You guys are the greatest. Thanks for all the wonderful comments on "Cirque de Sorrow" and the previous uploads. Like "Cirque de Sorrow," this is an image that deals with dreams, alienation and the unconscious. Please see the first comment below for a discussion of some of the Layer and Adjustment Layer techniques used in this and my other composites. And thanks again for the comments. They mean a great deal to me! --jim
Hi Jim. Very intense shot. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. Technically, I miss a striking shadow under the person, as he appears to float a bit. The figures of the spirits in the shadows seem vaguely familiar. Very creative work.
Though I belong to a different culture where the greek mythology is not as prominent, I still can feel the "blues" conveyed in this "dream." Thank you for your generous reveal of what is still considered "top confidential" secrets of PS artists. Regards.
Fantastic composition, color toning and image expression, Jim. Excellent text, I also work a lot with layers in PS7 and CS and I've started with PS1 as well and a program called Picture Publisher (Micrografix), which was extremely user-friendly and actually introduced the concept of layers for bitmaps before PS! As I grew more in the use of PS I dropped PicPub on its version 5, I saw no reason to use both. It still exists, and it's more expensive than PS. Regards! ..... Lucas
I like your work so very much, so much to look at, so much to ponder about. The devilish characters on the wall flying aaway.. hmmmm.. The color are just my kind. This is excellent once again.
I like the idea and realization of dreams/sprits rising in the shadows on the wall, and your blues certainly in a good choice for this theme if maybe overwhelming here. What it is a little difficult for me in the image is that I can't identify anything that I can say for sure is actually a photo. The thing I am most certain about is actually some of the textures closely followed by the details on the wall. The figure looks very CG and I'm not sure why this bothers me - it would seem like an appropriate symbol for dreams if you want to think of the brain as the machine producing this imagery.
The 101 is helpful, but I see this big lump under the rug :-) It is a bit like explaining how in order to build a house you will need a hammer, a level, nails and planks. The rest is details and experience... I guess it is more of a hint of what lies under the surface, and as such it works well.
Jim, A few people have commented on my PS skills ~ they're very kind!!! But when I read the likes of what you've written above, (and I did ~ every word!), I realise that I'm only just touching the surface of this amazing piece of software! And that's as far as I'm likely to get, as this is just a 'hobby' for me, passionate though I am about it. Your level of skill and technique is amazing, but what's even better is your willingness to share a little of that knowledge, freely and generously, with the likes of us mere mortals through the miracle of the internet and a site like Usefilm. As well as producing thought-provoking and inspirational images like this one, you take the time to tell us a bit about the why and how of it all. You're a scholar and a gentleman! I this field, you're one of my great role models. Thanks for all you contribute to this great community. And thanks for another great image. Kind regards, Chris
Jim, a colored dream! A dim and soft blue...who said dreams cannot be colorful? I love the tiny little window. It makes me wonder what is behind it. Is it another dream or reality? By the way, thank you for your comment on my "Her world"! It is a major compliment coming from you.
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john amore{K:14015} 3/3/2004
Jim this a very clever and a great composition and I bet even Carl Young would be proud well done John
Where would drama be without such tragic characters as Oedipus, Hamlet and Citizen Kane whose lives are warped by dark, unconscious motives? Actually, to find lives warped by dark, unconscious motives, I just glance at my Rolidex. Perhaps even the mirror.
For some, there's doubtless an uncomfortable analogy between the twisted depths of the unconscious and Photoshop's complicated Layer menus.
To fully appreciate the hidden power of PS Layers, you probably had to be there for PS 1 and 2 when 8MB of RAM cost more than a new computer and a 20 MB -- yes, that's Mega, not Giga -- HD was something only the economically advantaged could consider.
PS had just one Layer then -- the Background Layer. If you adjusted the contrast, curves or color balance, the changes were permanent as soon as you saved the document -- much like adjusting print contrast or color balance in the darkroom. The same went for combining images. Yes, it was theoretically possible to save multiple versions -- V1, V2, V3, etc. -- so that you could later revert. But, in practice, even a couple of medium-resolution PS files were enough to fill a state-of-the-art HD.
If you've never worked with PS Layers, there's an easy way to visualize them. Just think of each PS "image" Layer as the equivalent of an enlarger carrier loaded with a negative or transparency. The Adjustment Layers are Photoshop's version of darkroom accessories such as variable contrast filters and color correction filters.
Today, in a single PS file you its very easy to have dozens of image Layers, each with a constellation of non-destructive Adjustment Layers -- with "non-destructive" being the operative adjective.
The whole point of Adjustment Layers is that you can return at anytime and tweak the settings. PS applies the changes WITHOUT permanently affecting a single pixel of the underlying image Layer.
Having struggled mightily to make composites in PS 1 and 2, I sometimes have to remind myself I'm not dreaming when I fire up PS today and see the Layers Palette of a typical project containing several dozen image Layers, each with two or three nested Adjustment Layers.
In PS 7, the Layer>New Adjustment Layer menu offers 11 non-destructive ways of controlling the color, brightness, contrast and density of either an individual image Layer or an entire image with all its Layers. The Layer>Layer Style menu provides another 10 or 11 stylistic options like Drop Shadow, Bevel and Emboss, Pattern Overlay and Stroke.
In my work, there are two Adjustment Layers which I apply to almost every image Layer that I create: Curves and Hue/Saturation. These two Adjustment Layers, plus the Unsharp Mask located under the Filters>Sharpen menu, are the only PS filters many photographers will ever want or need. But they are merely the tip of the PS iceberg.
With Curves, you can tweak image density in incredibly wonderful ways such as adding detail to both blown-out highlights and blocked-up shadows. The Hue/Sat Adjustment Layer is like having an entire color darkroom in a single software panel. You can adjust image hues and their intensity with absolute ease and precision.
There was a time when I made Cibachrome display prints for my portfolio. The color adjustments for each print required many hours experimenting with test strips and incremental color filter adjustments. The same thing can now be done, with infinitely greater accuracy, in 10 or 20 seconds with the Hue/Sat sliders.
There is, of course, one downside to all this power.
It's very easy to get in over your head very fast. By this, I mean that you start doing things in PS that you don't really understand. Then, sooner or latter, you reach a dead end and you lose control of your file. Unpredictable things happen, or, worst of all, nothing happens.
You try to make a selection, run a filter, modify a Layer and nothing, absolutely nothing works the way it should. If you haven't been there, you haven't seriously worked in PS. When you get hopelessly mired, put the project aside for a few weeks, or a few months. Chances are that by the time you return, you'll have learned enough to sort it out.
When things don't work as they should when working with PS Layers, there are a couple places you should immediately look.
The first is for a "hidden selection." If your selection tools won't select, your paint brush won't paint, or your cloning tool won't clone, nine times out of 10, it's because somewhere on some unnoticed layer, you have a few pixels selected that you've forgotten about, or perhaps never even knew about in the first place. The solution is simply to hit Command-D to clear any unseen selections and move on.
If Command-D doesn't work, then another likely scenario is that you have the WRONG layer active in the Layers Palette. Check very carefully to see which Layer is truly selected. Often, you'll discover you've activated an Adjustment Layer, when what you are trying to do is edit the image Layer it modifies.
The advent of Layer Masks has added a new dimension to this problem. When you use Layer Masks, each individual image or Adjustment Layer has two window thumbnails. If you have the wrong window selected, nothing will work as it should -- even though a quick glance at the Layer Palette will confirm that the proper Layer IS active. Well, that's true. But when using Layer Masks, you must not only activate the proper Layer in the Layers Palette, you must also click on the proper window thumbnail as well.
The downside of Layers, then, is their complexity. It takes concerted effort to get the knack of using them. The upside is the almost unlimited creative power Layers afford.
In a strange way, working with Layers can come close to duplicating the delicious anticipation that some photographers report when watching a latent image slowly materialize in the red glow of the dark room. You saw the image in your mind's eye, through the viewfinder and, finally, in inverted form as you exposed your print through the enlarging lens. But none of these glimpses are the same as the thrill, or disappointment, of watching a photographic print as it reveals itself in the developing solution.
When assembling a composite photo, there can be much the same sense of anticipation. Compositing in Layers is the final step in a long process that begins with a visualization how the final print will look and may move through steps that include studio photography and computer graphics. The culmination is a sense of palpable excitement as Layers blend and merge and it becomes evident whether the final result ignites the imagination, or misses the mark.
Sophocles, Shakespeare and Orson Wells continue to fascinate because their best work plumbs the psyche revealing eternal truths. Photography promises a similar potential to turn the camera inward in ways that explore hidden thoughts and motives. PS Layers is a powerful accomplice on the journey. --jim
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{K:65398} 3/4/2004
