Channel selections:other types of foliage from photos I cut trees and
using the RGB Channels. I look for the Channel that gives me the most
contrast, copy it and level the channel to a point where there is
only black and white leftPhoto editing:Smart Blur or a Reduce Noise on my I almost always use a
photos to get rid of the sharpness, and the Match Color option is a great
tool for unifying all the different colours into a specific paletteMixer Brush tool: After adding the
photos, I like to touch the whole image with the Mixer Brush tool to
unify the image even more and give it a painterly feel, which tends to
be a bit easier on the eyesBlending modes: I also make use of
different blending modes (especially Lighten and Darken) and blending
options (via the Layer Style dialog) to blend photos into my imageGetting the right stock for your photobash creations is
key, but you need to think outside of the box when it
comes to finding the right photos to use, says Jorry
Rosman: “The trick is to slap a couple of pictures on
top of each other and play with the different blending
modes. I like to go crazy with scaling and rotating
pictures and see if I can find some cool shapes. This
works best when all the pictures are in greyscale.
Don’t be too literal in picking your photos, but try to
think outside of the box. A close-up of the inside of
your computer could make for a great spaceship.
And the carrot patch in your neighbour’s front yard
could make for an amazing alien forest.”- DON’T BE TOO
LITERAL PICKING STOCK
If you are planning on doing a lot of photobashing
work, then it pays to build your own asset library. You
need to ensure that they are free to use in the way that
you want and also that you collect a variety of different
shots. “Get a good library of photographs to use in your
photobashing,” agrees freelance illustrator Martin
Nebelong (www.martinity.com). “Try to find
high-resolution material; it’ll make it much easier for
you to select areas of a photo to use, to make
automatic selections and it’ll make your photobash
look much more consistent if you avoid pixelated
areas... You also need to make sure that you have
photographs with lots of different lighting setups to
choose from, so you have the right image for every
project.” If you find the perfect picture, with the
wrong lighting, use your Photoshop skills to fix it.- BUILD A STRONG
PHOTO LIBRARY
© Travis Wright 2015
- UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTALS
“Don’t even start photobashing until you have a
decent grasp of your basic art fundamentals such
as perspective, colour and lighting, composition
and anatomy,” insists freelance concept artist and
illustrator Travis Wright (apneicmonkey.
deviantart.com). “I’ve seen a lot of people try to
jump right into photobashing and wonder why it’s
not working for them. It’s a misconception that
because you are using photo elements, the hard
work is already done and piecing them together
should guarantee amazing results. Photobashing
is so much more than just adding some
motorcycle parts to a cool photo of a soldier.”
Wright applies his own advice to his projects, by
starting with a sketch and choosing the right photos
to work with: “I’ll start my photobashes just like I would
any illustration or painting: with sketches to work out
the composition, colour and mood.
“It’s important that you treat photobashing as
seriously as you would any other art discipline. It can
save you time and look great only after you have a
good grasp of your basics.”
Wright goes on to say, “I would also recommend to
anyone that they work on having their own easily
accessible stock of photos. This works in your favour
both for legal reasons, as you already own the
copyright to any photos you use and also, sometimes,
the internet doesn’t have what you want and you don’t
want to use up any of that time you’re now saving by
going on extensive image searches.”© Jorry Rosman