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TRANSCRIPT
Advanced Photoshop:Creative Use of Layers
N. Leonard Segall
April 6th, 2010
Sarnia Photographic Club
I am an analogue guy
• I prefer a clock with a dial and hands
– so I can say a quarter to eight rather than 7:45
• I was dragged kicking and screaming:
– from vinyl records to compact discs for music
– from colour slide film to digital capture photography
Multiple Exposures and Montages
• This presentation explains how to digitally replicate techniques that I first learned using film:
– Multiple exposures
• Two or more photographs made on the same piece of film without advancing it
– Montages
• A sandwich of two or more slides in the same mount
Photo Impressionism
• Photo Impressionism and the Subjective Image
– by Freeman Patterson and André Gallant
– some of the material is taught at their week long workshops in New Brunswick
Multiple Exposures
Multiple Exposures
• A favourite technique of Freeman Patterson’s
• His formula on film is:– under expose by 1 stop for 2 exposures
– under expose by 2 stops for 4 exposures
– under expose by 3 stops for 9 exposures
– under expose by 4 stops for 16 exposures
• Each successive photograph on the same frame builds up the final image to the correct exposure
Multiple Exposures
• On digital capture:
– Take multiple photographs exposed normally, as many frames as you think you will use
– The effective limit for multiple exposures in Photoshop is 12 (due to rounding error)
– (some Nikon cameras will do in camera multiple-exposures and do not need Photoshop)
Multiple Exposures
• Open all of the photographs in Photoshop
• Layer all of the photographs together
• Mouse instructions– View, Arrange, Tile
– Use the move tool
– Shift-click and drag the second image on top of the first (Shift-click ensures perfect alignment)
– Close the photo just used (to keep from using it twice)
– Repeat for all of the other images
Multiple Exposures
• Keyboard shortcut instructions– Click on the second image
– Ctrl-A to select all
– Ctrl-C to copy
– Click on the first image
– Ctrl-V to paste
– Close the image just used (to keep from using it twice)
– Repeat for all of the other images
Multiple Exposures
• Set the opacity for each successive photograph to:
– 100 for the base layer
– 50 for the second layer
– 33 for the third layer
– (100/n) for the nth layer
– the sequence is 100, 50, 33, 25, 20, 17, 14, 13, 11, 10, 9, 8
• This effectively averages all of the images together
• Thanks to Sandi Spaulding for this explanation
Multiple Exposures – Hand Held
Multiple Exposures – Hand Held
Multiple Exposures – Zoom
Multiple Exposures – Zoom
Multiple Exposures – Tilt
Multiple Exposures – Tilt
Multiple Exposures – Zoom and Tilt
Multiple Exposures – Zoom and Tilt
Multiple Exposures
• When zooming, it is best to zoom in
– when zooming out, unexpected intrusions can creep in to the frame
• When tilting, it is best to run though the photo first
– again to keep unexpected items from creeping in to the edge of the frame
Multiple Exposures
• This technique creates an image where contrast is subdued, detail is lost and texture is enhanced
• Dark shadows are lightened as they overlap with adjacent lighter areas in the photograph
• It can be helpful to convey a beautiful scene where a straight photograph might be marred by detail or might not appropriately convey your feelings
Double Exposure
• In his first book, “Photography for the Joy of It”, Freeman Patterson describes a special double exposure technique for manual cameras:
• Shoot a series of full moon photographs on a carefully loaded roll of film noting the position of the moon on each frame (expose as for daylight, the moon is sunlit)
• Reload the film in exactly the same way and shoot a series of normally exposed landscape photographs composing to complement the moon on each frame
Double Exposure
• The dark sky makes no impression on the film; only the moon is captured
• The second exposure captures an image normally, but the moon is bright so it appears in the final image
• Unlike a normal double exposure where each capture would be underexposed by 1 stop, both captures are taken at normal exposure
Double Exposure
• Digital Equivalent:– Make a photograph of the full moon on a clear night
• expose for daylight since the moon is sunlit
– Take a landscape photograph that is crying out for a full moon• make the moon photograph a second layer
• set the moon layer blending option to “screen” and reduce the opacity as appropriate (the brightness of the moon should not exceed what would realistically be expected)
• using the move tool position the full moon
• “screen” blending mode makes the black sky of the moon photo invisible
Double Exposure
Double Exposure
Double Exposure
Montages
• Made by sandwiching two to four slides together in the same mount
• Extensively explored by André Gallant
– Dreamscape Montages or Ortons
– Composite Montages
– Mirror Montages
Montages
• When sandwiching slides together, the result is darker than either original slide because the light has to travel through both
• On film, this requires the opposite of multiple exposures:
– each photograph used in a montage must be over-exposed
Dreamscape Montages
Dreamscape Montages
• On film:• Use the long end of your zoom lens• Make a photograph in focus two stops over-exposed• Make a second photograph slightly out of focus with
the aperture wide open (moving the focus closer so the image gets larger), and one stop over-exposed
• Sandwich the two images together in a slide mount• The in focus image should be have the emulsion side
out for better scanning
Dreamscape Montages
• The in focus image two stops overexposed gives the image its structure – its lines
• The out of focus image one stop overexposed gives the image its rich colour
• The larger size of the out of focus image gives a feeling of colouring outside the lines
Dreamscape Montages
• Digital technique:– Make one photograph in focus exposed normally
– Make a duplicate layer
– Use a gaussian blur to throw the duplicate out of focus
– Increase the pixel size of the duplicate by 2 %
– Set the blending mode of the new layer to “Multiply”
– Multiply darkens (like a slide sandwich) so add curves or other adjustment layers to bring up the tonality
– I prefer to place the curve above the background image
Dreamscape Montages
Dreamscape Montages
Multiple Exposure vs Montage
• Multiple exposures soften shadows by building up layers using opacity
• Montages deepen shadows through the use of “Multiply” layer blending
• Experience with these techniques, and your response to a scene will determine if one or the other might help your interpretation
Composite Montages
• On film:
• Make two photographs, both one to one and a half stops over-exposed
• Sandwich them together in a slide mount
• This is particularly useful for adding texture to a photograph
• (The texture slide should be two or more stops overexposed so that it does not alter the colour)
Composite Montages
• Digitally:
• Make two photographs correctly exposed
• Open both photographs in Photoshop
• Copy the one photo on to the other as a new layer
• Set the layer blending properties to “multiply”
• Add curves or other adjustment layers as desired
Composite Montages
Composite Montages
Composite Montages
Composite Montages - Texture
Composite Montages - Texture
Composite Montages - Texture
Composite Montages - Texture
• Textures are very popular on flickr
• There are web sites where you can download textures
• Wherever you go, it can be a good idea to make photographs that can later be used for textures:
– pebbles or sand on a beach, ripples on water
– cracked paint on a wall, grasses in a meadow
• Then you will have your own library of textures that are meaningful to you
Mirror Montages
Mirror Montages
Mirror Montages
Multiple Exposures and Montages
• The techniques shown in this presentation are all digital equivalents of techniques originated using slide film
• As with slide film, the photographer needs to pre-visualize the final result when composing photographs
Multiple Exposures and Montages
• In the digital world there is more flexibility because normal exposure is used when making the initial photographs
• The creative use of layers allows the photographer to combine photographs after the fact in creative ways
• Have fun exploring!