Welcome to Oz 2.0: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop

309 Pages·2010·13.21 MB·English

by  Vincent Versace

vincent versace
welcome Oz 2.0
to
A Cinematic Approach to
Digital Still Photography with Photoshop
WELCOME TO OZ 2.0
A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop
Vincent Versace
New Riders
1249 Eighth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510/524-2178
510/524-2221 (fax)
Find us on the Web at: www.newriders.com
To report errors, please send a note to [email protected]
New Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education
Copyright © 2011 by Vincent Versace
Notice of Rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For
information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected].
Notice of Liability
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without warranty. While every precaution has been
taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity
with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained
in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.
Trademarks
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks.
Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear
as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book
are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the
trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with
this book.
ISBN 13: 978-0-321-71476-3
ISBN 10: 0-321-71476-8
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound in the United States of America
To my Father.
Thank you for giving me the childhood you dreamed of.
And
To Tad Z. Danielewski and Sydney Walker.
Thank you for always being the broom that swept clean and
thank you for teaching me about the gift of giving.
And
To my brother Lane.
I could not have asked for and gotten a better friend than you.
I miss you more than there are words in the universe.
Acknowledgments
From a grain of sand the pearl comes. To Ted Waitt, my editor at Peachpit Press: This book is
—Confucius finally done. Thank you for fighting the good fight for me, and
thank you for keeping me safe.
Once again, what I have learned is that writing a book is a To everyone at Peachpit Press: Thank you for your hard
collaborative process after which I get all the credit. Which is work and efforts to make this book happen.
cool, but… To Bert Monroy, David duChemin and Jay Maisel: Thank
This book simply would not be this book if it were not for you for allowing me to talk you into writing the foreword and
the draconian editorial diligence of Edna A. Elfont, Ph. D., and afterwords of this book, though I suspect you may have done
the scientific diligence of Lawrence B. Coleman Ph. D., Profes- it simply to shut me up.
sor of Physics at the University of California at Davis. When To John Paul Caponigro and R. Mac Holbert: Thank you
you read this book and you find that the thoughts are clear, for being the best examples of perfect practice I have ever met.
concise, easy to understand, and make sense, trust me: that’s My technique is so much smoother and cleaner because
all Edna. of you.
If it were not for Professor Coleman’s kind and gentle To Ed Sanchez and Mike Slater of Nik Software: Thank you
criticisms, his incredible insights and explanations that made for keeping the company so alive and on the edge of technol-
me see the light when I was scientifically out of my mind, ogy. Thank you for providing three of the “crown jewels” for
this book would be far less of a book. This book’s scientific this book. Your friendship outside of work is cherished.
strength is powered by a beautiful mind. Thank you, Profes- Nils Kokemohr (the N, i and k of Nik Software): You are
sor. I know you had better things to do in your free time. Your the smartest human I know. Your software makes my life and
gift to me is not lost. me more creative than I could have ever imagined.
I am the photographer I am today because of CJ Elfont. To Josh “the boy wonder” Haftel of Nik Software: You
Also, the technical photographic accuracy of this book would never sleep, and that’s a good thing for all of us who use the
not be what it is if it were not for CJ’s intervention. Without products you manage.
CJ (and Edna too), I would not be an artist, I would not be a To Joe Sliger of Wacom: If it were not for you, the tablet
photographer; I would be someone else—certainly not the presets that are part of this book would not have happened.
person who could ever have written this book. To Mike Wong and Dan Harlacher of onOne software:
To Sean Dyroff: You truly are a Super Hero with “spidey” Thank you for providing FocalPoint 2.0 for this book and con-
powers. You laid out this book, tech edited it, fixed every stantly reiterating Genuine Fractals. Most importantly, thank
one of my actions, and answered every one of my Photoshop you for believing that whenever possible, our business meet-
questions, all while going to graduate school. Bravo! ings must take place at Splash Mountain at Disneyworld.
To Mark Jaress: Thank you for being the person who To Joseph G Hirschberg, Ph. D., Professor Emeritus, Uni-
taught me Photoshop. Thank you, thank you, thank you… versity of Miami, Department of Physics: Thank you for send-
To Fatima Nejame: Thank you for talking me in to teach- ing me down this path. I never would have gotten on this ride
ing, thank you for all of the wonderful places you have asked were it not for you. Thank you for teaching me the difference
me to go and teach, and thank you for being my friend. I re- between real and virtual, accurate and precise, how to bend
ally like seeing the world through a camera with you. light with a spoon, and the conversations we had about the
iv Welcome to Oz 2.0
science of art in Burma. Thank you for asking me “Does light into everything else. A day has not gone by that I have not
travel in a straight line?” and when I said “Yes,” telling me, reflected on what I learned in your kitchen. Thanks also to
“Not according to Einstein.” your entire staff for so generously sharing their knowledge.
To Dr. Adrian Cohen: You are the standard I try to live up To my sister Eve and my mother, I really did win the
to in all my deeds. relative lottery.
To Challen Cates: Thank you for all the time you spent sit- And once again to my wife, Sylvia, who had to suffer
ting in front of my camera waiting for me to get it right. As through the rewriting of this book. You have kept me calm
they did in the first book, the images of you make for a much when I was anything but. I am so lucky that you still have
nicer looking book. questionable taste in men.
To Dave Moser and Scott Kelby: The day you asked me to To Vanilla Gelato, Wasa Cinnamon Crackers, and Café
be a part of the National Association of Photoshop Profes- Americano: Every section in this book was celebrated by
sionals is the day that led to this book. I never have been having one of each.
more proud to belong to an organization than I am to belong Oh… I almost forgot, Prrrl j. Cat, the fur person. Thank
to NAPP. you for sitting on my keyboard and reminding me when it was
To Dan Steinhardt of Epson: Thank you again for provid- time to rest.
ing me with your unfailing support even when I was/am a
complete pain in the ass. Because of you, once again, another
pocket of time was created in which I could create this book.
To Nancy Carr of Kodak; Vincent Park and Anthony
Ruotolo of American Photo Magazine; Ed Sanchez and Mike
Slater of Nik Software; Peter Poremba of Dyna-Lite; Fabia
Ochoa of Epson; Tadashi Nakayama, Makoto “Mike” Kimura,
Naoki “Santa Claus” Tomino, Jeff Mitchell, and Mike Corrado
of Nikon; Liz Quinlisk and Thomas Kunz of X-Rite, Jeff Cable
of Lexar; and Richard Rabinowitz: Without all of your faith
and support over the years, I would never have had the career
that I do.
To Marc Vanocur of Shout Softly Films: Thank you for
making my madness look professional.
To Toby, Sally, Adam, and Jamie Rosenblatt: Were it not for
you, I would have stopped being a photographer.
To Chef John Fraser of Dovetail Restaurant in New York
City: The week I spent in your kitchen studying reminded
me of the importance of being attentive to detail in my work.
Everything matters when you create; everything dovetails
Acknowledgments v
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Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii Chapter 3: Image Harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi Recreating What the Eye Saw ......................178
From Many to One: Creating the
Chapter 1: The Tao of Dynamic Workflow . . . . . . . . .3 Composite Image ..............................183
Being Selective with Contrast, Tonal Contrast,
Revisiting Shibumi: The Art of Perfect Practice ......... 4
and Sharpening ...............................203
Setting up Photoshop for a
Expanding Your Vision ............................223
Non-Destructive Workflow ....................... 8
Set Up a Non-Destructive Workflow and
Chapter 4: The Unwitting Ally 2 .0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Create a Custom Workspace ...................... 10
Practicing at Practicing: Image Maps ................. 13 On Light, Color, Shape, and Gesture ................226
The Relationship of Light to Dark ................... 16 Creating a Single Image ...........................233
Creating the Illusion of DOF on Pixel Layers .......... 45 The Dance of Aesthetics ..........................252
Light Changes Ahead .............................. 72 Seeing the Light of Traveling at
Let There Be Render Light .......................... 80 the Speed of Dark .............................267
Final Fine Tuning Color Corrections Children Play, They Don’t Take Notes.
and Adjustments ..............................109 Adults Take Notes and Don’t Play as Much
The Transformation Is Complete ...................117 as They Should ...............................275
Chapter 2: Classic Studio Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Afterword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Creating Stardust ................................120
Measure Twice, Cut Once .........................122 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
The Die Is Cast ..................................174
Contents vii
Foreword
Through the years, I have come to know Vincent Versace fairly to combine multiple images to create that single, perfect shot.
well. We have travelled to foreign lands together and share Vincent clearly holds your hand through all the processes
memories of many good times. I have found that no matter necessary to bring your vision to life.
what the subject of conversation is, he has an opinion. He can He does this in a way that is highly informative yet easy
be funny, sarcastic, and irreverent, but steer the topic towards to understand. You might say it is even entertaining. Vincent
photography and art and a different Vincent Versace presents riddles the chapters with little insights and bits of infor-
himself. He becomes serious and focused. The subject touches mation that help you completely grasp the concepts being
a nerve deep within the soul of this man, and Vincent be- discussed. Whether the subject is setting up a reflector or
comes immersed in a passion that easily becomes contagious. combining multiple HDR images, you walk away with the
Vincent is a great photographer, but a better description satisfaction of successfully having added a new set of skills to
would be—Artist. Give the average couch potato with little your repertoire.
drive or ambition the most complete set of brushes, paints, Each subject is tackled with the same passionate intensity
and canvases that money can buy, and what will you get in re- that Vincent Versace employs in the creation of his work. No
turn? Not much. Give an artist a worn piece of chalk and what stone is left unturned. You get every side of the story. You get
will you get? You will get something that will capture your all the tools you need to do whatever your creative imagina-
soul. Vincent does not just take a picture, he feels the image. tion can conjure.
It is obvious when looking at his work that, once he has been The camera and Photoshop, in the hands of an artist, go
inspired, he will go to great lengths to perfect the end result far beyond that “worn piece of chalk.” We live in a world that
so that it will then inspire you. has become a media frenzy. We can’t walk down the street or
Vincent is a talented and gifted artist, but his greatest pick up a magazine without being bombarded with tons of
talent and gift is his ability and desire to teach. It is this side chaotic imagery, a plethora of images all fighting for atten-
of the man that makes this book such an important piece tion to sell you this or that—a dizzying array of colors, styles,
of work. and subjects that can make you scream! Every now and then
Vision is something that lies within all of us. We all something stands out. Something catches your eye and says,
possess the ability to be creative. Whether we pursue this “Look at me for a while.” What is it about that “something”
creative instinct is a matter of personal choice. There is a that makes it different? More often than not it is the fact that
rewarding warmth that comforts the soul once you have the person who created the work had more in mind than just
been inspired and then create something tangible that can be grabbing your attention. They wanted to reach out and touch
shared with others. In this book, Vinnie teaches you how to you—not just capture your attention but hold it for a while.
transcend the limitations of the photographic medium that Whether the intent is to soothe you or excite you into action,
keep you from realizing your vision. He teaches you how to how that image has been presented makes all the difference
create the mood through proper lighting. He shows you how in the world.
viii Welcome to Oz 2.0
Take, for example, the fact that there are millions of pic-
tures of flowers out there. What makes one stand out above
the rest? Is it the color? Is it the composition? Is it the sur-
roundings? It is all of these things and more. It is the emotion
that the flower stirred in the person at the moment of cap-
ture. It is how well that person was able to convey that emo-
tion via their image. It is the passion and hard work that the
person put into making that final image to share with others.
It is the eye and skill of the artist.
This book will train you to see the world through the wide
open eyes of an artist. It will then give you the skills that you
need to take what your eyes see and convert it into a work of
art for the rest of us to enjoy. The skills go far beyond those
taught in other books of this genre. Many Photoshop books
will teach you what the tools do, but how many teach you
when and why to use them?
What do you look for? What does that shot need to
make it terrific? How do you plan your workflow? Sound
overwhelming? Vincent holds your hand through the entire
process. He challenges you while comforting you at the same
time. He gives you the means to do great work. All you need
to do is read this book and feel the passion and desire to be an
artist. Sound easy? No! It is not. But, if you are up to the chal-
lenge, if you feel that burning desire to be the best you can be,
this book is your ultimate weapon. If you think you are pretty
good at what you do, here is your chance to be great.
Learn from a true master of the art. The rest is up to you.
—Bert Monroy
Foreword ix