PART THREE: Path Selection and Composite

  Note: The following tutorial was written with earlier versions of Photoshop and uses the pen tool which is still a very powerful selcting method in CS5. As mentioned in the video tutorials, feel free to use any alternative methods in Photoshop CS5 to complete the project.
  Open the 2 image files, pelican.psd and g_bay.psd. This time we will use the Path tools to select the pelican image and place it on the g_bay image. As in the first project, when we were selecting general areas to colorize, the Path tools are also great for selecting precise geometric areas for compositing.
1. Zoom in on the pelican's head, click the Pen Tool and chose the ellipse drawing option from the palette.
 
2.

Draw a circular Path around the birds head, making sure it's a bit larger than the head.
3. Go to Edit>Free Transform Path (or Command-T). This will give you control handles to re-adjust or skew the circular path to better fit the pelican's head.
4. Click on the Paths palette (the tab next to the Layers and Channels tabs), then double- click on Work Path and name your path.
5. Then select the Pen Selection Tool (the arrow directly above the Pen Tool in the Tool Palette) and click on the circular Path.
6. This is a bit tricky:
Go back to the Pen tool and insert 2 new control points.
 

7. Now, using the Direct Select Tool (the white cursor found with the Path Selection Tool)
 
  select the point at the bottom of the birds head (the one that says "Delete this point" shown above. Hit the delete key.
8. You should have something that looks like this:
 
  You have essentially deleted the bottom part of the pelican's head path leaving the top of the ellipse intact. If it doesn't look like the image above then try it again from scratch.
9. Go back and select the Pen Tool again and click on the control point on the left side of the head. Continue drawing around the entire pelican until you reach the point on the right side of the head as shown above.
10. VERY IMPORTANT: Complete the path by clicking on the point on the right side of the head as shown above.
11. Go to the Paths palette, click and hold on the arrow on the right. Release on Make Selection.
12. When the dialog window comes up, make sure that the Feather Radius is set to 0.2 and click OK. This will soften the edge selection a bit.
13. Next, Drag and Drop or Copy and Paste the pelican onto the g_bay.psd and position as shown in the example below.
 
14. As a final touch, zoom in on the pelican image and scroll around to make sure that the edges are believable. If not, use a layer mask and a small brush to touch up.
15. Done Deal! SAVE your file.
I would try it again from scratch and play with various options from the Path menu.
16. Extra Credit: If you would like a few more points, try selecting the mountains in the background and apply a slight blur to enhance the depth of field and create more perspective. You might also try a very subtle shadow in the ice underneath the pelican.