Process of creating Final Pieces

For my final piece I did some extremely rough sketches. This was to plan some poses and basic layouts of the final photographs, and very simple areas of where I want to photoshop the image.

A problem I encountered early on with my digital photos is that I had forgotten to change the ISO from a previous shoot, which was taken indoors, so the ISO was set quite high. This made my images slightly grainy.

Process: Piece 1

To start with, I removed the background of the original image of the model sitting  on the wall. This left me with an area to insert my own background and sky. I placed a photograph I had taken of a forest skyline below the model layer, and resized it to give the impression of the shoot being 'set' in a forest.

I converted the forest layer into a silhouette, and removed part of the building in the foreground to give a better view of the trees. I then placed a photograph of a dramatic sky on the back layer. After editing the levels a little, I made the sky unnaturally pink and blue, adding a surreal element to the image.

By changing the layer mode settings, I managed to make the trees and sky interact, creating a ghostly, misty effect. I also added a black to transparent gradient on a separate layer, then changed it to multiply layer mode. This made the image darker, and emphasised the shadows to the left of the image. I was happy with this effect, however the sky in the centre right became overly bright due to the layer mode settings. This would later be fixed, but currently detracts from the feel of the piece.

I added a desaturation mask to the image. This drained the colour, and helped create a darker, more moody atmosphere. This really helped 'complete' the image, making the colours flow more naturally from one aspect to another.

I moved the placement of the sky layer, to get rid of the bright patch that was on the right side. This finalised the piece.

Contact Sheet: I went to a local ruin with the intention of shooting my model in the location. I used a Canon 400D DSLR with a tripod, and a Canon A1.

My main focus was getting the model in a good pose, with nice, natural lighting. I intended to change the colour, contrast, and exposure, as well as possibly manipulating the scenery, post production.