Photoshop Tutorial: Replacing a Background

Background Replacement for A Wedding Photo

I'm working on photos from Monica and Donnie's Wedding on March 26th. As I was searching through the RAW files I came upon a photo I captured outside the Seattle Public Library. We were looking for a good spot for the video team at Shutter and Sound to grab some action shots. We had just done the couple's first look on the other side of the building with lovely results and when we stopped here we were dealing with all the challenges the city brings, crowds, noise, and background clutter. Upon seeing this image I knew instantly that I could edit the background into something more interesting. The video tutorial shows exactly how I did the following steps:

Step 1: Select the subject

I used the marquee tool and isolate Donnie and Monica from the background. I then duplicated that layer and painted in the right side of the frame so only the second behind Donnie was masked out. Then I flipped the layer so the lights were mirrored behind both people.

Step 2: Remove distractions

With the Stamp tool, I removed the duplicate Monica from behind Donnie and made the background match. I also added more lights and distractions around the image.

Step 3: Blend the image together

I then added a lighting overlay to help make the background feel more unified and did a bit of dodge and burning to add more drama.

Step 4: Overall filter

I added a slight warming filter and cleaned up a loose thread on Monica's dress to complete the image.

In total this edit took about 30 minutes. The video has been sped up to 400% speed so you don't have to get bored. Enjoy!

The final edit and original image are also below for reference. It's honestly a very simple edit overall but I wanted to make the video and blog post to show that even simple edits do take a great deal of time. It's easy to think "Can't you just photoshop that?" And the answer is often, " yes, but it will take a lot of time to do to all 400+ wedding photos." Even the simplest photoshop changes can equal days worth of work, so I do my best to try to shoot in a way that doesn't require a lot of extra work in post-production so that I can deliver my client's photos quickly.