Practical Photoshop January 2020

Over the following pages we’ll take an in-depth look at the creation of this playful image. Along the way we’ll explore some of the key compositing tools in Photoshop, from powerful selection controls to blending skills and layer masking. But before we delve into the Photoshop side we’ll begin by looking at how to shoot for a composite like this, with careful lighting and positioning of the different elements that make up our playful block face image. The technique here is surprisingly simple. After photographing the portrait and a pile of toy blocks separately, the images are merged into a seamless whole using a quick and easy Photoshop technique. The blocks are simply desaturated and overlaid on top of the face, then blended using the Multiply layer blend mode. Once…

Over the following pages we’ll look at the camera and lighting skills that went into photographing our composite here. The best composites are often those that are photographed specifically with the final result in mind. This means that rather than attempting to merge a disparate array of unconnected images, we can instead combine a set of carefully composed, consistent frames that look like they actually belong together. What’s more, the work done in-camera makes the Photoshop technique much easier and simpler than you might initially think. WATCH THE VIDEO http://bit.ly/2sa5eul…

1 PLAIN BACKDROP A plain backdrop is helpful. Not only does it give our image a clean, uncluttered feel, it also makes it easier to combine pieces from different images into a seamless composite once we begin working on our images in post. We used a plain piece of white board. 2 TRIPOD We set up a tripod above the white board, with the camera angled downwards on the blocks. The tripod helps to keep a consistent angle and height. This means the direction of light stays the same throughout, ensuring the frames fit together naturally. 3 SUBJECT Our cheeky young chap makes for a playful subject and his lack of hair handily means it’s easier to blend the head with the toy blocks later. We captured a range of expressions and poses of the…

01 ARRANGE THE BLOCKS When shooting for a composite it’s often best to take more than you need, as you never know which images - or parts of images - will be most useful later on. Here we took a series of shots of the blocks in different positions to give us plenty of options. 02 BALANCE THE LIGHTING A simple lighting setup makes for consistent shadows, which helps to bring it all together later. In our two-light setup, the main key light is positioned on the left, and a second fill is angled up and bounced off the ceiling, producing a weaker light that lifts the shadows. 03 SET THE EXPOSURE The exposure needs to stay consistent throughout for this project, so Manual mode is your best bet. We set shutter speed at 1/200…

When it comes to combining the images for a composite, there are key Photoshop skills and techniques that will help you along the way. Over the next few pages we’ll use our block composite as a case study, and show you step-by-step how it was made. Along the way we’ll pause at key moments for a closer look at some of the key Photoshop features that make up the technique. From making selections to blending layers, masking and transforming, we’ll explore the most powerful tools on offer for combining photos in all kinds of amazing ways. 01 PREPARE THE BLOCKS Open the portrait and the block images into Photoshop. Go to the first block image. Here we need to remove the letters. Select the letters with the Magic Wand then go to…

With a few Photoshop layer skills you can create all kinds of fantastical images, like our fairy scene. This is done using a range of effects and compositing. To begin, we’ll isolate our subject with a selection (kick-started by the useful ‘select subject’ command) and then make a cut-out. This way, we can bring in a pair of wings – copied from a bird – and move them behind the body, so it looks like they’re attached to her back. This compositing is best done with a combo of selection tools and layer masking. We’ll utilize the powerful Select and Mask command to do both at once. After adding our wings, we’ll create a pattern of spirals using a clever, little-known Photoshop command called ‘step and repeat’. This works by repeating a…