Building the Image


It's interesting that this image began as a variation of the Punto image discussed in Chapter 9, yet feels so different. Because there is some degree of redundancy between the two chapters regarding how the image was built, I'll be a bit more succinct in certain areas of this chapter. Full details are spelled out in the Image Log in the Punto chapter.

Cropping and Optimizing

I opened the Orcia Landscape photo and sharpened it using the High Pass filter. To do this, I dragged the Background layer to the New Layer icon in the Layers palette to create a copy. I then chose Filter, Other, High Pass, set the Radius slider to 3.6 pixels, and clicked OK to apply the effect. I set the blending mode for the Background Copy layer to Overlay to complete the sharpening effect. Then I chose Merge Down from the Layers palette menu to simplify the layer stack. To complete the effect, I cropped the image's vertical orientation to a square and changed the layer name to Landscape.

To change the image into a flat texture, I started by duplicating the Landscape layer: I dragged the Landscape layer to the New Layer icon in the Layers palette, creating a new layer called Landscape Copy. I renamed the new layer Flipped Landscape, and with that layer still active, I chose Edit, Transform, Flip Vertical to flip the layer upside down, and selected Darken from the Blending Modes pop-up menu. The Darken blending mode looks at the overlapping pixels and displays only the darker of the two. In this case, the blending mode hides the sky by displaying the darker tree texture instead (see Figure ).

Create texture.

Adding the Bench

I found the Galgano Bench photo and cropped it to the square format to fit the composition. After doubling the canvas size in the main image to create the horizontal format, I copied the cropped bench photo and pasted it into the composition, dragging it to the right side. I then set the Bench layer's blending mode to Hard Light, which created deep shadows and high contrast (see Figure ).

Add the bench.

Optimizing Pink Trees

The next step was to optimize the Pink Trees photo and prepare it for integration into the main image. I started by applying an Unsharp Mask filter to bring back a bit more detail.

Although the strong saturated color was working well for the photo on its own, I was concerned that it would be a bit too intense and saccharine when added to the composition. Specifically, I felt that the bright greens and yellows in the grassy area were distracting and artificial, and I wanted them to have more of a flat, photogram effect. To tone things down, I chose Image, Adjustments, Hue/ Saturation. In the dialog box, I moved the Saturation slider to -52 and clicked OK.

I then selected the Rectangular Marquee tool and held down the Shift key as I dragged a selection, constraining the selection area to a square. I chose an area that focused on the pink color and that allowed the tree trunks on the right to bleed of the right edge. I was anticipating that these dark trunks would provide a tonal transition between the left and right sides of the composite (see Figure ).

The Pink Trees selection area.

The Pink That Transforms

I copied the photo, pasted the Pink Trees selection into the composite, and dragged the layer beneath the Galgano Bench layer in the Layers palette. I then used the Move tool to drag the Pink Trees into position on the left side of the composition. I kept the Pink Trees photo open throughout this process in case I had to go back and recrop slightly.

The interesting thing about this step in the process is that it really transformed the image from a contemplative, compartmental diptych to a cohesive image with more of a singular focus. As I mentioned in the description of this photo, Pink Trees has a strong graphic presence with these vertical black tree trunks dividing the space, and the strong pink color flattening the space.

The trees began to blend with the bench image on the right, just as I hoped they would. But the texture from the Landscape layers was gone, and the contrast in the rest of the Pink Trees image was a bit flat (see Figure ).

Add Pink Trees.

Bringing Out the Texture

I knew I needed to find a blending mode that would let the texture in the Landscape and Landscape Flipped layers show through without completely obliterating the Pink Trees layer. I also wanted to darken the tree trunks on the right so that they would blend more seamlessly with the dark shadows in the Galgano Bench layer.

After exploring a range of options, I selected Linear Light from the Layers palette Blending Mode menu. This gave me deep blacks that kept up with the blacks created by the Hard Light mode in the Galgano Bench layer. It also let the trees texture from the Landscape layers push through the pink wall area (see Figure ).

Linear Light blending mode.

Hard Choices

At this point, a part of me would have been happy to call it a day. I really liked the saturated warm red on the left side, and I was happy with the way the tree trunks blended with the Galgano Bench image. And yet the image wasn't pushing far enough. It felt as though, if I had stopped, I would have been playing it safe, too easily satisfied with a nice color set and competent composition.

I decided to pull out the color on the left side and run with a monochromatic texture in an effort to push the piece further. I created a new layer by clicking the Create a New Layer icon in the Layers palette; I double-clicked the layer title to select it and named it Solid Black. After selecting the Paintbucket and filling the layer with black, I set the blending mode for this new layer to Color. The Color blending mode applies the color of the top layer to the lower composite, without changing the tonal properties. This action desaturates the lower layers, reducing everything beneath the Solid Black layer to black and white.

Adding Sant Olivetto Woods

Most of the broad strokes were in place at this point, so I decided to explore the addition of nuance and detail. This came in the sun-dappled form of the Sant Olivetto Woods photograph.

I thought that the texture on the tree trunk as well as the light patterns in the background created an interesting organic pattern that would harmonize with the all-over foliage pattern on the left side of the composite, while adding differentiation and specificity.

I copied the photo and pasted it into the main composite, giving it the layer name Tree Bark 2. After using the Move tool to drag the tree bark layer to the upper-left corner of the composition, I dragged its layer position below the Solid Black layer in the layer stack, just above the Pink Trees layer. Finally I set the layer's blending mode to Soft Light and its Opacity value to 62% (see Figure ). I liked the way the texture of the tree trunk on the left echoed the stone texture on the back wall behind the bench on the right.

Add Tree Bark texture.

Adding Drips2

The final image addition came from my scan archive as I pulled out a scan of ink drips similar to the one I used in the Molecola Sogni image in Chapter 12, "Molecola Sogni.

I opened the file, pasted it in at the top of the layer stack, and renamed it Drips 2. To integrate the image with the lower layers, I set the layer's blending mode to Linear Light. This resulted in a light transparent background in which the midtones of the lower composite image showed through the blacks in the Drips scan. I wanted to knock out the white area and make the drips more visible against the background.

At first I thought that a simple image inversion would do the trick, but I wanted more control over the tonal range. So I decided to invert with the Curves command. After selecting Curves from the Adjustment Layer pull-down menu in the Layers palette, I dragged the curve handle in the upper right to the lower left (from Input: 255 to Output: 0). I then dragged the handle in the lower left to the upper right, which action inverted the tones in the image. As a final tweak, I dragged a point downward (Input: 66, Output: 101) to darken the layer and eliminate some of the distracting detail (see Figure ).

Add Drips scan.

Masking Drips 2

At this point, the drips were bright white, which resonated with the bright white grassy area in the lower-left corner of the composite. What I didn't like was that they all but obscured the bench on the right.

I wanted to tone down the Drips layer to something like a 50% opacity, but still leave myself room to make local revisions in specific areas of the drip pattern. This meant that I couldn't just lower the Opacity slider. Instead, I clicked the Add Layer Mask icon in the Layers palette, set the foreground color to an RGB value of R128, G128, B128 (a 50% gray), selected the Paintbucket tool, and clicked in the image to mask the entire image by 50%.

I then selected the Brush tool and set the foreground color to white. I lowered the Opacity for the brush to 10% in the Options bar and lightened the mask around the left side of the central drip shape to add back a bit more contrast and detail (see Figure ).

The final image.




The Art of Photoshop for Digital Photographers
The Art of Photoshop for Digital Photographers
ISBN: 0672327139
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 141

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