Digital SLR Photography - UK (2019-10)

Adobe Photoshop CC

Creative fl a s h gel effect

CAROLINESCHMIDTSHOWS Y O UACREATIVEANDSIMPLESOLUTIONFOR

ADDINGCOLOURIMPACT TOYOURSTUDIOPORTRAITS USINGPHOTOSHOP

M

ASTERINGFLASHPHOTOGRAPHY

canbea dauntingprospectandoften

theslowprogressionleavesyou

leeringat stylised,unattainableportraitsin

awe,wishingyoucouldcreatesimilarresults.

Beforeyoucanbecomecreativewithflash,

however,youneedtobeabletocontroleven

thesimplestset-up,suchasonelightwitha

darkbackground.Byembracingshadowsfor

a low-keyportrait,youcanquicklylearnhow

adjustmentsin a singlestudioflashaffectthe

lookofanimage.Onceyou’vegottogrips

witha light,youcanaddanaccentlightfora

kissofa hairlightandbuildfromthere.But

whathasallthisgottodowithPhotoshop?

Usuallyyouneedtohavea fundamental

understandingofstudiolightingbeforeyou

addflashintothemix,butsolongasyou

havea goodportraitwithdefinedhighlights

thatsculpttheportrait,youcanmimicthe

lookofflashgelswitheaseusingPhotoshop.

Anauthentic-lookingresultreliesonthe

accuracyofyouroriginalimage.It needs

goodcontrast,withwell-exposedskintones

andpreferablya two-lightset-upthatapplies

somehairlightaswellasa keylight;it’sthe

highlightsin thelow-keyimagethatadopt

thecolour.A flatly-litportraitwithoutenough

tonaldefinitionwillnotbeeffectiveasyou’ll

findthecolourlookstoouniformanduntrue

tohowthelightfroma 'gelled'studioflash

falls.Theeffectis alsomorestrikingif you

applytwodifferentcolours,oneforeach

lightsourcepresent:here’show...

ORIGINAL

4

CHANGETHEBLENDMODETheBlendMode

youchoosedependsonhowthecolour

needstointeractwiththelightandsubject.

Overlay,SoftLightandHardLightworkwell.

ReducetheLayer’sOpacityslidertohelp

theimagesblendandusetheLayerMaskto

reducethecolourtintoverthefacialfeatures.

2

REFINEYOURGRADIENTPositiontheAngle

dialsothedensergradientalignswith

thedirectionof thelight.KeepStylesetto

LinearandcheckAlignwithLayer.If thegrey

gradientfallstooheavilyoverthesubjectand

notjustthehair,youmaybenefitfromtrying

toadjusttheScaleslidertoreducethesize.

5

RINSEANDREPEATForthesecondcolour,

repeatstepsonethroughfourbutthis

timerealignthegradienttofollowthefallof

lightwiththesecondlight.In thisimage,as

thesubject’sfaceis angledtowardsthelight,

I needtobeverysubtlewiththemagentaso

nottooverpowertheface.

3

ADDYOURFIRSTCOLOURClickonceonthe

GradientslidertoopenupGradientEditor.

SetCustomorColortoTransparentand

double-clickonthebottomleftColorStop

toopentheColorPickerandselectthe

colouryouwanttoapply.Youcanpreview

thecolourappliedin real-time.ClickOK.

6

REFINETHEIMAGEThegradientlooked

bestwithanOverlayblendmode,but

theOpacitywasreducedto50%tostopthe

coloursaturatingtheskintone.Usingthe

BrushToolsettoBlackanda soft-edged

brushsetto50%, workovertheeyesand

featurestocreatea subtleblendof colour.

KISELEV

ANDREY

VALEREVI

CH/SH

UT

TERSTOCK

42 Digital SLR Photography October 2019

1

APPLYA GRADIENTThis technique should

be the last thing you do to your portrait,

somakesureyou’vefinishedalltonal

adjustmentsandretouchingbeforeyouadd

a splashof colour.ClickCreatenewfillor

adjustmentlayerin theLayerspaletteand

select Gradient... to apply your first colour.