The aim in the end is to create a series of images based around the face cards from a deck of playing cards but with my own little Gothic alternative fashion twist.
Shoot 1 - Matteo - March 28th - Morning
First shoot of the project went smoothly enough. Modeling for me was Matteo who worked with me in my personal project in HND1. The lighting setup I chose to adopt was a two light setup using umbrella light adapters, a transparent umbrella set at 45 degrees from the model. The second light using silver reflector set parallel with the white backdrop to cast light across it.
Looking back, I am not overly happy at all with the background lighting which clearly was not exposed right, I think I should have moved the lights used on the backdrop further away so they would spread light more evenly. Plus, more importantly I feel the model looks rather flat and two dimensional which is less than desirable. However for most of these pictures I am planning to just cut out the model with the select and mask tool, replacing the background anyway. I am using images from these first two shoots mostly to experiment with and see what works and what doesn't. But they are still going to require a lot of work with dodging and burning to bring in more shape and detail into the model and his clothes.
Shoot 2 - Jacob - March 28th - Afternoon
Second shoot went better, I've worked with Jacob many times in the past, so by this point he has a good idea of what I want from him. He brought along a great selection of clothing to make several outfit changes. Variety is the spice of life. As with Matteo, and all subsequent models bar one, I had requested he bring along some garments that were red so that they would be colour matching for each card suit, black for aces and clubs, red for diamonds and hearts.
The lighting setup was still the same as with Matteo so I felt the same gripes with some of the results, the lack of three dimensional quality, flatness and lack of detail in the clothes. Again with shots where I initially included a noose hanging from above, I knew I wanted to remove it when reviewing the images in Bridge.
Making a start with editing. First steps I usually take are making several curve layers and adjusting the lightness in multiple areas for better and smoother highlights or to bring back some shadow in other areas. In this photo the lighting was a little flat on the model, however I am determined to make it work because it is defiantly my favorite pose he did. Normally the first step would actually be to remove any spots and blemishes but the model's face is pretty obscured so there was no point. Next step was removal of flyaway hairs. For this I created a new layer and with the stamp clone tool, stamped out most flyaway hairs for a nice cleaner look. After that, removing the subject from the background using the select and mask tool. In the final image I want the background to be perfectly white so I chose to replace the original with a solid white colour layer mask. After some other adjustments to the colour tones and saturation, I take the image of the model and place it on the mock up template of a playing card I made earlier. To make it look more interesting an to hide to cover up where the image of the model just stops I wanted to add an effect on top where the model image looks like it is ripped, deteriorated or fading in some ways around the edge, I found a black paint stroke png file with good scratchy edges that was perfect to use, placing it on top of the model image layer. Having the model image layer selected then pressing ctrl then right clicking on the brush stroke image a selection is created around the edge line but copied onto the model image layer, then making a layer mask based around the brush stroke image. The original brush stroke layer can now be deleted. So now I have a much cooler looking playing card image. Some more improvements to be made but I think the elements are coming together nicely.
Shoot 3 - Tink - April 28th - Morning
I went into this shoot with a new game plan after being unhappy with the lighting in the previous two shoots. Replacing the two umbrellas, I brought in three different soft boxes. The Octagonal honeycomb softbox as the main light, a large rectangle softbox to illuminate from behind and make the model look more thee dimensional, and a long narrow softbox to shine on the backdrop. I was very pleased with these results and kept this set up on subsequent shoots. Sometimes bringing in a white polyboard just to reflect a little more light.
Shoot 4 - Meg - April 28th - Afternoon
My partner Meg came into pose as a face I wanted featured in the ace of spades card. For her I wanted something special so requested her makeup resemble something like the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead Sugarskull design along mixed with makeup styles by a few musical artists like the lead singer of Swedish rock band Ghost, and professional wrestler Darby Allin.
Shoot 5 - Myself - April 28th - Afternoon
Shoot - 6 - Sarah - May 3rd - Midday
Shoot 7 - Hannah - May 11th - Morning
The shoot started with a mild panic after realizing I had made an error in booking the studio space, thinking I had booked the slot for Thursday May 11th when I had actually selected the slot for Thursday May 18th. Thankfully one student didn't turn up to use their booked slot, freeing it up for me, so disaster was avoid.
Shoot 8 - Lou - May 11th - Afternoon
...extra bits
Adding Texture
When I showed my early mock up image to my model Sarah after we finished our shoot, she also has a background in photography. We both agreed that as it was there was too much blank negative space around the portrait and adding a separate layer of an image with an interesting texture would tie it all together better. So I pulled out my favorite leather jacket and spotted a nice section on the right breast that had lovely ripples and creases that would work as a nice backdrop to the portraits which could be appropriately blended on top.
The Process
After making several adjustments to the curve and level layers, sometimes the hue and saturation as well, I decided to ditch the idea of selecting and masking the model from the background as the process was a bit too fiddly, especially when trying to neatly select an area around the model's hair which would take up a lot of time, and since the majority of my models all have big untamed hair, this would be too much time lost. So, as a compromise I simply laid down a light grey colour layer and blended it around the model, a much quicker process and one I was able to recreate easily on all shots.
The next stage is placing a template of the card suit symbol top of the portrait. Then on top of that we add another layer of a png brush stroke to create our ripped up/scratchy edging around the portrait and have it come through the centre of the suit symbol. By having the symbol layer selected and then holding shit and clicking of the brush stroke layer, the brush stroke area will become selected, then creating new inverted layer mask on the symbol layer, the area under the brush stroke will be created in the layer mask, revealing the portrait underneath. Then after I flatten that into one image I can drag it onto my card template. I create two copies of the portrait. I set the blend mode of the first to screen, this brings out the leather textures through the image. The blend mode of the copy is left on normal but added on is a negative layer mask, then I brush in the details of the model's face and other areas that are lost in the screen layer. And that is pretty much is.
