The Power of Gray - The Photoshop: Professional Retouching and Compositing Tips, Tricks, and Techniques - page 74

It seems that every time I work on a new picture there's another great reason to make use of
50% gray in some way, be it for creating a special effect or for simply helping me to work
nondestructively. It's no understatement when I say that once I'd discovered how 50% gray
can be used to create composite images, my portfolio was transformed!
In this chapter I take you through some of my favorite ways to use 50% gray in retouching.
I cover techniques such as blend mode compositing, textures, dodging and burning, lens
flares, and how to fake damage or dents.
Blend Mode Compositing
Compositing is becoming increasingly popular among photographers and retouchers as a
way of creating images that range from the real to the surreal.
I became interested in creating composite images initially because of poor weather. Many
times I would have a photo shoot organized, but on the day it was supposed to happen all
plans would need to be changed because of rain. So I began photographing models in the
nice warm studio and then using Photoshop to add them into new locations.
Here's a technique that can give you instant composite images. You just photograph your
model against a gray background and Photoshop helps with the rest, leaving you to concen-
trate on the creative side of retouching: lighting effects, color, special effects, and so on.
Studio Lighting
First of all let's look at the lighting used when photographing the model. For this picture
the idea was to make it seem as if our model had been captured, and was being kept under
lock and key in a dungeon.
Figure 2.1 shows the lighting diagram I used. To make it appear as though two fire torches
were on the walls on either side of the model, I used two spotlights fitted with a sheet of
orange gel on each. To the front there was a 1-meter (100cm) square soft box fitted with a
grid but with the outer diffusion panel removed; this gave a really interesting shadow effect
on the floor area, almost looking like bars in the dungeon door ( Figure 2.2 ) .