What can I do to make this image more beliveable?

[The_Juggler]

I'm looking for help with some photomanipulation work

Let me explain this one
My dad has set up a motion sensor camera at the place where he hunts deer in the woods. This shot is in front of a block of salt where the deer come and lick the salt, and the camera takes pictures of them.

I am trying to convince a number of members of my family that there is a mountain lion on the property.
Mountain lions are *not* indigenous to the place where I live (West Virginia) but a lot of people insist that they do.

I know this image isn't 100% believable and is best viewed in a smaller size so you can't see its flaws.
What can I do to improve this?


edit:
you can see my flickr page for a larger more detailed image - although its actual viewing will be no more than the size posted here on the forum.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25538774@N ... 6/sizes/o/

[Atilla]

The lighting on the lion is wrong. It it most obvious on the underbelly where there is clearly a glow coming from behind the fur (apparently the embankment has a spotlight hidden in it). Also the lighting on the trees and salt lick looks to be coming from the right, while the lion is more evenly lit. So, darken the edge of the underbelly, where the glow is visible, and slightly darken any part of the lion which is facing left. Actually, darkening all the glowing bits of fur around the edges might be a good idea.

The colours on the lion also look different to those in the background because they were shot with a different camera. The background looks less saturated and you'll notice that the shadows on the trees in the background are green, while the shadows on the lion are not. Also the colour definition and general quality of the background is lower. Screw around with the colours on the lion until it fits in, maybe add some noise.

[The_Juggler]

Thanks guys, I will have to look at that lighting because I think that is what really makes it lose the realism.

I do like the pose, when I saw the shot of the lion I said "I know what I have to do with this!"
And no gnomes, I want this to be a genuine hoax (among my family)

Yeah the shot of the lion is like the #3 hit on google image search, it's probably in a zoo with proper lighting for photography. While the background shot is with no lighting other than sunlight, and it's of fairly low quality - I applied a blur effect to the lion to compensate for this.

I'll post an adjusted version some time late tonight
And I can get the original images if you like

[Rhekatou]

The pose looks sorta like a kangaroo...
I would make the edge of the lion blurred a little, cause he looks like he was stickered on (too much sharpening).

[Tunco]

I can't see the shadow of the lion. That sucks dude.

[The_Juggler]

The lighting on the lion is wrong. It it most obvious on the underbelly where there is clearly a glow coming from behind the fur [...]

The colours on the lion also look different to those in the background because they were shot with a different camera. [...] Screw around with the colours on the lion until it fits in, maybe add some noise.

Thanks Atilla, I think I've got the underbelly looking better with darkening and a little bit of clone stamp.

Actually I changed the originial image to look more like the Lion rathar than the other way around - the lion has great color because it was shot professionally (I just got it from Google image search) but the original shot does not (it was shot by a low res camera under poor lighting)

I would make the edge of the lion blurred a little, cause he looks like he was stickered on (too much sharpening).

Exactly, and that's also what I'm trying to reduce. Perhaps some feathering will help too. Just a little bit of blur around the edges are practically removing that seam - thanks.

That sucks dude.

Hmmm - up yours.



EDIT:
Ok here is a new revision
It's not perfect, but I'm no photoshop master either. I've made some pretty cool stuff, but a believable hoax is a whole higher skill.

It's the back feet now, they're the worst part of it.

Also remember that the people I'm trying to fool are all over 40 and all have never used a computer before - and have no idea that you can do this.

[noops]

Hmm.. It certainly is better, I'll give you that. But yeah, the feet, they're a bit... to green. Make them a darker shade of green, and make it not as prominent.

[Tunco]

This one looks a lot better, except the back leg.

Anyway, it looks like half of the image has been cutted down on pasted to there, I don't know why causes that, but I think you should fix it. Imo.

[The_Juggler]

I think I need to get rid of that stupid shadow, doesn't look realistic at all.

[Izzy]

I had a try. Basically, I fixed the lighting and blended the thing a bit. (clone stamp, reduced opacity + smudge layer set to lighten)
The shadow is a bit too subtle though.



If you want the PSD, I'll put it somewhere.

[The_Juggler]

holy crap thank you Izzy
Actually it's me that perhaps should have given you the PSD, maybe would have helped.

I don't know, I think I'm ready to call this finished product


And about the shadow, I've studied shots of actual deer in the picture and they have no more shadow than that (except in the evening).

Yeah I think I'm going to change the timestamp on this to a current date and call it done.
Thanks everybody.

[Spawn of Yanni]

Oh. :(

I felt like saturation could've used some toning down, so I screwed around a bit as well. I also tried to make the shadow of the tree at the top less obvious, so there was nothing to use as a reference, just in case.