TECHNIQUES PRO PHOTO EFFECTS
SELECTING AND TRANSFORMING
Knowing what mistakes beginners usually make is
the first step to being able to avoid them. Cox offers a
comprehensive list of the problems he often spots:
“Amateur work will often have unfinished masks on
composited assets where the artist has brushed
around the item being composited but not all the way
to the boundary of the dropped in piece... [There will
be] shadow issues where feet or other elements that
have been cut out are supposed to be sitting on a
comped-in surface. These give the piece a disjointed
look and composited elements will look awkward or
not married to the background... Lighting problems
when key light sources are not pre-planned and
shadows don’t match the reality of physics.” He also
comes across people “excusing odd looking things in
a manipulation because ‘that’s actually in the shot’
when, regardless of the reality of the situation, it looks
off and needs to be fixed... [And] the over-use ofeffects and tricks, too much high pass, too much
grain, heavy-handed retouching techniques.”
Improving your technical Photoshop skills is a must,
but don’t just rush in and use complicated techniques
because you think it’ll make you look like a
professional. You should spend time learning and
improving your skills. The most important step is the
first one, and that’s planning. “I definitely have to shoot
with specific ideas in mind,” Zach Bush says, “I want the
photos to work for my concept, not try to force a
concept around my photos.” Juggling multiple images
from multiple sources is incredibly demanding work,
and for Cox, the key to doing it in a believable way is,
“planning and pre-visualisation. You have to consider
the expected flow of the piece you’re creating. Plan for
lighting in your asset shoots, or know the limitations of
your reality if you’re using stock images and plan the
composite to account for them.”I definitely have to shoot
with specific ideas in mind.I want the photos to work for
myconcept,nottrytoforce aconcept around my photos
Zach Bush, http://www.zachbush.comSELECTION TOOLS
When it comes to selection, Renato
Nascimento likes to keep it simple with the
Lasso and the Pen tool. But he explains that,
if you were to cut the Eiffel Tower out with all
of its detailed structure using only the Pen
tool, it would be a huge waste of time. In that
instance there are much better tools like
Color Range or even selecting by colour
channels. He says, ”Alongside Photoshop’s
default shortcuts I like to create my own, to
really optimise my workflow.”
For Jarek Kubicki, the strategy of choice is
to “rely on the combination of a vector mask,
created with a Pen tool, and a regular Magic
Wand.” He explains: “So, I work on two
masks – a vector mask and a bitmap mask.
The vector one allows me to remove large
spaces and, for example, create a soft,
precise arc. Since vectors can be freely
edited, you can tweak and change the form
of a given path until you reach your masking
goal. In the final stage I retouch the masking
with a brush on the bitmap mask.”A MYRIAD OF TOOLS, A MULTITUDE OF
TECHNIQUES. THE EXPERTS REVEAL
HOW THEY MAKE SELECTIONS-!24).ď$%ď0!315!,%ď)3ď!ď,/.'˶4)-%ď7!#/-ď53%2ď
HE EXPLAINS HOW THE LASSO TOOL WORKS FOR HIMSELECTING IMAGE ELEMENTS
01
OFF WITH HIS HEAD
De Pasquale often uses his own
image in his work. In this example he has a
head, and a new background to put it on. “I
need to place it,” he explains, “and for that, the
Lasso tool is the best option. It doesn’t have to
be perfect, just cut, and move.”02
TIDY UP THE SELECTION
De Pasquale continues that the Lasso is
the most practical tool “when working with a
Wacom. It helps me because it lets me work freely
in the selections, and be precise at the same time.
When I locate it, I use Photoshop brushes to erase
and redraw hair.” Often he has to redraw the hair
because it’s the easiest way to complete it.03
SELECT THE SHADOWS
To make the shadows realistic, De Pasquale explains, “[I] reused the original shade. To do
this, I cut the shadows, burn whites with Levels, remove saturation, and put the layer on Multiply.
With that, and redrawing when necessary to get perfect shadows, [I achieve the effect].”
© Martin DePasquale© Renato Nascimento