Photoshop Layer Mask work

Throughout my classes, I have used Scouts as a source of great material. This is one of my favorite assignments. When a Scout earns his Canoeing Merit Badge, he has to purposefully paddle a canoe full of water. I captured a wonderful photo in the process.

The first image is the original.

  The second was a full color version of the project.

The completed project.

In preparing the photo for this project, I created a Curves layer and deepened the coloring just a bit. There was a Scout that was floating behind the canoe. I extracted him from the scene. I then created a new layer and, using the saturation adjustment, brought the photo to black and white. I then created a layer mask and using the brush tool at various sizes, colorized the Scout in the front of the canoe. I also colorized his paddle since it provided a pop of color on the left side of the photo.

I added the type at the top left. I added a Bevel & Emboss effect. I then felt that an Outter Glow would make it stand out. Since it was a relief effect, it needed a drop shadow. The water is dark, so I made the shadow a lighter shade of gray so it would stand out.

I added the BSA logo as my vector image element. That layer is set at 75% opacity to keep it subtle yet easily visible.

The scouting.org type is also at 75% opacity. There are no other effects on this text.

For the Canoe Merit Badge, I cropped it away from the rest of the image to make the selection process quicker. I then used the Quick Selection Tool to remove it from the transparent background. I placed it on the top right corner of the composite to complete the thought and to provide some balance of color.