 Every so often I create something I’m proud of which is so subtle that many viewers will not even notice my work. Digitally-modified photography, popularly referred to as a picture that’s been “airbrushed” or “Photoshopped” is so common that an original unmodified image has become the rare exception. Many of these modified photos are created by inexperienced users. The poor-quality results are often viewed by those with so little understanding of this process that they don’t realize an “airbrushed” image has almost certainly NOT been retouched with an actual airbrush (an air -powered tool that sprays a very fine stream of liquid pigment).
The human eye is very adept at spotting unnatural variations in light, shadow, or color. While many viewers aren’t aware of the technical deficiencies of the modified photos they see, they do have the sense that the photo looks “funny”, or “just a little off”. It takes experience and attention to detail to create a digital image that does not immediately appear unnatural to the viewer. I earned the title Prince of Shadows while working on a project that required me to build a number of drop-shadows using excellent photography of expensive jewelry. My final images were used in a catalog that was (despite the fact that I did not design it) very well designed. My altered photos were used alongside photos that were essentially unmodified which gave the viewer a consistent reference point for natural lighting. Because this was going to be the case, I took extra care to make my images look as natural as possible. The pearl necklace in this photo was shot on a piece of textured paper. The white field at the bottom of the photo was added with Photoshop and it was my responsibility to rebuild the shadow to look as though it continues naturally. These photos show the individual parts of the shadow that it was necessary to build. Each spot of black that was added as I built the shadow was shaped to match a particular part of the necklace. I feathered the edges and adjusted the opacity by trial-and-error until that section of the necklace, or individual pearl, looked as though it was casting a natural shadow. Photoshop offers native functions to create shadows, and any number of third-party plug-ins are available to make this kind of task go more quickly. In some instances, this image included, the time that might be saved using a canned function to produce a mediocre shadow was not worth the sacrifice in quality. |
|  Step 1 – The Original Photo
|  Step 2 – Adding the White Field
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