The Background Eraser Tool in Phtoshop is INCREDIBLY POWERFUL at maintaining the shape and highlights of glass objects when compositing.
Ragnar - Viking Composite using Photoshop
Following on from the earlier article I wrote ( LINK ) showing the Behind the Scenes of a recent Viking Photo Shoot, I’ve now finished the 2nd image so thought I’d share it here for you to see …
This is a composite made using Photoshop and is a combination of several images comprising the original studio photograph of my friend Simon ‘Foxy’ Fowler dressed as the Viking, the Location Shot and several Sea Bird Photographs.
Here’s the studio photograph of Simon …
Here’s the location shot which is a part of the coastline at Three Cliffs Bay, The Gower, South Wales …
To make sure that I got the angle and height correct, when at Three Cliffs Bay, my great friend Anthony Crothers stood in the spot where I would eventually place Simon …
In the studio when photographing Foxy, my camera was on a tripod and at a height where the lens was in line with the top portion of his nearest thigh.
When on location photographing the background / scene, Anthony was stood on a rasied area of ground …
(Note: it looks precarious but actually isn’t … to the front of Anthony on the other side is a flat area that you can comfortably walk on)
… so to get the angle / height to look as though Simon was photographed higher than he actually was, the camera lens was level and aimed just below Anthony’s nearest knee.
My new compositing workflow
Returning to some compositing has seen me now approach them in a different way especially when it comes to potentially time consuming cutouts such as hair anf fur.
My new workflow sees me leaving this part to the very end and getting great results in literally a fraction of the time …
This is something that I’ll definitely be going through in my Combining Old and New : Mastering Selections and Cut Outs in 2024 class in the upcoming ( FREE ) Photoshop Virtual Summit 6 …
If you’d like to see a larger version of both images created from this photo shoot, I’ve now added them into my PORTRAITS PORTFOLIO ( LINK )
Thanks for looking in,
Glyn
Capturing and Creating FINE-ART DREAM-LIKE IMAGES of the LANDSCAPE with Enrico Fossati
Watch this recording of LIVE Broadcast as I'm joined by FINE ART LANDSCAPE Photographer Enrico Fossati and go Behind the Scenes to discover his process for capturing and creating such INCREDIBLE Fine Art, Dream-Like Images of the Landscape.
*Use Discount Code: GLYN24 for €30 Euros OFF (valid until 30th September 2024)
Enrico on Instagram: @enrico.fossati
Enrico on Facebook: enricofossatiphotography
Enricos’s Inspiration
Fantasy Illustrators:
John Howe , Allan Lee, Ted Nasmith, Les Edwards, Frank Franzetta,
Painters:
Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Cole, Edwin Church, Caspar David Friederich, William Turner … and many more
My How to Print Course: ( LINK )
MASTERCLASS in using LAYERS , BRUSHES and LAYER STYLES in PHOTOSHOP with Bert Monroy
Watch the recording of this LIVE Broadcast when, by Popular Demand, we welcome back the INCREDIBLE TALENT that is Bery Monroy as he takes us step by step how to get the MOST out of Layers , Brushes , Layer Styes and more in Photoshop.
Definitely NOT ONE TO MISS!
links mentioned in the video
Bert Monroy’s Website: bertmonroy.com
Bert Monroy’s YouTube Channel: youtube.com/bertmonroy
CREATING ARTISTIC MASTERPIECES using PHOTOSHOP and NO A.I. with Bert Monroy
Watch the recording of this LIVE Broadcast as i chat with Photoshop Legend and Artist Bert Monroy discussing how he creates incredibly detailed Masterpeices of Art using Photoshop. Bert also give us a look into how he uses traditional Photoshop techniques ( no A.I.) to create life-like realism and effects.
Classic Portraits with Constant Light
Recently I was back with friends in the studio taking portraits, and this time getting Steve in front of my camera to try out some ideas I’d stumbled across when browsing Pinterest that I thought would be another good excuse to get my L60-B constant light out for.
I’ve used Pinterest for years as a great place for not only finding inspiration by looking at the work of photographers I admire like Annie Leibovitz and Mark Seliger, but also a great tool for looking how other photographers pose their subjects, which lets face it can be awkward at times.
Finding a balance between what you want but also making the pose look natural and the subject comfortable can be challenging to get right but I’ve always found it a massive help when you can guide your subject on what you’re looking for by showing them a picture.
Anyway, these here are some of the looks and poses I was really interested in …
Model for the Day
Model for the day was my dear friend Steve Healy whom I’ve known for years.
There was a time when for quite a while we’d not met up because of Steve moving away to Devon but I’m glad to say that when we finally made the move to the South West , we’re now able to meet up fairly regularly to just hangout out and take photographs. This we will certainly be doing more and more of!
Anyway, Steve drove over to my house in the morning and then we both jumped into my car and headed to South Wales to catch up with the gang; some of my closest friends which to be honest are more like family … Ian Munro and Anthony Crothers.
This was the first time Steve had met up in person with Ian and Anthony even though I’m sure they felt like they knew each other anyway having messaged back and forth many times on social media and also in the chat room during my Sunday LIVE Broadcasts on YouTube. Needless to say … Steve instantly became ‘one of the gang’ 😃
So after a traditional meet up at Costa in Brynmawr, South Wales to fuel up on coffee, we then went to the studio and cracked on …
PORTRAIT 1
So the first portrait I really liked the look of doing was the one inspired by this portrait of Robert De Niro taken by Mark Seliger …
Steve had brought along a dark grey casual suit-type jacket which was ideal. He’d also bought a white shirt to wear underneath but when setting up we all felt that even though you’d only seen a small portion of it, it would be too distracting, so instead Steve kept with the black T-Shirt he was wearing.
BACKGROUND
For this I portrait as it was to be a fairly tight crop of Steve on one side and just a little bit of ‘dead space’ to the left, the 7’ x 5’ background would be plenty big enough and so this was set up with the rear supporting leg shortened so that the background took up less floor space and could be closer to the wall.
LIGHT + MODIFIER
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again … I absolutely LOVE this light!
I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I say that positioning the light (L60-B) to get the Rembrandt Lighting Pattern 100% BANG ON took just a few seconds; such is the convenience and ease of doing so when using because … What You See Is What You Get
Bottom Left: iPad Pro with Pinterest App open showin the ‘reference’ image
To achieve a quality of light that was neither hard or soft but somewhere in between, and also to minimise the amount of light that would spill onto the background, I opted to use the Westcott 24” Rapid Box Switch Beauty Dish and with the outer diffusion panel fitted.
Westcott 24” Rapid Box Switch Beauty Dish with Outer Diffusion Panel
CAMERA + Lens
Sony A7RIV
Sony 85mm f/4.0 G Master
CAMERA SETTINGS
Aperture: F/4.0
Shutter Speed: 1/60sec
ISO 1250
Once set up and with any light in the studio that wasn’t contributing to the portrait turned off, I could then start taking portraits of Steve but what was really useful here was that everyone could see EXACTLY what the shots would be like without having to look at the back of my camera each time or look at my iPad Pro that I was tethering to; again because What You See Is What You Get
Studio lights and ‘any’ lights not contributing to the portrait turned off.
This made it so easy for anyone who wanted to make a suggestion and move in to maybe get Steve to angle himself differently or change the position of a hand.
It just worked and worked so incredibly well, making EVERYONE feel involved.
OUT OF CAMERA
Here’s the out of camera Raw file …
Original Raw file in Adobe Lightroom Classic
FINAL EDIT
Here’s the final retouched image which was worked on using both Lightroom and Photoshop …
Final Retocuhed Portrait
LIGHTROOM CLASSIC and PHOTOSHOP
Here’s a summary of the retouching steps carried out in both Lightroom Classic and Photoshop …
Lightroom
Straighten & Crop
Colour Correction*
Denoise
Masking (Enhance eyes - Iris and Pupil only)
*Had to do this manually as ‘somehow’ I forgot to use my Colour Checker Passport … Doh!
Photoshop
Clean Up
Dodge & Burn
2010
Dreamy Glow (20%)
Lightroom
Colour (CN16)
Color Mixer (Reduce Orange & Red Saturation on Steve’s face)
Masking (Radial Gradient to Shape Light)
Masking Exposure on Face
Add Grain
PORTRAIT 2
For the 2nd portrait of Steve, this was the photograph I used as the initial inspiration / idea …
For this we went with the exact same set up albeit positioning the light camera left this time as opposed to camera right as it was for the first portrait.
Below is what the set up looked like before turning off the lights in the studio that weren’t contributing to the portrait …
Using the single L60-B coming in from high up and angled down produced exactly the lighting that was wanted (below) however I felt that the shadow side of Steve’s head was a touch too dark …
To add a touch more light onto the shadow side of Steve’s head, rather than use a 2nd L60-B we just used a Silver Reflector which also had a white side to it, however between the two surfaces, the silver side gave the best result …
OUT OF CAMERA
Here’s the ‘out of camera’ Raw file …
Out of Camera Raw file in Lightroom Classic
FINAL EDIT
Here’s the final retouched image which was worked on using both Lightroom Classic and Photoshop …
Final Retouched Portrait
lightroom classic and photoshop
Retouching steps in both Lightroom Classic and Photoshop were pretty much the same as in the first portrait, however there was one very definite difference.
When taking the 2nd portrait, we all felt that although Steve sitting on a stool worked, it did make him look a little squashed because of the height of the stool he was sitting on and also how his jacket sat, so we also tried a few shots with Steve standing …
With Steve standing it definitely stopped him looked squashed, however when looking at the images later in Lightroom Classic I was torn because I liked the pose and expression on Steve’s face from the seated shots.
So now in the retouching I was thinking I could either (a) do a head swap or (b) do the opposite of a technique I used to do when photographing physiques … and that’s what I chose to do.
PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL
Here’s a short video showing exactly what I did in Photoshop to reduce / remove the ‘squashed’ look …
WRAP UP
Following the photo shoot we all the headed over to Abergavenny for what was a delicious bite to eat at The Angel … THANK YOU Steve!
So there you go, all of the steps that I went through from the initial idea, the kit, the set up and the final edit.
As always if you have any questions / comments, please do make use of the section below and I’ll be sure to reply.
Oh and don’t forget, if you’re interested in getting ANY of the Westcott kit including lighting, modifers, backgrounds etc then drop me a line as I’ll be able to give you a Discount Code for 10% OFF
Cheers
Glyn
The Art of CINEMATIC TOY PHOTOGRAPHY | Jesse Feyereisen
Watch the recording of this LIVE Broadcast as I chat with the wonderful talent that is Jesse Feyereisen and go Behind the Scenes to discover how he lights, photographs and edits to create such incredible imagery of Toys and Action Figures …
Links mentioned in the video
Jesse Feyereisen Website: https://www.jessefphotography.com/
Instagram: @jessefeyereisen
Facebook: @jessefeyereisen
PHOTOSHOP Zoom GONE CRAZY ??? TRY THIS QUICK FIX
Sometimes, just sometimes when we get an update to Photoshop you MIGHT notice a few things behave little different; one of those things might be the zooming in and zooming out.
On that note, I recently received this email …
So this is the fix …
LIGHT | CAMERA | CAPTURE | The Art of Portrait Photography | Ross McKelvey
Watch the recordong of this LIVE Broadcast as I chat with Portrait Photographer Ross McKelvey about his process for capturing stunning portraits and motion covering Lighting Set Ups and Post Processing. Plus Camera Clubs, Printing, Presenting your Work and Photography Competitions …
links mentioned in the video …
Ross McKelvey website: rossmckelvey.co.uk
Ross McKelvey YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@rossmckelvey
Ross McKelvey on Instagram: instagram.com/rossmckelvey
Ross McKelvey on Facebook: facebook.com/ross.mckelvey
Westcott L60-B Bi Colour LED: LINK
QUICK TIP: Multiple Selections in Photoshop
I get asked this question about how to make multiple selections of the same fixed shape in Photoshop, quite often so I thought I’d put together a very quick video to sgow how it’s done …