Retouching Anyone????

Here is a little known fact about me. I do love getting on the computer to retouch images. It is an integral part of my process. I love working with multiple images in order to create a more compelling image. My process is no secret and here is how I do it!!! Feel free to try it for yourself.

Items you will need:

Digital SLR camera

Tripod

lighting off camera (flash)

light shaping tools

1st Conceptualization: In any photograph or image, you need to conceptualize your work. Brainstorm your concept and subject matter. Decide how the subject matter is to be portrayed. Will a lot of contrast and hard light lend well with the subject? Would a softer light and less contrast be better? What are you trying to portray with your imagery? What do want your viewer to feel? Once you have a clear and concise Idea its time to move to production

2nd Pre-production: find a location that best suits your needs. remember it should enhance the photograph not hinder it. because your are making a digital composite image, it is not always necessary to have your subject and location together.

Find a subject that will make your photograph stronger than weaker. For example, if i'm shooting a car, I don't just grab the first Toyota Crap-olla I see. I research and find a car that i want to shoot. I then make all of the arrangements to shoot both the location and the car (Not necessarily in the same place at the same time, but it works better if you can).

3rd Production: While shooting both the location and the subject, I try to shoot them as individualized tiny photos, i do this using a tripod and light. I set the camera on the tripod and frame the shot. I don't focus on shooting the entire background or the entire car at once. Rather, I shoot one part at a time using light to highlight what I want to shoot. When I composite the images to make one, I sometimes have as many as 30 images. Once I have shot all I need for both the car and background I then take the images into the computer and start Post-production.

4th Post-Produciton: once I have the images in the computer the first thing I do is put on some headphones and listen to some type of electronica music. Right now I listen to the new TRON soundtrack... Great retouching music. I then load all of the photos into photoshop, creating a layer for each image. After this, I put a black layer mask on each layer. This hides all of the images except the bottom or base layer. I then use a white brush on the black layer mask to reveal the "highlighted or lit" part of the photo on that layer. After doing this to each layer it starts to reveal a beautifully lit subject and background.

I like this technique because i am able to create things with light that would be normally impossible with a regular film style shoot. I have the actual strobe in most of the shots I take, but since I am just "painting" in the lit part of the frame the light is not visible to the viewer. Pretty cool huh? Feel free to comment or contact me if you would like some more specifics on this process. It is a really fun thing to do!