48 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
THE MISSION
Shoot and edit a
trick balancing
portrait effectTime needed
One hourSkill level
IntermediateKit needed- Tripod
- Two chairs
- Step ladder
- Photoshop CC
or Elements
The balancing act
James Paterson uses a combination of excellent shooting skills
and Photoshop magic to create a unique precarious portrait
ne of the most fun
things you can do with
Photoshop is blend
photos into an entirely
new image. This can lead to
all kinds of weird and
wonderful results, but it’s
not all about making double
exposures, or blending a
crocodile with a kitten, or
sending your granny to the
moon. Sometimes it can be just
as eye-catching to craft a subtle
composite from slightly altered
versions of the same scene.This is exactly what we’ve done
here for our precarious portrait.
We need a series of shots with
slight changes – one of the subject
perched on a ladder, another of
the stack of chairs, and a couple
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By shooting these frames all in
the same alignment with a tripod- and with very careful
positioning – the Photoshop
side of the project becomes
surprisingly quick and easy. It’s a
case of combining our frames
using automated tools, then
painting simple layer masks to
blend the different versions of our
scene into one seamless image.
As is often the case with
Photoshop trickery, the real skill
lies in the shooting technique.
Get things right in-camera, and
the rest is simple. We’ll explain
how to shoot the frames for this
effect, then guide you through the
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Photoshop novice it’s rather easy,
and the layer masking techniques
can be used for all kinds of image
editing projects.O