Photo Plus - UK (2020-01)

The Canon Magazine 49

DRIVEWAY COMPOSITES

NEXT MONTH

SURREAL

NIGHT SHOTS

01 LOAD INTO LAYERS
After picking the frames we want, we open them up
as a layered document in Photoshop. This can be
done by selecting the files in Bridge, then going to
Tools>Photoshop>Load into Layers, or in Photoshop
by using File>Scripts>Load Files into Stack.

03 REVEAL THE LIGHTING
Grab the Brush tool, right-click and set hardness to 0.
Hit D to set the colour to white then paint over the car
to reveal the area of the image you want. Once done,
reveal the next layer up, then add a full mask again
and paint more white. Continue building up the light.

05 LIQUIFY TO FIX
The gravel driveway here is uneven, so the reflection
doesn’t match up in places. But this is easy to fix by
nudging pixels with Liquify. Go to Filter>Liquify, then
check ‘Show Backdrop’ in the settings and use the
Forward Warp tool to tweak the reflections.

02 ADD A MASK

Choose a shot to use as a base and drag it to the bottom

of the stack, then hide all but the layer above. Toggle this

layer on and off to determine the lit area of the car that

you want to blend, then hold Alt and click the Add Layer

Mask icon to hide the layer behind a full black mask.

04 BUILD THE REFLECTION

Next we can piece together the reflection, by masking

and revealing the pieces of the board until they form a

complete reflection along the car. The layers will start

to mount up, so it may be easier to build the reflection

separately then copy it over once complete.

06 TIDY UP

To make the backdrop black select the car (Select

>Subject), then invert the selection(Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I),

make a new layer and fill with black. To fix up any

messy patches merge a layer (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E),

then use the healing tools and clone tool to tidy up.

STEP BY STEP BUILD THE IMAGE IN PHOTOSHOP

Piece together your set of images in Photoshop with simple layer and masking skills

PAINT YOUR

WAGON

If you don’t have a studio

flash kit then another

option is to shoot this at

night. The ambient light

will be much lower, so

you won’t need as much

light power. This means

you could get away with

using a Speedlite or even

a strong torch to light

the car. It also gives

you the option to use a

long exposure of several

seconds, then paint the

car with light by shining

the torch over different

sections of the body.

Placed on the floor

a piece of plain black

cloth can be useful

for blocking out

unwanted reflections

on the underside

of the car

QUICK TIP!