A2 Photography Unit 3 - Out Of Place Photoshop tasks
Image: Herbert Bayer - Lonely Metropolitan (1932)
September 2008
These tasks is are designed to show you some techniques that you may not be aware of in Photoshop. They all also mimic techniques that you will have seen when you were researching you re boxes during the previous sessions. All these techniques will be demonstrated using sample files but you should experiment with you re own images and show example in your sketchbooks.
Task #1: Overlays, Blending Modes & Vignetting These techniques are inspired by the work of Joel Peter Witkin and the distortion, scratches and destructive technique he applies to his images. 1. To start open the Figure 02 file from the location below...
M:Drive
Photography
Out Of Place folder
2. When it is open you will first need to make the image black and white. You may already have a preferred method of doing this but if not go to...
Image
Adjust
Desaturate
3. Next you will need to add a texture layer. This is perhaps the most important element in making the images look old and distorted. First open the Scoured file form the location in step 1. You should have an image that looks like some scanned scratched metal. 4. Using the Move tool drag this file into your Figure 02 file so it becomes a layer on top of it (you should not be able to see the figure at this point) 5. Use the Edit and Transform command to resize the Scoured layer so that it roughly fits over the image (you will need to zoom out to do this). 6. In the Layers palette find the Blending modes option - at this point it will probably have the word Normal in it. Make sure you have the Scoured layer selected and select Overlay from the drop down menu.
Notes
Inspired by Joel Peter Witkin 7. You should now have a image that looks scratched and scuffed and even as though it was printed on metal. 8. You are now going to apply a filter to the image to give it a darkened, blackened border - this is called vignetting. Go to... Filter Distort
Lens Correction
9. When the dialogue box opens find the Vignette option and drag both the amount and midpoint option to the left - watch the image to see what happens. When you are happy with the result click OK. 10. You should now have an image that is beginning to emulate the same look and feel of a Witkin. To move the image forward try some of these other techniques... • Use the Pencil tool at its smallest size to draw scratchy lines on the image. If you do this on a new layer you can adjust the opacity, blending modes and fill to make different effects. • Use the Eraser tool to remove some of the texture or image. This is particularly effective if you put a background colour behind the image and use the Erasers Opacity option. • Try scanning other textures (canvas, wood, plastic, paper, leaves - the list is endless) and putting these over the top of images and adjusting the Blending modes. • Use other blending modes to get different effects. Some of them can be a bit wacky and should be used with caution but good ones to try for subtle effects are Darken, Multiply, Colour Burn, Linear Burn and Soft light. Don’t forget all these can be applied to colour images too!
Notes
Task #2: Layers, Blending Modes & ghost images These techniques are inspired by the work of Francessca Woodman and the ghostly, blurred imagery she produced. 1. To start open the Warehouse file from the location below...
M:Drive
Photography
Out Of Place folder
2. When it is open you will first need to make the image black and white. You may already have a preferred method of doing this but if not go to...
Image
Adjust
Desaturate
3. Make the image a bit more dramatic by adjusting the Levels and Brightness and Contrast. 4. Now open the Figure 01 file from the location we have being using. Crop it down to remove the borders. 5. Drag the figure image into the warehouse file. In the Blending modes options apply Screen to the figure. You should now have a ghost! 6. Adjust the Brightness and Contrast of the figure so that is more white and stands out from the warehouse background. 7. Now you need to add a Motion blur to the figure to give it a bit more otherwordlyness. Go to...
Filter
Blur
Motion blur
Notes
Inspired by Francessca Woodman & Spiritualist photography and play around with the settings until you get a result that you like. Click OK when you are done. 10. You should now have an image that is beginning to emulate the same look and feel of a Woodman. To move the image forward try some of these other techniques... • Add a sepia tone to emulate old spiritualist photography. You will need to flatten the image first (Layer - Flatten Image) by going to...
Image
Adjust
Photo Filter
And selecting Sepia from the menu. Adjust the Density and Luminosity until you get a result you like. • Experiment with the aging techniques we looked at in Task 1. • Try adding white borders to the image. You can do this by using the Stroke command or by scanning paper and placing the image on top of it. You can use a file called Paper Scan on the M:Drive for this should you wish.
Notes
Task #3: Paste Into and layer masks These techniques are inspired by the work of Rene Magritte and the Surrealist paintings he produced. 1. To start open the Flowers file from the location below...
M:Drive
Photography
Out Of Place folder
2. The aim is to replace the flowers with an image of the sky. First duplicate the layer using any method you are comfortable with. 3. On the top layer draw a rectangular marquee around all the flowers - get this as close as you can to the edges. 4. When you have done this go to
Select
Inverse
And press Delete to clear the unwanted vase and background. 5. Use the Magic Wand tool to select the red flowers - you will need to get a good selection around the edge of the image so you may want to have a few goes at this. 6. Press delete. You will not notice any difference to the image as the identical layer underneath makes the image look complete. 7. With the selection still in place open any of the Sky files from the location on the M:Drive you have been using. When this is open use the Select All command (by going to Select and then All in the menu bar of by pressing CTRL and A on the keyboard) and then Copy the image. 8. Now go to...
Edit
Notes
Inspired by Rene Magritte
Paste Into
and you should now have the sky in place of the flowers. 9. You should now have an image that reassembles a Magritte painting. 10. If you have small bits if flowers left in your image you an delete these by removing parts of the Layer mask in the layers palette. Click on the black and white thumbnail in the Layers palette and use the eraser tool to remove any unwanted parts. 11. To move the image forward try some of these other techniques... • Use other images to create similar works to Magritte. • Experiment with using the Paste Into command and Vector Masks which can be found in the Layer palette.
Notes
Task #4: Experimenting with scanners These techniques are inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell and the Surrealist boxes he produced. 1. To undertake this task you will need the following...
A4 Cardboard Box (a old A4 pinhole camera is ideal).
A scanner.
A selection of objects that will fit inside the box.
2. Arrange the objects in a pleasing formation directly on the scanner glass. 3. Place the cardboard box over the top of the objects being careful not to move them. 4. Scan the objects as normal. 5. When the scan has finished you should end up with a selection of objects with an other worldly floating effect. 6. To move the image forward try some of these other techniques... • Experiment with other objects • Try layering the objects up in side the box by using cardboard cut outs, acetate and other transparent objects. • Introduce more lights sources by cutting or piercing holes in the box. Try inserting lamps or fairy lights into the cardboard to create other effects.
Notes
inspired by Joseph Cornell Notes