al pasar de los años (As Time Goes By)

I'm not sure about these Antonio, they're certainly different. I think that the faces would stand on their own without the "dressing". They look like great portraits with plenty of detail and I'd actually like to see them as you took them. I think from a novelty point of view, the first one works the best for me!
 
Knowing what I do from your earlier portrait series about this man adds to the emotions I feel when I look at these. I don't think I need to explain it and I think I'd probably feel the story, even if I didn't know it. I'm not sure if that makes sense to anyone else but me. I think they tell his story well. I admire you for your creativity, Antonio!
 
Thank you all for your kind comments. I really appreciate them.

Christina, the original portraits can be seen here:Words/No words: black and white, or monochrome photos of people

Bill, there's no need to spend too many hours figuring this out. It's basically two images loaded into layers in Photoshop CS4. The B&W portrait is the top layer. Opacity is set at 50% and the layer mask is painted over (with a fuzzy brush) so that only the face is visible.

Again, thank you all.

Regards,

Antonio
 
Hello again Antonio. Thanks for the link, I had missed a whole page of people's photos as I think I was in Spain then. Interestingly, the portrait that I like best is number 3 because it shows such vulnerability. Number four is the one superimposed on your first pic which is the one I liked best of this set! Many intelligent people become schizophrenic and perhaps this man did once hold a very responsible job. I think I'll change my mind now, knowing his story, and choose number two as my favourite as this shows him shut out of society.
 
Antonio,
I hear tell there's a place on the net that does some kind of Image Quest.
These images are perfect for the current one.
I'm not sure where it is and I've never actually seen it but if you look, you'll find you way home.
Dunno for sure, just a thought.
Don
 
time goes by

5232591291_fab59b2149_z.jpg

LX5
 
Antonio, is it possible to explain briefly how you superimposed one picture over another? I'm using LR3 and I can't see any way to merge two separate pictures. Would I need a special program to do that? Thanks.
 
Traam, I keep forgetting about that!!

I am 99% sure that Antonio used Photoshop, but don't quote me. I know he has Photoshop and is extremely talented at using it. I'm sure he'll come back on and give us our answers - if not, I'll send him a note by cyber carrier pigeon.
 
Christina,

I am not familiar with Lightroom, but I believe it does not support layers. If that is the case, the method I utilized would not work.

The photographs were processed using Photoshop CS4. The process was roughly as follows:

1. In Adobe Bridge, the two photographs (background and portrait) were selected and loaded into Photoshop layers (in the menu bar above, select Tools > Photoshop > Load into Layers. This opens Photoshop.

2. The top layer should be the portrait. Opacity for the layer is set at 50%.

3. In the menu bar above, select Image > Canvas Size. Increase the canvas size, so that you have free space around the images. This way, using the move tool, you can move the top image relative to the background, to place it where you need it.

4. With the top layer selected, click on the mask icon in the layers palette. This will create a mask for the layer. Click on the mask, and then select the paintbrush from the tool bar. Paint on the mask using black in those places where you only want the background layer to show (using my photos as an example, everywhere except the face). I used a fuzzy brush to avoid hard edges. If you erase too much, you can always paint the mask back by switching the brush from black to white.

5. Crop the final photograph to size. Save as tiff if you want to retain the layers in order to do some fine tuning later. Saving as JPEG will flatten the image and you will lose the layers.

It's actually easier to do than it is to describe the process. However, you do need a program with layers and masks capabilities. I believe that the latest version of Photoshop Elements (9) has full layer and masks capabilities, but earlier versions had limited masking capabilities.

Hope this helps.

Antonio
 
Hello Antonio, thank you so much for taking the time to spell this out for me:) I was wondering about Elements as it seems to be geared up towards the more creative side. Hmm, I have CS3 on another computer but have always found it beyond me :redface: You are certainly very skilled yourself and I guess I will just have to enjoy your creations instead! Thanks again :)
 
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