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adding a shadow


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limey

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I've searched the forums but can't quite find anything that fits the bill.
Usually you try to get rid of shadows in a photo but I want to add one. I'm adding another person to a group and want to get the shadow on one side of the face so that it blends in with the others.
I've tried using the burn tool but it doesn't look right.
 
Hard to say without actually seeing the photograph in question. This is one of those times when the quality of the finished product depends upon the source images used.
First off you will need to get the colour balance, brightness and contrast of the two images as near to matching as you can. Then you sample the qualities of the shadows on the image you are adding the person to. Then use that information to create shadows on the face of the "extra" person.
 
Thanks TaoBoogle, I'm with you up to the point where I'm matching the two images as close as I can but will need a bit more guidance with the rest of your info.
Could you step me through the sampling of the qualities and what I would use to create the shadows.
Thanks.
 
O could have spent more time on this, but this should give you an idea. (by the way, it should say 'inner shadow' in the instructions.
 
Thanks, I think I see a very faint shadow but mine would be a heavier one due to group being in the sun.
What did you do to create the shadow, what tools did you use etc.
 
As I said, it is hard to be more specific in your case without seeing the images. Ronmatt has given you a great example which should provide you with the "tools" to give it a go yourself.
If your images are private and you do not want to show them in a public place, I can understand that. Have you not got any other images you could publicly practice with? You would get a lot more useful help then, and you would be learning the practical way.
I'm off hunting/gathering now but if I have time when I get back I'll see if I can find a further example to illustrate the procedure, but I'm guessing I'll just be going over the ground Ronmatt has covered. :)
 
limey said:
I'm adding another person to a group and want to get the shadow on one side of the face so that it blends in with the others.
Click to expand...

That's not as easy as it might seem, because you quite obviously want to add the shadows to the face itself and this requires a good understanding about how facial features cast shadows. You will also have to take existing shadows and highlights in account and create your own highlights.

Sadly without an example it's difficult to give an advice that actually works for that particular image.
 
Ronmatt, Hi I missed your name on the post I was so busy looking at the example
I will attach a couple of the shots one is the whole picture which I don't think you will get much out of it it's so small and the other one is just a part of the pic hopefully you will see it better.
The face I'm working on is the one in the front without the hat. I've attempted a shadow with the Render filter, lighting effects but it's not very good.
Ronmatt in your example you said you used the Dodge Tool to enhance the shadows, I'm a little confused there. Doesn't the Dodge tool lighten an area, what tool did you use to darken the area to produce the shadow.
 
Limey .. this is a ‘rough and ready’ way of adding shadow …. Anyhow this is probably an easy one for the ‘beginner’ (which is me at times … lol .. ) ‘cos you can play with the brush colour (black/dark grey/ mid grey etc) play with the brush size, play with the gausian blur and (probably the best bit) play with the opacity until it looks good to you. Best for ‘distant face’ pics .. for close portraits I would suggest there are probably better methods … regards namvet
 
Thanks namvet that is just what I'm looking for, you laid it out so that I can understand it I'm a bit thick sometimes with this stuff.
I was going to mention something that I ran into during my attempts at creating the shadow that slipped my mind earlier.
When I was applying the Burn Tool to darken the area it changed it to a more orange tan colour instead of black.
Any idea why it would do that.
 
limey .. sorry, don't know much about the Burn Tool. I've neglected it for years 'cos I've never found much use for it.
 
ronmatt ... yep, that works too :righton: .. and that (imho) is the beauty of photoshop, it gives the 'operator' choices and it doesn't dictate/restrict ... so that the 'operator' can get the image the way they want .... and when they can't get the 'effect' they want, they can come here for help/guidance/assistance ...
 
Ronmatt, Namvet, great to offer members your suggestions in such great detail!? :righton:

So let me follow you example, but this make a different suggestion, which is to change the blending mode of the shadow layer to something like soft light, which will make the shadows look more natural.
Both shadows use 29% opacity.

The other example shows more clearly the effect of soft light; left is normal setting, the black line on the right is set to soft light.

Reg.
 
Yes, sometimes softlight, or overlay can give the right effect. This is the case because, believe it or not, shadows actually have slight amounts of color within them. Shadows do not produce color, but light does. Usualy the light source is a certain color or tint, but an object which the light is casting a shadow on is a different color. For example, you might have a natural blue light on an overcast day, and a person with skin tone. The shadow will then look brownish, or tan as well. Regular black, blurred shadows in PS tend to desaturate or washout with black. That is why it looks fake. To fix this, lighten up the shadow slightly, and give it a slight hue. Sometimes different blend modes will work, but not always. I hope you can understand.
 
Here is an example. I also added a highlight, but I used overlay for that.
 
Thanks Patrick, it's a very good example it sounds like there is no hard and fast way to produce a shadow it will require a lot of experimenting with lots of different methods.
 
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