A2 Photography Unit 3 - Out Of Place

Photoshop tasks

Image: Herbert Bayer - Lonely Metropolitan (1932)

September 2008
These tasks is are designed to show you some techniques that you may not be aware of in Photoshop. They all
also mimic techniques that you will have seen when you were researching you re boxes during the previous
sessions. All these techniques will be demonstrated using sample files but you should experiment with you re
own images and show example in your sketchbooks.

Task #1: Overlays, Blending Modes & Vignetting

These techniques are inspired by the work of Joel Peter Witkin and the distortion, scratches and destructive
technique he applies to his images.

1. To start open the Figure 02 file from the location below... Notes

M:Drive

Photography

Out Of Place folder

2. When it is open you will first need to make the image black and white.
You may already have a preferred method of doing this but if not go to...

Image

Adjust

Desaturate

3. Next you will need to add a texture layer. This is perhaps the most
important element in making the images look old and distorted. First open
the Scoured file form the location in step 1. You should have an image that
looks like some scanned scratched metal.

4. Using the Move tool drag this file into your Figure 02 file so it becomes a
layer on top of it (you should not be able to see the figure at this point)

5. Use the Edit and Transform command to resize the Scoured layer so that
it roughly fits over the image (you will need to zoom out to do this).

6. In the Layers palette find the Blending modes option - at this point it
will probably have the word Normal in it. Make sure you have the Scoured
layer selected and select Overlay from the drop down menu.
 Inspired by Joel Peter Witkin

7. You should now have a image that looks scratched and scuffed and even as Notes
though it was printed on metal.

8. You are now going to apply a filter to the image to give it a darkened,
blackened border - this is called vignetting. Go to...

Filter

Distort

Lens Correction

9. When the dialogue box opens find the Vignette option and drag both the
amount and midpoint option to the left - watch the image to see what hap-
pens. When you are happy with the result click OK.

10. You should now have an image that is beginning to emulate the same
look and feel of a Witkin. To move the image forward try some of these
other techniques...

• Use the Pencil tool at its smallest size to draw scratchy lines on the image.
If you do this on a new layer you can adjust the opacity, blending modes
and fill to make different effects.

• Use the Eraser tool to remove some of the texture or image. This is
particularly effective if you put a background colour behind the image and
use the Erasers Opacity option.

• Try scanning other textures (canvas, wood, plastic, paper, leaves - the
list is endless) and putting these over the top of images and adjusting the
Blending modes.

• Use other blending modes to get different effects. Some of them can be a
bit wacky and should be used with caution but good ones to try for subtle
effects are Darken, Multiply, Colour Burn, Linear Burn and Soft light.
Don’t forget all these can be applied to colour images too!

Task #2: Layers, Blending Modes & ghost images

These techniques are inspired by the work of Francessca Woodman and the ghostly, blurred imagery she
produced.

1. To start open the Warehouse file from the location below... Notes

M:Drive

Photography

Out Of Place folder

2. When it is open you will first need to make the image black and white.
You may already have a preferred method of doing this but if not go to...

Image

Adjust

Desaturate

3. Make the image a bit more dramatic by adjusting the Levels and
Brightness and Contrast.

4. Now open the Figure 01 file from the location we have being using. Crop
it down to remove the borders.

5. Drag the figure image into the warehouse file. In the Blending modes
options apply Screen to the figure. You should now have a ghost!

6. Adjust the Brightness and Contrast of the figure so that is more white
and stands out from the warehouse background.

7. Now you need to add a Motion blur to the figure to give it a bit more
otherwordlyness. Go to...

Filter

Blur

Motion blur
 Inspired by Francessca Woodman & Spiritualist photography

and play around with the settings until you get a result that you like. Click Notes
OK when you are done.

10. You should now have an image that is beginning to emulate the same
look and feel of a Woodman. To move the image forward try some of these
other techniques...

• Add a sepia tone to emulate old spiritualist photography. You will need to
flatten the image first (Layer - Flatten Image) by going to...

Image

Adjust

Photo Filter

And selecting Sepia from the menu. Adjust the Density and Luminosity
until you get a result you like.

• Experiment with the aging techniques we looked at in Task 1.

• Try adding white borders to the image. You can do this by using the Stroke
command or by scanning paper and placing the image on top of it. You can
use a file called Paper Scan on the M:Drive for this should you wish.

Task #3: Paste Into and layer masks

These techniques are inspired by the work of Rene Magritte and the Surrealist paintings he produced.

1. To start open the Flowers file from the location below... Notes

M:Drive

Photography

Out Of Place folder

2. The aim is to replace the flowers with an image of the sky. First duplicate
the layer using any method you are comfortable with.

3. On the top layer draw a rectangular marquee around all the flowers - get
this as close as you can to the edges.

4. When you have done this go to

Select

Inverse

And press Delete to clear the unwanted vase and background.

5. Use the Magic Wand tool to select the red flowers - you will need to get a
good selection around the edge of the image so you may want to have a few
goes at this.

6. Press delete. You will not notice any difference to the image as the
identical layer underneath makes the image look complete.

7. With the selection still in place open any of the Sky files from the location
on the M:Drive you have been using. When this is open use the Select All
command (by going to Select and then All in the menu bar of by pressing
CTRL and A on the keyboard) and then Copy the image.

8. Now go to...

Edit
 Inspired by Rene Magritte

Paste Into Notes

and you should now have the sky in place of the flowers.

9. You should now have an image that reassembles a Magritte painting.

10. If you have small bits if flowers left in your image you an delete these by
removing parts of the Layer mask in the layers palette. Click on the black
and white thumbnail in the Layers palette and use the eraser tool to remove
any unwanted parts.

11. To move the image forward try some of these other techniques...

• Use other images to create similar works to Magritte.

• Experiment with using the Paste Into command and Vector Masks which
can be found in the Layer palette.

Task #4: Experimenting with scanners

These techniques are inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell and the Surrealist boxes he produced.

1. To undertake this task you will need the following... Notes

A4 Cardboard Box (a old A4 pinhole camera is ideal).

A scanner.

A selection of objects that will fit inside the box.

2. Arrange the objects in a pleasing formation directly on the scanner glass.

3. Place the cardboard box over the top of the objects being careful not to
move them.

4. Scan the objects as normal.

5. When the scan has finished you should end up with a selection of objects
with an other worldly floating effect.

6. To move the image forward try some of these other techniques...

• Experiment with other objects

• Try layering the objects up in side the box by using cardboard cut outs,
acetate and other transparent objects.

• Introduce more lights sources by cutting or piercing holes in the box. Try
inserting lamps or fairy lights into the cardboard to create other effects.

inspired by Joseph Cornell

Notes