Photoshop Compositing Secrets - Matt Kloskowski [50]
STEP 16:
Then go to Filter>Other>High Pass, use a Radius setting of 9 pixels, and click OK. Now the image looks gray, so change the blend mode of the layer to Hard Light to hide the gray. This gives the photo a sharpened/gritty look to it, which works perfectly, considering the subject here.
STEP 17:
The not-free way is with a plug-in from Nik Software called Color Efex Pro 3.0 Complete. If you have it installed, go to Filter>Nik Software>Color Efex Pro. I cover this plug-in and the entire plug-in topic in the “10 Things You Need to Know About Compositing” section at the beginning of the book. For now, I wanted to at least show you the way I’d really finish off this photo to get the best effect. When the Color Efex Pro window opens, click on Tonal Contrast on the left, and set the Highlight Contrast, Midtone Contrast, and Shadow Contrast settings (on the right) all to 30. Then, set Saturation to 5 and click OK to apply the filter to the new layer. Now you’ve got a similar effect to the High Pass filter, but I think it looks better overall.
STEP 18:
Regardless of which method you just used, the effect doesn’t look good on the hands or the lens flares. So, click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Then, get the Brush tool, set your Foreground color to black, and use a small, soft-edged brush set to a low Opacity to paint away the effect from the hands up front, as well as around the lens flare.
Final Image
9. Multiple-Exposure Action Photo
TOM BOL
What you’re about to learn in this chapter is a really popular composite that you’ll mainly see used for sports. There’s no studio lighting involved. Heck, there’s no studio involved. All you need to shoot this one is a subject, a camera, and preferably a tripod. It’s a great effect and, although it’s been around for a while, your clients, family, friends, or whomever the image is for, will still love it.
The Setup
The setup for this type of shoot is really simple. In fact, if you set it up the right way, you’ll make your postprocessing in Photoshop really simple, too. I do want to take a quick moment to thank my good friend and very talented adventure photographer, Tom Bol (www.tombolphoto.com). Tom was kind enough to let me use his photos for this chapter. Why? Because I live in Florida and the closest I get to snow is when I open my freezer to get ice. But Tom lives for this stuff. In fact, if it’s not below 20 degrees, Tom’s out shooting in shorts and a t-shirt, because that’s like summer weather to him (he’s from Alaska). Thanks Tom!
STEP ONE:
Okay, let’s go over what you’ll need to make this type of shot happen. For starters, you need a moving subject. It doesn’t have to be skiing or snowboarding, by the way. A lot of sports work—basketball, football, baseball, soccer, motorcross, you name it. Track and field would be awesome, too, by the way. It helps a lot if there’s an interesting background or setting, but sometimes the motion of the actual sport can carry the composite by itself. In this example, we’ll use a snowboarder flying through the air.
STEP TWO:
A tripod helps with these multiple-action shots, because it helps steady the overall framing of the photo. So, the scenery behind the subject will stay the same for every shot and only the athlete will be moving, making our Photoshop work really easy. Next, set your camera to Aperture Priority mode and do a quick test shot. Then, remember what aperture you used and make a note of the shutter speed the camera chose. Say you’re set to f/8 and the camera chooses 1/500 of a second. Switch to Manual mode and dial in f/8 and 1/500. This way, the camera won’t accidentally meter off the wrong area and choose a different