. This works much better than attempting to do this with the brush, or any other of Photoshop\u2019s tools. But, it\u2019s easy for me because I am a longtime Illustrator user also, and the pen tool is very familiar.<\/p>\n In the end I have a mask of which I can be proud. It features mostly hard edges, though I adjusted hardness on the wing top, and the rear edge of the rudder to help make the light on those surfaces roll around the edge a bit. I didn\u2019t want my mask to act like a cookie cutter, with edges so hard they make the plane look unrealistic.<\/p>\n In the final photo I can drop any background behind the plane that I want. Click on the image to see it at higher resolution (updated 8-3-13).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n For the windshield areas, I drew the mask, then changed its value to gray so that some of the background shows through, but I didn\u2019t like the background, so I put in a new one to remove the hangar details behind the plane. I also took some liberties with the sheet metal on the edge of the wheel strut. There I over-painted the reflections on the original with some nondescript colors I chose from the plane itself.<\/p>\n It took me a long time: over one hour to perfect (and I am sure I can perfect it some more). Will I be using this as a class project? I fear that it is too time-consuming to use for my class, but I will keep it for a workshop I will be teaching down the line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was visiting a friend\u2019s airplane hangar recently when we were suddenly aware of a louder than normal plane approaching on the ramp. We looked outside and were treated to the arrival of a beautiful Waco biplane, possibly the … Continue reading ![\"Waco](\"https:\/\/thelawlers.com\/Blognosticator\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Waco-Mask.jpg\")
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