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JBJB1029
JBJB1029
Known Participant
February 16, 2025
Question

Helping me add a 5th Face to Mount Rushmore using Adobe Photoshop

  • February 16, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 693 views

I wouldn't be asking if I hadn't tried it myself, but the outcome isn't what I envisioned; the face I added looks either artificial or just terrible and unrealistic. Therefore, could anyone put together a Step-by-Step Guide using Adobe Photoshop to assist me in adding a fifth face to Mount Rushmore using one of the pictures below and the files attached to this post?

The Fifth Face I want to add, along with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, is Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

1 reply

Conrad_C
Community Expert
Conrad_CCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 16, 2025

Just some clues as to why the sample result doesn’t work, it’s mostly because there are so many visual inconsistencies between the sculptured heads on the mountain and the edited painting that was digitally added to the mountain:

 

The edited tonal range of the added painting does not match up with the mountain. For example, both the highlight and shadow tones of the added painting are much lighter than the highlight and shadow tones of the mountain sculptures. The highlights are so light that they are almost blown out to white, and as a result they don’t match the more gray-ish stony texture of the mountain sculptures.

 

The painting views the subject from directly in front with his eyes gazing straight across to the viewer, but the mountain sculpture portraits are seen from a low angle with their eye gazes looking across, far above and past the heads of the viewers below, because the photo looks up at Mount Rushmore from the ground. This inconsistency will be difficult to fix in software, it will help a lot to have traditional portrait painting skills (the skills taught from the Renaissance up to digital editing) to adjust the angle of the new head to match the others.* Unless you can find a photo of him from a much lower angle.

 

Aaaaaaand then there’s the big one: In the digitally added painting, the shadows are on the opposite side compared to the shadows on the mountain, which looks fake because everything on the mountain must be lit by the same sun on the same side. It might be possible to address that in Photoshop by choosing the command Filter > Neural Filters, enabling the Smart Portrait filter, and changing the Light Direction option in the Global settings. Or, you just use a different photo that’s already lit from the other side.

 

*The Smart Portrait filter mentioned in the last paragraph has a head angle adjustment, but it only adjusts from side to side, not up and down. So tilting the head up to see it more from below will require manual repainting in Photoshop, or maybe automatic if you can find other software that can adjust head angle vertically.

 

It’s only going to look realistic if you fix everything above, and also make the tone, color, and texture of the added head match up better with the rest of the mountain.

JBJB1029
JBJB1029Author
Known Participant
February 17, 2025

What you’re explaining, @Conrad_C examines why a digitally modified image featuring a painted head on a mountain sculpture (such as Mount Rushmore) fails to appear realistic. Here’s a summary of its main points:

Visual Inconsistencies

  1. Tonal Range Mismatch:

    • The colors and tones of the added painting do not align with those of the mountain. Specifically, the highlights and shadows of the painting are much lighter, almost white, which contrasts sharply with the gray, textured look of the mountain sculptures. This creates a visual dissonance.

  2. Perspective Differences:

    • The added painting is viewed from a frontal angle, while the mountain sculptures are seen from a low angle. This difference means that the gazes of the subjects do not align; the sculptures are looking up and past the viewer, while the painted subject looks straight ahead. This inconsistency makes the integration feel unnatural.

  3. Shadow Direction:

    • Shadows in the added painting fall on the opposite side compared to the shadows on the mountain. Since all elements should be illuminated by the same light source (the sun), this inconsistency makes the addition appear artificial.

Suggested Solutions

  • Photoshop Techniques:
    • The passage suggests using Photoshop’s Smart Portrait filter to adjust the light direction. However, it notes that this filter can only adjust the head’s angle side-to-side, not up-and-down. To achieve a more accurate perspective, manual adjustments or different software may be needed.

Conclusion

For the edited image to appear realistic, the following must be addressed:

  • Fix the tonal range to match the mountain.
  • Align the perspective of the added head with the sculptures.
  • Ensure the shadows are consistent with the light source.

Overall, the passage emphasizes that achieving a believable integration requires both technical skills in digital editing and traditional artistic knowledge.

Conrad_C
Community Expert
Conrad_CCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 17, 2025

Was my reply run through AI to say the same thing again, just in a slightly different way? If so, there is one thing it said that misunderstood the reply.

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