First in 2009, Again in 2011, and Once More This Month

480sparky · Oct 31, 2013

I normally don't do portraiture, but I've been adopted by the neighbor and their grandkids as their 'family photographer'. In 2009, I got wrangled into a photoshoot with them. I ended up with this:

We repeated the idea in 2011:

Then, just a couple weeks ago, we 'did it again!':

oldhippy · Oct 31, 2013

Love that, wish it could do it myself. Ed

shefjr · Oct 31, 2013

Ken this is a great idea that I now plan on putting into practice with my nieces and nephews thanks to you.

480sparky · Oct 31, 2013

For those interested in the signatures:

I have each one sign their name with a black Sharpie on white paper. That is then scanned in (Black & white) using a flatbed scanner and cropped as needed. To further create a pure black and white (no shades of gray!), I turn the contrast up to 100%.

The white background is then selected, converted to transparent and cleared. This makes the white background 'transparent' so I can copy just the signature and allow the background in the composite to show through. This creates the 'shadow' half you see. It's then resized to match the composite image, then copied and pasted onto it... adjusted into position. The signature's color is then inverted, which turns it white on transparent background. Copy & paste again, and adjusted into a position slightly higher and to the left of the black portion.