How to create the “out of bounds” effect in Photoshop

I have been a big fan of the out of bounds effect ever since I first saw it a couple of years ago. I initially tried to create it simply by following various static and video tutorials.

I have a list of 47 tutorials that I followed, but I never succeeded in getting the effect. I now know that steps were left out, or the tutorial presumed that I knew where to create a layer or a layer mask, or I was using a more recent version that had renamed or relocated some tools that I needed…..

or…….

or……

or……..

This past weekend I thought I would sit down and use my list of tutorials to try to accomplish the effect again. With 21 months of serious experience using Photoshop, I believe I have a greater understanding of Photoshop, its tools, layers, and masks. I was right, having accomplished the…