Creating Drama After The Fact

[smoke665]

Haven't shot much recently due to health issues. Saw an interesting technique that I decided to learn, adding shadows for drama in a portrait. Need to tweak the process but it actually turned out pretty good. Not overly complicated, but different in method.

 

[snowbear113 45]

Haven't shot much recently due to health issues. Saw an interesting technique that I decided to learn, adding shadows for drama in a portrait. Need to tweak the process but it actually turned out pretty good. Not overly complicated, but different in method.
View attachment 294516

Nice.

Many years ago, I used to get a newsletter/flyer from Minolta. One issue featured things to try, one being projecting a slide onto a person, then shooting.

 

[cgw115 140]

Nice.

Many years ago, I used to get a newsletter/flyer from Minolta. One issue featured things to try, one beingprojectind a slide onto a preson, then shooting.

Funny, I played key grip at friends' editorial shoot recently where that was used. Miraculously, the bulb didn't blow on my old yard sale Ektagraphic.

 

[smoke665]

@snowbear and @cgw Many years ago used a slide projector quite a bit, both to cast on the subject and as a background. I've shot several similar shadow shots using a hanging blind to modify the light. These shadows were entirely created in PS.

 

[TJMcG113]

Reminds me of that old cardboard background projector I had years ago that you put on a strobe and used celluloid-like cards to project designs on the seamless..

 

[DanOstergren24]

Cool technique. In most instances I am a staunch believer of the phrase "less is more" when it comes to editing, but I think in this case the effect might be applied a little too lightly.

 

[cgw115 140]

@snowbear and @cgw Many years ago used a slide projector quite a bit, both to cast on the subject and as a background. I've shot several similar shadow shots using a hanging blind to modify the light. These shadows were entirely created in PS.

On demand shadows? Nice to have for those film noir moments! Care to share?

 

[smoke665]

Reminds me of that old cardboard background projector I had years ago that you put on a strobe and used celluloid-like cards to project designs on the seamless..

Somewhat the same, but in this case it's after the fact and can be modified as needed.

Cool technique. In most instances I am a staunch believer of the phrase "less is more" when it comes to editing, but I think in this case the effect might be applied a little too lightly.

Thanks. As with all new things there's a learning curve, I went darker at first, but backed off, as it didn't seem quite right either. Lying in bed this morning as I was waking up I studied the shadows cast by the blades of the ceiling fan and it hit me. Shadows, like light, are not constant, they're also subject to the Inverse Square Law. As you move away from the source they grow larger and fade. I skewed them to increase in size, but need to do a little more and apply a linear gradient to fade them also.

On demand shadows? Nice to have for those film noir moments! Care to share?

It's still a technique in process, once finalized I will. It starts off as a layer of repeating rectangular selections, that you transform and shape, forming a smart object layer. From there you select the outlines and apply adjustment layers like exposure, hue saturation, etc independently to the shadows and base layer.

 

[smoke665]

@DanOstergren

Here's an edit incorporating some ideas mentioned above. Any better/worse????

 

[DanOstergren24]

@DanOstergren

Here's an edit incorporating some ideas mentioned above. Any better/worse????
View attachment 294530

I think this is better. The deeper shadows and generally higher contrast seem to compliment the film noir aesthetic much more effectively. I also think this has created a much more realistic look compared to the first edit.

 

[smoke665]

@DanOstergren thanks for the feedback, need to leave it alone for a couple days then try the process on a new image.