PotShop : How to Create a Surreal Traveling House Photo Manipulation in Photoshop

Tutorial Resources

Sand Road 03 – SuperStarStock
premade20 – nightfatestock
Old desert farmhouse – royalstock
Little Island – mindCollision stock
Winter snow flake brushes PS7 – Keepwaiting

Step 1: Create a New Image File

Let’s start by creating a new image file, go to the Menu bar and click File > New, and then input the following values on their respective fields:

Presets: International Paper
Size: A4
Width: 3508 pixels
Height: 2480 pixels
Resolution: 300pixels/inch
Color Mode: RGB Color; 8 bit
Background Contents: Transparent

Step 2: Create the Background

In this Step, we will be creating the land and the sky of our background. To start, let’s open the stock image: “Sand Road 03” by SuperStarStock. Next, activate the Move tool by pressing V on your keyboard; left-click the image while the Move tool (V) is activated and then drag that image to our canvas.
Move and position it in this manner:

Next, activate the Transform tool by pressing Ctrl/Cmd + T and then you will see a box with small boxes around our image. Transform the photo by following the instructions shown below:

The result of that should be similar to this:

Now that we’re done with the field, let’s now add the sky. Open the stock image: “premade20” by nightfatestock. Once open, activate the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and create a selection area around the sky. See images below:

The result of that should be similar to this:

Activate the Move tool (V) and drag the selected area to our canvas. Position this cut layer over the field layer we put earlier so that it would appear over the clouds of the field layer.
On the layer window, it should look like this:

On the canvas, it should look like this:

Next, we will have to resize the sky to make it blend seamlessly with our field. To do that, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and then resize the sky as shown on the image below:

The result of that should be similar to this:

Step 3: Enhance the light of the Background

Now, we will be creating layers which we would be brushing in some light and shadow to enhance the look and feel of the background. To start, let’s create a new layer on top of the field and sky layer by pressing Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N while the sky layer is selected (this way the new layer will be created on top of the sky layer, thus on top of all the layers). Once its box comes up, input “Lighten” on the name field.
Activate the Brush tool (B) but before we start, make sure that the active Brushes are the default brushes. The default Photoshop brushes are shown on the image below, if that’s not what you see, then follow the instructions below:

Right click the canvas while a layer is selected and while the Brush tool (B) is activated and then click on the button highlighted below:

Then click on “Reset Brushes” from the contextual menu.

Now, that that is done input the following settings for our Brush tool (B):

Brush size: 800px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 15%
Flow: 100%
#: fff7bf

Note: The “#” means the color of the brush. #: fff7bf is the somewhat yellowish. To change the brush’s color, do the following:

After clicking the Foreground tool, the Color Picker box would open. Once open, input the following on the # space:

#: fff7bf

Once you’re done, we can now proceed to painting.

The result:

Next, create another layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) and put “Darken” on the name field.
Activate the Brush tool (B) and input the following:

Brush size: 1500 px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 25%
Flow: 100%
#: 000000

Now, let’s start painting:

The result:

Create another layer again (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) and then put “Darken 2” on the name field.
Activate the Brush tool (B) and input the following:

Brush size: 1200px
Hardness: 0%
Opacity: 25%
Flow: 100%
#: 000000

Let’s paint!

The result of that should be similar to this:

Once, you’re done, select all the layers that we’ve created from the last 2 Steps and then press Ctrl/Cmd + G to group them. Grouping layers will avoid confusion in the later Steps of the tutorial.
Rename this group then to “Background”. To rename a group, simply double-click on the words “Group” on the layer window to activate the text box. Once the text box has been activated, you may now rename it.

Step 3: Create the Floating House

In this layer, we will be creating the Floating house on top of this vast field. To start, let’s open the stock image: 1293783_39442557. Once open, activate the Magnetic Lasso Tool. We will need this to create a selection area around the house.
The Magnetic lasso tool can be found here:

Once you’ve got the tool open, start using the Magnetic lasso tool around the house shown below:

Once you’ve made the selection area around it, activate the Move tool (V) and drag that house to our canvas.
Move and position the house on the area shown on the image below:

Now, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and once it is activated, right click on the canvas to bring up the contextual menu.
This is the contextual menu:

Click on “Flip Horizontal”

Once you’ve done that, the house will now look like this:

Now, let’s resize this house. Activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and resize it as shown below:

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd + T) once again and rotate the house to the angle shown below:

The result of that should be similar to this:

Now, we will correct the light on the house. To start, activate the Burn tool (O).

Once activated, input the following settings for it:

Brush: 125px
Hardness: 0%
Range: Midtones
Exposure: 25%

Now, that you’re ready, let’s go and “burn” the house!

The result:

Step 4: Add the ground beneath the house

Now, we will make the floating house more realistic by adding the uprooted ground beneath it. To start, open the stock image: “Little Island” by mindCollision stock. Activate the Magnetic Lasso Tool (L) and use it to select a certain part of the rock. See image below:

When you’re done, activate the Move tool (V) and drag that piece of rock to our canvas. Put this layer below the house layer so that it wouldn’t appear in front of it. Position the rock on our canvas, in this position:

Now that the piece of rock is on our canvas, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd + T) and right click on the canvas to bring out the contextual menu. Once the menu is open, click on “Flip Vertical”.

The result:

Next, activate the contextual menu of the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd + T) once again and click on “Flip Horizontal”.

Now, that we’ve fixed the angles, let us now scale this rock to the size as shown below:

Activate the Eraser tool (E) because we would need to make the rock look more realistic.
Before anything else, input the following for the Eraser tool (E):

Brush size: 40px
Hardness: 100%
Opacity: 100%
Flow: 100%

Once you’re done, let’s now start erasing:

The result of that should be similar to this:

To make it more realistic, we will need to darken some areas of these rocks. To do that, activate the Burn tool (O) and input the following:

Brush size: 125px
Hardness: 0%
Range: Midtones
Exposure: 25%

Burn the region shown below:

The result should be similar to this:

Now, that we’re done with that, let’s now add some falling debris to make the house look like it has been on the air only for a short time.
Let’s start by creating a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) above the ground/rock layer. Name this layer: “Falling Debris 1”.
Next, activate the Brush tool (B) and then right click on the canvas to open the Brush tool’s contextual menu and then do the following Steps:

Once you’ve clicked on “Load Brushes”, locate the brush set: “Winter snow flake brushes PS7” by Keepwaiting from the directory on which you’ve saved them. It is recommended, however, to put these brushes on the following directory to avoid confusion: Adobe Photoshop > Presets > Brushes.
Once you’ve found it, just click on it and then press OK and it will now appear on your Brush tool’s contextual menu once you right click on the canvas.
Now, let’s choose a brush. Choose the brush shown below:

Input the following brush settings:

Brush size: 150px
Hardness: Default
Opacity: 100%
Flow: 100%
#: 000000

Let’s paint!

The result:

Let’s add some smaller debris. Activate the Brush tool (B) once again, we’ll use the same brush set and the same brush, but use the following settings now:

Brush size: 150px
Hardness: Default
Opacity: 100%
Flow: 100%
#: 000000

The result:

Group these layers together with the house. Name this group: “House”.

Step 5: Create the Vignette

Now, we will learn how to create a vignette which will help enhance the focus on our subject.
To start, go to the Menu bar and click on File > New and use the same settings we used to create our canvas. (Refer to Step 1).
Take note, the background contents should be: WHITE
Once it has been created, go to Filter > Distort > Lens Correction. Find the tab Vignette and use these settings:

Vignette amount: -100
Midpoint: +50

Now that that’s done, drag the vignette to our canvas using the Move tool (V) and put it on top of all the layers that we’ve created, and then set the following:

Blending Mode: Multiply
Opacity: 40%
Flow: 100%

To change the Blending mode, simply click on Normal from the layer window and it will automatically bring up the list of Blending modes available; choose “Multiply”.

With the vignette, the image should now look like this:

Step 6: Enhance the Image’s Color

Now, let’s enhance the overall color of our image. To start, let’s create a Solid Color adjustment layer. To create that, click on the “Create New Fill/Adjustment layer button”.