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living blessed
living blessed
Known Participant
June 30, 2020
Question

Double Exposure Question Please Help

  • June 30, 2020
  • 6 replies
  • 581 views

Please Please Help Me. 

 

Another subject I'm trying to master. 

 

I took a picture of a "person" recently, and I'm trying to transform this picture to a double exposure. Note that both pictures were taken by me (person & lansscape). Below is the result I got for the double exposure, but it's not what I expected it to be. I can't seem to show more of the face of the "person" with the double exposure. Please help. There are so many ways to achieve double exposures and I've done most of them. If you can help me and explain the steps you took to achieve the final product, that would be great. 

 

 

 

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6 replies

living blessed
living blessedAuthor
Known Participant
June 30, 2020

Here's an actual video of the steps I'm doing here for my double exposure. I'm hoping you can see this video. This will give you an idea of why I feel I'm stuck. Oh! I start talking after a minute or so. Be patient with me. LOL. Thanks for listening in advance. 

 

Please click here to watch. Thanks. Talk soon. 

 

c.pfaffenbichler
Community Expert
c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 1, 2020

• Why the Layer Mask on »Background Copy« that reveals only the white background? 

• If one of the Blend Modes fits your expectations then that is the »right« Blend Mode for you. 

• If you want to accentuate or bring back parts of the original image you could apply the Layer Mask to a Group so you can add an additional Layer Mask to the Layer itself to hide it locally. 

 

I am sorry I confused you, I guess my assumption that you would want to have both elements as b&w may have contributed to that. 

I wonder if it might not be useful for you to start a new thread to attract the attention of more of the other Forum-regulars. 

    living blessed
    living blessedAuthor
    Known Participant
    July 1, 2020

    Thanks for the reply. What you just said makes sense now. I appreciate it. Yeah! if I need more help on this subject, I'll definaetly start a new thread. I know I'll have more questions as I perfect my double exposure here. Thanks again. Appreciate your time. 

    c.pfaffenbichler
    Community Expert
    c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 30, 2020

    Or forget the Layer Masks for now, just focus on which Blend Mode gives you the best starting point … with the Move Tool you can rotate through the Blend Modes by hitting alt-shift-+ (alt-shift-plus). 

      living blessed
      living blessedAuthor
      Known Participant
      June 30, 2020

      posted another video...actually shared my screen while I went through my steps.

      living blessed
      living blessedAuthor
      Known Participant
      June 30, 2020

      Please click first video and second video to see what I'm doing. Tell me where I'm wrong. I can't seem to duplicate my final double exposure anymore. I must be doing something wrong. Please help.

       

       

      c.pfaffenbichler
      Community Expert
      c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 30, 2020

      If you want to post video of your work please make proper screen recordings, don’t use a camera. 

       

      Is the Layer structure in my first screenshot not clear? 

      White background, the portrait image with a Layer Mask in a Smart Object, the second image as a Smart Object and a second instacne of the portrait with a Layer Mask. 

      living blessed
      living blessedAuthor
      Known Participant
      June 30, 2020

      No it's not clear. I understand about the video. I didn't know how else to get my point across I guess. I also don't know how else to take a video of my presentation other than googling how others do it. 

       

      Sorry about being a bother right now. I wish not to bother anyone as I am new to all of this. 

       

      Take care. 

      living blessed
      living blessedAuthor
      Known Participant
      June 30, 2020

      So here's what I'm doing to achieve this image. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't work. This tells me I'm doing something wrong....

       

      Pick an image you want to use (the person)

      Duplicate your background making it “background copy” for your layer

      Use quick selection to go over image

      Select>Inverse

      Select>Modify>Smooth (choose 5 for the radius)

      Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection

      File>Place Embedded> Select the landscape you want, then press enter

      Layer>Layer Mask>Hide Selection

      New Layer (or command, shift, n)

      Drag New Layer between background and background copy

      Select Background Copy layer>switch from Normal to Multiply

       

       

      c.pfaffenbichler
      Community Expert
      c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 30, 2020

      And one could use Smart Filters to »level out« one of the images, compare these two screenshots. 

      living blessed
      living blessedAuthor
      Known Participant
      June 30, 2020

      Ah! Gotcha... but I tried going to the Smart Filters and it's not even highlighted for me to use it. This tells me that I'm doing this Double Exposure wrong or different from the average person. How are you achieveing your double exposure?

      Let me try it this way here and see what happens.

      c.pfaffenbichler
      Community Expert
      c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 30, 2020

      To apply a Filter as a Smart Filter the active Layer needs to be a Smart Object. 

       

      And no, this does not mean you are doing anything wrong … in Photoshop there are often many ways to achieve a result. 

      Smart Objects are a preferred part of the »equation« for some Photoshop users because they are a crucial part of a non-destructive workflow. One can apply Filters, tarnsform them etc. repeatedly and the degredation does not build up like it would for a plain pixel Layer. 

      c.pfaffenbichler
      Community Expert
      c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 30, 2020

      »There are so many ways to achieve double exposures and I've done most of them.«

      Don’t you feel that staement was a little too vague to be useful? 

       

      You could mask back the face or combine multiple instances and Blend Modes. 

      living blessed
      living blessedAuthor
      Known Participant
      June 30, 2020

      Thanks for the reply!

       

      What do you mean by "You could mask back the face or combine multiple instances and Blend Modes". Do you mean that I can just play around with this circled section of photoshop below to get the face potion back on the image? Because if I change my actual "person" image to back and white, adjusting that part below doesn't change at all. However, if I leave the "person" image as a colored picture, I do see some changes when I move the circled part below. Any suggestions. Is there a way in which (from start to finish) I can achieve a perfect "double photshop" using black and white "person" image?

       

       

       

      c.pfaffenbichler
      Community Expert
      c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 30, 2020

      Your Layers-stack seems less than ideal to me, let me give you three pieces of advice: 

      • Smart Objects 

      • Smart Objects 

      • Smart Objects 

       

      Have you perused this post yet? 

      https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop/create-a-double-exposure-in-photoshop-now/m-p/11058196?page=1#M323229

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