Advanced_Photoshop_Issue_138_-_2015_UK_

ADD FINAL TOUCHES

COMPLETE THE IMAGE WITH EXTRA DETAILS AND COLOUR ADJUSTMENTS

TECHNIQUES USE WARP AND SELECTION TOOLS

QUICKTIP:ANALYSEFROMAFAR

Do not just work with the composition

close-up. Sit back and analyse it from afar,

study it from all sides in order to observe what

happens with the composition throughout the

whole work process. It will help you to identify

and correct any problems.

USE PHOTOSHOP’S 3D OPTIONS

Photoshop has included 3D functionality in the

Extended version of CS6 and in CC. It gives us

the possibility to bring a model directly into

Photoshop and render without leaving the

program. In this case, if you want to use a

different angle on the zipper, one that works

best with your start photo, you can drag

zipper.obj (on FileSilo) into the composition, and

work on it. You can even adjust the lighting to

suit your composition.

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ADD UTILITY POLES

The distortion of the railway affects

everything around it, including utility poles. These

posts should be straight, but are now curved. To

recover them, look for new elements on free

resource websites, or take them from the original

image. In this case, we recovered the larger utility

poles in front, and duplicated them around the

railway, rotating or scaling if necessary. You can

also make a Smart Object (Cmd/right-click on

layer and choose Convert to Smart Object) so you

don’t lose quality when the image is scaled.

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ADD CABLES

Create a new group called ‘Cable’. On a

new layer inside, draw a few lines between the

posts using a mouse or graphics tablet. At this

stage, add all kinds of details that will help us

reach as much realism as possible. In this case

that could be damaged wires on background

poles, dust, particles, and similar details.

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ADD UTILITY POLE SHADOWS

To make the shadows of utility poles,

create a new layer inside the group. Again, with the

Brush tool, draw a shadow and set the layer to

Multiply. You must respect the same direction,

intensity and colour of the other shadows. For that,

analyse the entire composition, and search for

references in the same picture. The part of the

shadow that is farthest from the object is usually

lighter than the one close to the object, so check if

you have made the shadow properly and if you

need to make it slightly lighter and less intense. It’s

important to make shadows look realistic.

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MAKE COLOUR ADJUSTMENTS

Create a tonal difference in the centre of

the image. Make a Levels adjustment layer on the

top, and apply a soft mask around the zipper and

the rails. Use it to slightly increase the contrast.

Create another Levels adjustment layer and use it

to increase the light levels. All these adjustments

should be minimal.

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FINISHING TOUCHES

Finally, create an adjustments group. Keep

it right at the top. Add a Color Balance layer, select

Shadows then pull the slider to -7 Cyan / +6 Blue.

Create a Hue/Saturation layer and decrease the

Saturation slightly (-20). Now, create a Photo Filter

layer, with Warming Light and Density at 15%. Play

with Levels, Vibrance, Brightness and Contrast, until

you find a look you are happy with.