Insomnia (An intense dark portrait)

[PhotoExtremist]

This image is on flickr and deviantart:
Insomniac Dreams on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Insomnia by ~Vlue on deviantART

Hey everyone I'm new to the forum and thought I'd post up a "How I Took It" post!

I took a photograph of me with the camera on a tripod and my head in front of a black t-shirt that was pinned to the wall, with a flash pointed towards the wall in front of me so the light bounces off the wall back at me. Then I took another photo with my head in the same position only this time I put my hands over my face. Then i take the two images and put them in the same Photoshop document as layers, and set one of the layers to either Multiply blending mode or Overlay or something (just try different ones until it looks good).
Then flatten the image and burn the blacks entirely to 255,255,255 (if you want to) by going to image > adjust > selective color, select the blacks and then bump it up, then burn other areas if necessary to make everything but the face completely black. Then grab a texture and darken it with curves, then put it on top of the image with Lighten or Screen or something as the blending mode. Adjust the opacity of the layer if you want, Then flatten the image, downsize, sharpen, add URL to the bottom and save

(I also erased the very top of my head/hair so it was just the finger tips showing.)

[sk66]

Nice image!
One of the things that really helps this work is placement of finger joints along the eyebrow line/cheeks/nose...was this a lucky coincidence or was there some manipulation required in post?

[ronald.be]

You have a very interesting website! *bookmarked*

[PhotoExtremist]

Originally Posted by sk66

Nice image!
One of the things that really helps this work is placement of finger joints along the eyebrow line/cheeks/nose...was this a lucky coincidence or was there some manipulation required in post?

thanks, that was by coincidence

[marcelo_valente]

Just amazing! Good job!

[Glayva]

Wonderful shot. I really like this and thanks for posting

[Riquochet]

Great shot, love it.

[Miserysmalice]

Great shot.

[cTBO]

Just an amazing shot! Kind of majestic and earthy all in one. Thanks.

[jherman]

Very intriguing! Nice explanation!