Elegant

My annual Carnival in Venice photo workshop has given me the opportunity to photograph the most beautiful costumes in classic medieval environments over the course of many years.  For creative variety, I now consider using non-Venetian -- but still European -- backgrounds that compliment the exquisite masks and costumes in design, color, and texture.  I photographed the extraordinary room you see here in the Kremlin in Moscow, and it was perfect to composite a seated Venice model.  Solange Meren is one of my favorite models because she’s endlessly patient with photographers, and her costumes are always sumptuous, highly detailed, and elegant.  I had photographed her seated in a Venetian palace using only available light, and using a combination of the quick selection tool and the lasso tool in Photoshop, I made a precise selection of her costume and pasted that into the Kremlin shot.  I then used Edit > transform > scale to resize her to fit onto the chair, and then I added a drop shadow for realism.  The lighting in the Kremlin room was extremely dim as you can see from the settings:  1/60, f/1.8, and 3200 ISO.  I used a Sigma 14mm f/1.8 lens for the interior shot.