Advanced Photoshop / Retouching - where to start.

D.S.

Hi there,

So I have been bitten pretty hard by the photography bug this year and am still exploring all ranges and styles of photography.

While my primary passion (atm) is landscapes and street where I use natural light. One of the areas that has really grabbed my interest is the idea of surreal photography using advanced photoshopping and lighting methods. Particularly this style of image creation:

http://adriansommeling.com

However, I have no idea where to start in terms of learning this method. I am trying to pick up a book which includes work by Adrian but I don't seem to be able to get it delivered here to Oz.

So can anyone advise on any other good books / tutorials / equipment that will get me started? I am preparing a 1 year old photo book for my son (who is 9 months) and would love to try a few mad ideas I have for the back of the book.

In terms of gear, I am good camera and lens wise and have lightroom / photoshop / photomatix / nik. However, apart from a SB-700 flash, I don't have much in the way of lighting gear. I have basic photoshop skills (layers/masks) but am still at the early stages of this learning curve.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Cheers,
Derek

gloobag

You need to be looking for stuff on compositing rather than retouching. They are two completely different disciplines.

I can't point you in the right direction as I have little interest in compositing myself (although Youtube is usually a good place to start), but if it's anything like my experience trying to educate myself on high end retouching techniques over the past couple of years, be prepared to pay top dollar for the best/most relevant instruction (DVD's, books etc). I'm talking in the €€€'s here.

OldGoat

Subscribe to Lynda.Com for a month and watch Bert Monroys tutorials.

kjt

Check out http://phlearn.com they have a lot of free tutorials and some cheap enough paid tutorials.

Also creative ideas are far better than advanced photoshop/retouching. Check out Jason Lee's work with his two daughters, some awesome work!!

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/a-father-who-creatively

challengemaster

A big issue with learning about advanced retouching and compositing is that the people that are really good at it are all making advertising campaigns, and aren't exactly going to give away their secrets. It makes it hard to get good info.

Was just about to mention phlearn. Aaron nace really knows his stuff, and the best thing is he gives most of it away for free. Any paid tutorials are worth the minimal cost too.

Check out creativelive.com, see if there's anything in their catalogues. I don't know off the top of my head.

Clint Davis is awesome, puts a lot of stuff in his blog too. Was also involved in creating this series on compositing
http://masteringretouching.com/compositing.php

The most important thing with compositing is selections and masks. Your best friend in the world is now the pen tool.