In searching to see what got me excited again, I started looking at works by Brooke Shaden, Joel Grimes and other conceptual & composite image photographers. But the true moment of clarity came when I stumbled upon Phlearn. Phlearn and the teachings of Aaron Nace were like a breath of fresh air. He's teaching style and all in one format was great. His tutorials and images quickly inspired. I knew that if I took sometime to learn some of what he was teaching, I would have a new outlet to express my photography. Did I mention just a few years back when I was learning skin retouching I promised myself that was hard enough and I would stop there. However, thankfully Aaron brings a level headed well balanced teaching approach that makes Photoshop seem rather approachable and even easy at some junctures. After watching Aaron do his Photoshop thing, it also lead me to seek out other photo manipulators. This search also led me to the work of the very talented Calvin Hollywood and Glyn Dewis. These guys are like the special forces when it comes to creating surreal photo composite images.
Recently I have been faced with some down days in my life. I'm not the type of person to call a meeting and have a crying, hand holding and hugging session. But like all people we need to find a way to express ourselves. I found solace in starting a project52. With my project 52 I will take one photo a week for one year. At the same time that I started this project 52 I also picked up Glyn Dewis new book The Photoshop Work Book. This book is filled with some of Glyn's awesome images. All of the included images are broken down in detail from start to finish. Glyn also has several companion videos on his youtube channel. Armed with these newly acquired Photoshop tools, and the pain I was carrying around, it was time to put pen to paper.
I've studied and played around with many of the Phlearn tutorials, maybe even worked a few of them all the way out from start to finish, but never whole hardheartedly worked on bringing one of my own visions to life.
With so much pain of loss and despair going around in my head I wanted to convey this in my image. I came across a photographer Michael Herb Michael Herb Photography on Flickr. He had an image in my eyes that captured everything I was feeling at that time. Michael Herb is a super talented photographer who has more talent in his Wacom stylus than I have in my entire body. He seems to be a really cool guy. I wrote him and explained how his image encouraged and inspired me, and he showed nothing but love in his response.
To start my first full composite image I would need to take an image that captured the emotions Rumbling around in my head. So with no Model Mayhem, I settled on the only model who could really capture what I was feeling, myself.
Next I would need to remove my self from the background. If you have access to any of Scott Kelbly's books he has a great short and simple video which really made me think differently about the pen tool. Aaron Nace gives several explanations of the pen tool and how to use it, but seeing the short Scott Kelby video really made me think about using it. The tool is scary and foreign at first, but once you get the hang out it, you will probably want to use it for most cutouts.
With the look and feel I had to also find a matching suitable background. That also was made possible via Michael Herb. Please checkout his companion website layerJunkie for all of your composite image needs. He has a good selection of sky images, fire, backgrounds and textures. This dark ominous sky fit my current situation to the letter, and after seeing his image knew that I needed the same or similar background.
Next was to add myself to this sky scene. Which from this first picture that the lighting on me totally does not match this dark and dreary backdrop. I'm still very new at this but playing around with some hue/saturation & levels adjustments did the trick
Even with the hue and saturation levels adjusted. This picture still needed something else. Unfortunately Michael Herb didn't have rain brushes on his site, but I was able to find some on Deviant art. However, most of these brushes still just did not give me what I wanted, so I was forced to search and learn how to create my own rain brush. I believe that while creating these types of images learning one thing leads to another and so on. This actually adds to the excitement of creating these images. It also keeps you in a constant state of learning and discovery. With a few more nips and tucks the image was complete. My first full composite was complete. I cannot take credit and say that the conception was mine, but the feeling and emotion behind the shoot was. As most photographers we tend to imitate, assimilate and hopefully we can move on to the innovation stage. I myself have a project in mind which is a wicked mixture of both.
During this project I've learned that personal work will often be the work that moves people. I've been on Flickr for well over 6 years. In that time I believe the most views I have ever got on the life of a picture may have been a thousand. Those pictures are all mostly pictures of lovely young ladies in typical beauty situations. This self image born of emotion an creative emptiness made Flickr explorer with well over 5000 views in one day. So, when your favorite photographer tells you that you should always try to fit time in or work on personal projects you really should. You never know what or where working on what really drives you and gets your fire burning will take you. Please keep shooting, learning and growing
Link to Full Size Image on Flickr: Weathering The Storm
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