Sometimes I amuse myself how I take my bed shoots to a whole new level. The white bed seems to be my favorite canvas. When a model can just play on the bed, my mind starts to play with ideas. Here is a little more in depth look at the process. This method of composite is exactly how movie special effects are done. Think “300″ the movie where everything was shot on a green screen. Even evening scenes are taken at normal lighting and later adjusted digitally. The advantage of shooting in normal lighting is being able to focus and being able to control with accuracy the lighting in post processing.

Naughty poses are fun. Bad kitty, bad!

Royalty free stock images can be found online. Here I create a mask for the model.

Another stock image of a tree trunk with same mask copied.

Foliage image resampled many times for layered effect. Add depth by adding blur to different layers.

Foreground layer blurred even more.

All the layers combined with desaturation and curves applied. Notice I also blurred the background for greater focus on the mode, as well as added a highlight to her right side.

Three layers here. One layer with dust speckles. One layer with lens flare. One layer with a few areas of white with zoom motion blur applied about 20 times.

The final image with more lighting and color adjustments, added a soft texture to the whole image, and added scratches to the bark.

I feel like most kids nowadays think you can just buy a few actions, use a few filters, and get any result you want. For purist photographers, they refuse to use any post processing at all, which is good for them, but they better produce great quality photos to begin with, instead of using the purist attitude as an excuse for their mediocre images. I rely heavily on post processing, but I am also a visual artist and designer, I like to, and can, create images. Being experienced at Photoshop doesn’t just mean you’re able to apply a random combination of filters to an image to create a cool effect. It means you have a goal, an image or visualization in your mind and you know exactly what combination of tools in the software to get you there. To be successful in digital art, you need a solid background and knowledge in visual arts, computer graphics, 3D modeling or sculting, anatomy, and lighting.  I’m not purely a photographer, nor am I purely an illustrator, I am a relatively new breed of digital artist that combines both skills into one medium.

If you would like to see some of my before and after post processed photos, click on the link below.

Before + After