Alright, let’s dive into this “Lamelo Ball Lakers” thing. So, the idea popped into my head, what if Lamelo Ball actually played for the Lakers? Crazy, right? But hey, that’s what makes this fun.
First thing I did was hop online, you know, gather some images. Needed a good pic of Lamelo and a Lakers jersey. Found a bunch, but I wanted something clean, easy to work with. Ended up grabbing a high-res photo of Lamelo dribbling and a clear shot of a Lakers jersey. Nothing fancy.
Next up, fired up Photoshop. Now, I’m no pro, but I can fumble my way around. Started by opening both images. Then, the real fun began – cutting out Lamelo from his original background. This part took a while, gotta be precise with that selection tool, you know? Don’t want any weird edges.
Once I had Lamelo isolated, I pasted him onto the Lakers jersey image. Obviously, he was way too big. So, used the transform tool to resize and reposition him. Tried to make it look natural, like he was actually wearing the jersey. This is where the eye for detail comes in. Had to adjust the lighting and shadows a bit to blend him in properly. It looked janky at first, I ain’t gonna lie.
After that, I messed around with the color balance. The Lakers jersey had a slightly different tone than Lamelo’s original lighting. Tweaked the hues and saturation until they matched a bit better. Still not perfect, but good enough for a quick and dirty edit.
Added a bit of a background to make it pop. Nothing too distracting, just a blurred-out image of the Staples Center (or whatever they call it now, * Arena?). Gives it a sense of place, right?
Finally, slapped on a quick watermark, just to be safe. Then, saved it as a JPEG and boom, “Lamelo Ball Lakers” was born. Posted it on a couple of forums, just to see what people thought. Got a few laughs, a few “that’d be sick” comments. Overall, a fun little project.
It wasn’t about making a masterpiece, it was about having a bit of fun and seeing an idea come to life. Plus, it’s always good practice to keep those Photoshop skills sharp.
Things I learned:
- Selection tools can be a pain, especially with hair.
- Lighting and shadows are key to making a composite look real.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment with different blending modes.
Would I do it again? Probably. Maybe next time I’ll try putting LeBron in a Hornets jersey. Now that’s a thought…
