shooting on the themes.

I have done some shoot on the themes and other styles of shoots..

These are un-edited images of a make up shoot i have done today...

I think some of the best images I have done in while...  These are some of the best photos that I have done with a great make up artist...

1st exbo of the year

This is the 1st exbo of the year...but the rest will have more photos as there was not anothe space for them.....
This is the biggest picture out the set....

Jungle Queen (How I made it...)

Jungle Queen is my first attempt at a fantasy style image and I would like to know what people think. I am hoping this is good enough that people think I should do more images like this, and improve how well I do things.

I have not flattened any layers as this would have been harder to make if I had flattened the images all the time. I use Photoshop CS3 but you can use most image editing software.

I have gone through all the steps but not in detail as this is to show a way of doing something like this. There are 6 stages that I have done to get the final image. Under each stage I have added notes on how to get create this part.

If you would like any help please e-mail me on gillbanksphotography@gmail.com

-------------------------Stage 1-------------------------

This is the original photo and the starting point for this project. As you can see this image is about right for the chosen to change in to a fantasy picture. There is a good colour plate with the model and woods around.

-------------------------Stage 2-------------------------

I did this by blurring the background and using a mask with a gradual filter on it. This gives great depth of field to an image with out the worry of getting it all wrong. The way I have done this is as follows.

To find the blur I have used go to Filter - Blur - Gaussian Blur then chose your own settings - for this image there is no right or wrong way of doing it so just blur until it looks good.

Then find the masking you go to a button of the Layer Pallet which is a square with a circle on the inside and then you click the white section that comes next to the image. When that is done you click the graduation button which is the white to black on the Tools Pallet. Make sure the White and Black's selected as this will give you an easy way to mask. I have added some images to help you out as this could be very confusing if you do not know Photoshop.

This is the image that is at the background picture. As you can see this gives a different feel to the image already and is looking different to the first as the blur makes it look very different. Which does not help to see the model and this will change later when we fix the model and the fore ground in the picture.

-------------------------Stage 3-------------------------

This was created with a free brush set which you can download called SS-Light Beams. This layer is actually created with 2 separate brushes - the light rays that are long and a short brust.

I changed the blending mode on the lighting layer to Vivid Light. Which has given the image the feel of the sun going thought leaves.

For more information on layer blend modes read this: http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-understand-blend-modes-in-photoshop/

-------------------------Stage 4-------------------------

This is two different layers which I made form the background image. The idea behind this is to place this image on the top of the layer stack. I use a Photoshop addon filter called ReMask which is made by Topaz Labs. This filter can mask detailed images quickly.  I will show you soon many ways that can make this work with and with out this filter.

I have taken the layer of the model and used the Overlay blend mode to give the feel of shadow's as the light hits the models back and the shadows fall to the floor.

-------------------------Stage 5-------------------------

This layer is going to be used for the shadows are was created by saturating all the colour out of the model and the tombstone out of all colour and light - which turns it black. I have also done a vertical flip on these people as well. To flip a layer your should: Edit - Transform - Vertical Flip.

The next part of it is to warp the image, moving it around and to make it look like the light is falling down in that area. The place for this is Edit - Transform - Warp. You can only move them in one way at a time. You will only know how it works when you play with it and that is the best way to find out how things work in Photoshop.

As you can see in this one I have added a blur to the warped shadow to give it a feel that it is someones shadows. I had also copied the tombstone so that it is so that the shadows look real. I have also moved it over a little bit so that there will be a halo effect on the tombstone. Which looks amazing with the shadows. I have also removed the feet so that it looks like there is no shadow there.

This is the same as before but I have changed the opacity I have not put a number as it could change per picture. So that you can see it on the floor as well I have also changed the Blending mode. They are both using Linear Light so that the shadow looks real and not like as If it was put in fake.

As you can see in this image that shadows look like it is part of the whole thing same with the model and the Blending that I have used.

-------------------------Stage 6-------------------------

This is a copy of the lighting group which I put on top so that there was some rays over the top of the model. I use a different amount of Opacity amount and a different Blending mode to get the light the way that it is looking on there. The mode that I picked was Hard Light this is done on the grouping not the items as it does it there itself.

-------------------------End result-------------------------

I am quite proud of this image. It's my first try and I think it turned out well. I would love to get some feedback so please do let me know what you think of the picture or if you need any help with the tutorial.

Please leave a comment at the bottom if you would like to know more.

Fantasy (Jungle queen)

This is the frist of many that I will be doing of a fantasy style shoot please tell me what you think...  There will be blog on how I have made this coming along soon..

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Version 1

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Final Version

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MWM Abney Park Cemetery

First post in a while

This is my first post where I will not be showing work that is to do with university just to a link to very least show that we are doing...

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vision-10/165460910182470?sk=wall

the rest of this is about the shoot I did least week in Abney Park Cemetery Trust, South Lodge.. Which you can see under this is just the behind the shoot the main photos are still to come Just I am working on them as we speak or read this as I should say..

Alice in London

This is some of my work that I have been doing as part of my university work.  This project is about updating the story that Lewis Carroll  wrote in 1863 for the Liddell children and then published in 1865.  I did this as a modern style with modern clothing and locations.  each one of these are the main point of the book.  I have put some quotes form the book to each picture as they are all linked with the story of Alice and the pictures that I have used.  There is a total of 12 photos in this project.

If you like to see all my work for this project and others please go to my website  This is the gallery page they are on http://gillbanksphotography.co.uk/gallery_417886.html

Small Traders - Irving Penn and how it has gave me an idea...

Irving Penn was a photographer that work in the 1940's all the way up too the 1990's and is one of the most respected photographers in the 20th century (American, born 1917).  He worked for Vogue magazine in the 1940's as was in a Paris photography college that had closed down.  He used one of the studio that had massive amounts of light coming in and took the picture on a Roller-flex camera.  This studio was rented by Vogue magazine for a fashion shoot.  Penn started this project in France Paris in the college.

He asked people how where local workers of a few know cities which are London, Paris and New York.  This project took a few years too shoot as well as a few years to print as in the late 1950's early 60's he was doing  platinum/palladium prints.  Which is metal printing on a sliver service.  The whole point of this project is to show workers and jobs that are no longer around or have changed so much since the 60 + years that this project was done.    

The way this project helped me out is that I had started looking in to 1950's glamor photography that was done back then.  The name Irving Penn come up and I then saw this project that he had done and bought the book as I loved the work.  I was then sitting in a lesson and saw something called Harman Direct Positive Paper which works the opposite way the film negative.  Which made me think that I could use this paper in stead of film as I will get a one off shoot of the person.

The way I have done the lighting is one soft box next to the camera.  The person that gave me this idea was Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.  This was because he use a larger format camera with a soft box for all his portraits and work he dose is in his home studio.  The one colour for the background has an even light to it. If you like to see his work please look at one of my blogs. Here is the link to that blog: -

http://gillbanksphotography.blogspot.com/2010/11/biography-timothy-greenfield-sanders.html

I realized that this would be impossible. I was using a larger format camera and a flash kit in stead of natural light.  So instead I used a 120 film (Medium format) and colour as there is alot of colour in a market. I have still keep in a studio that moved into a market stall it self so I do not take the stall workers away form the market or there stalls too long.  

Sites to find more information.
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/penn/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Penn