Below we'll create a composite image. This tutorial requires the user to be familar with the basics of photoshop,
with terms like blending mode, using brushes to paint with light or using the standard filters provided by Adobe with Photoshop CS 2/3.



Here we go :-)

First of all we should specify the content and define the composition.
Then we should get all the elements we need to compose the image.

Project: A kneeling sworded knight in front of an “artistic” window based in a “church-like” environment,
surrounded by magic and dramatic lights. *hah* :-)

1. A shot in a blue screen environment, raw mode is better to controll the blue for a better masking.



2. Everything dramatic is accompanied by heavy dark clouds, so we take some clouds


3. Now we need the building and the place for the window. This has been rendered with Bryce using a wire frame model and adding stone textures and some lights to the model. After 10 mins of rendering, here’s what we’ve got.



4. The sunset light should shine thru the window, so we need some warm rays of light. Use a brush to paint some rays in yellow, orange and some white. Use then the motion blur to get the soft look.



5. Now we create the “artistic” window from images taken by V.T. :-)
the whole series can be seen here



6. OK. Now we have all the stuff ready to be composed.
We start Photoshop and create a new document, A4 size at 300 dpi white background color and 8 bit.

* place the clouds at the desired position


* then we place the builing as new layer


* having that, we now drag the lights layer in the right position and set the blending mode to screen.
the lights are bright now *oh, a higher sign* :-)


* we place then the window and set the layer effects to “shine”


* at least we place V.T. in the right position and do some adjustments on lights/shadows
(menu image/adjust/lights and shadows).


* after that we add a new gradient map layer b/w to get a b/w image


* now we add another curves layer and change the curve on the blue channel to get a blueish tone



DONE! :-)



Feedback is very much appreciated and if you try something using the steps above
I'd be glad to see your results posted here :-)

Thanks & cheers
Vernon Trent

This is so great!

I had completely missed this tutorial on your homepage. This is very inspiring! I just need to get a bluescreen!

Thanks for posting it!

...thank you...thank you...again...excellent job...you really have the gift to explain complicated things in a very easy way...so that everybody could understand it...
...many thanks...
Codrin

A fantastic tutorial and a great photograph too, thanks a lot for sharing Vernon, this is exactly the kind of articles we want in the articles section!

it's a cracking tutorial Vernon, even I can follow it! mal

Many thanks for this tutorial Vernon.Great PP, so inspiring ..:-))

Many thanks for posting this Vernon. Great for someone like me to see some of the possibilities available to us. cheers Andrew

Thanks Vernon!!! Wonderful tutorial, now I try.........:-)))))

So cool, Vernon.
I would kill for a blue screen! I wonder if a blue cloth would work? lol
NO really, any sugestions

Amazinfgwork Vernon!
You sure have great skill. Very impressive

I have used a blue gel filter (mounted on flash unit)
the background is white, so it can be used with any color :-)

a cloth would do it as well. the color needs to be uniform and in a hue that works as "chromakey" :-)
green (like wine snake green) and blue works best.






@all
thanks for your feedback

I'm speechless. So much to learn. Thanks for posting this!

Great tutorial, thanks Vernon.

I noticed in your layers that you have several "smart objects". I never think of using those, what do you use them for?

Brilliant stuff. I think. Although I don't really understand it! I'm only a Photoshop beginner ... but I think this will be useful to know in the future.

Thanks Vernon!

no smart objects, just layer mask and layer effects, such as shadows or glow :-)

Great tutorial Vernon! Just when I thought I was getting the hang of Photoshop I find out that there is so much more I can do with it I just need people like you to show me! Thanks again Vernon!

I remember this one well from the old WS days! Awesome shot.

Well, who am I to criticize the great Vernon (I'm serious, not joking) but I am afraid that I think this is quite far from photography. It is a great image but since large portions of it is computer rendered and computer painted I think it is not photographic any more.

In the "Good Olde Days" postprocessing meant waving your hands around in the enlarger beam and warming spots on the print during development by rubbing them, and eye-dripping water or concentrated developer on areas and solarization and multiple exposures and/or film sandwiches, polycontrast filters, and the film-based "unsharp masking" that the modern technique is named after, and a host of other tricks to manipulate what came out of the camera. Only the tools have changed. Only the final result ever counted.

Hi Robert, I wasn't implying that you could do that level of editing in analog (although you'd be surprised how close we used come but with a lot more work.) I was only reacting to your remark about 90% of images being manipulated, and trying to suggest that images being manipulated is nothing new, regardless of how it is done - I was supporting your point, actually. (And I developed my first roll of of film in a wet darkroom in 1952, and my last in 1995. :-)

sir a newbie question?
why use the blue screen?
thanks

adrian it is common practice to use either a blue screen or green screen in order to easily separate the background from that which you want to extract. Just makes it more simple.

If there is another reason, Vernon can surely jump in and explain it.

sir thank you for the answer...
so it is easier to extract the subject from a blue/green screen than any other screen (say white/black)? or it depends on the subject?

I think you want to use a color not found in the subject itself. Black and white can often be a part of the subject. By using an odd color you can it is easier to select all parts with this color. This is used in TV/film for automatic overlays/shift of background.

well, you can use any uniform color as background, but chroma key colors are easier to select. blue and "poison" green are the most used.

thank you very much for the replies :D
will be looking forward to try them soon..
cheers
-adrian

Thank you for this! When you explain such a thing it makes even me understanding:-))))
All time when i try it i create a mess somehow!:-) Still need so much to learn!!

Greetings Robert

it's really cool of you to share this tutorial. very nicely done, too. i'm not familiar with painting with light, but i will see if i can locate a tutorial on that.

thanks!

Lucid, helpful explanation here. Thank you, Vernon...

Thanks for the tutorial..very helpful

You set a layer to 'shine" I never heard of that blending mode in Photoshop?
Debbi

Nice one. I'm looking for that topic. I'm a newbie here. Thanks for sharing about that.
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drake

Wow! That is a great tutorial. Don't have the ability to create the building; not familiar with Bryce. Am going to experiment with the other elements. Thanks so much for sharing the information and idea.

jean