The Professional Photoshop Book - Volume 7 2015

10

ADD TREES AND CLIFFS

At this point, it looks like we need to bolster the sides of the owl and make the top

more scenic. Place Trees2.jpg. Select the original owl again then add a layer mask. Paint

black to restore some of the interior detail from the image underneath. Next, place Cliffs.

jpg. Position the sky and cliff so they are in the top of the owl’s head, then confirm. Select

the owl again and add a layer mask. Paint black to remove unneeded areas.

11

ADD SOME WONDER

Let’s add a bit of stars and sparkles to make that sky area in

the owl’s head a bit more enchanting. Place Stars.jpg and position at the

top. Set to Overlay blend mode. Cmd/Ctrl+Click the Add layer mask

button in the Layers palette. Now paint with white paint in the stars. You

can even paint a bit outside of the owl, spilling the stars subtly into the

background. You may need to reposition the layer with the Move tool to

get the stars arranged nicely.

09

ADD COOL COLOURING

Place Sky.jpg and position in the lower part of the owl then set it to Color Burn blend mode. Cmd/

Ctrl+click the owl layer’s thumbnail, then add a layer mask. Paint black to reduce. Place Water.jpg. Set to

Overlay blend mode. Cmd/Ctrl+click the owl again and add a layer mask. Paint black to reduce.

FINALISE THE BASE COMPOSITION

BLEND IN THE LAST IMAGES, PERFORM ANY FINAL REVISIONS, THEN START THE CLOSING ADJUSTMENTS

001 OWL FEATURES

The owl was duplicated and brought above

to reinstate its features. Iunder the initial barrage of blendingt was buried

002 TREES

Skeletal trees add vein-like detail while

lush forestry provides a nice border at the bottom and vitalising colour in the centre

003 MOUNTAINS

We merged some mountain scenes into

the mix, from the majestic peak at top to the foggy base at bottom

001

003

002

An artistic eye is helpful, but

luck and experimentation

can also lead you to unexpectedly

beautiful results

08

USE THE DIVIDE BLEND MODE

Let’s now use the interesting Divide blend

mode to help add some lighter areas. While this

blend mode may be somewhat tricky to use in

everyday photo editing, it’ll be put to good use here

to produce some nice highlights. Go ahead and

make another duplicate of the owl (no Color

Overlay) – Option/Alt+click and drag the original

owl layer to the top. Set the blend mode to Divide.

Paint black in the mask to reduce the lightening,

paint white to add or restore.

Create a double exposure effect

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