essential skills: photographic lighting
Mark Galer
Creative post-production Many creative photographs are not the product of a single exposure but the result of several exposures, which when combined create an abstract or realistic outcome. To create a realistic outcome the photographer must carefully consider the post-production techniques that can be utilized when preparing to capture the component images. Lighting must be of a consistent quality, color temperature and direction throughout the component images and the shadows of a subject must be considered as these will need to be rendered realistically if the final outcome is to be believable. All too often a photographer will carefully capture the subject only to forget to pay attention to the subject’s shadow.
Preserving the original shadow in a montage If all of the subject’s shadow is captured and the shadow falls over a smooth surface, it can be preserved in post-production and placed over the new background using the ‘Multiply’ blend mode. This post-production technique provides photographers burdened with a meticulous eye a useful way of retaining and transplanting subtle and complex shadows. Observe the subtle shadow cast by the leaf in the illustration above. The primary reason for not being able to use this technique is when the shadow falls over a surface that has a different texture to the one in the new location.
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