Week 21: Add contrasting light effects to a photographic image - Part 1

Create a colour light effect on a Photoshop image to replicate the effect achieved by photographers using colour gels on lenses during a photoshoot.

Beginner

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Add contrasting colour lighting (eg. red/pink and blue; orange and green; yellow and purple) to a single image using Photoshop layers and layer effects. The image should have a singular item/person as the focal point to be lit.

Intermediate

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Add contrasting colour lighting (eg. red/pink and blue; orange and green; yellow and purple) to a series of images using Photoshop layers and layer effects. The images should have a singular item/person as the focal point to be lit. Think how these images can be used as part of a website image library for a particular brand - they need to have the same look and feel, and colour treatment to work across a brand.

Advanced

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Add contrasting colour lighting (eg. red/pink and blue; orange and green; yellow and purple) to a series of images using Photoshop layers and layer effects. The image should have a singular item/person as the focal point to be lit. Now add a background colour behind the models/focal point. Think how these images can be used as part of a website image library for a particular brand - they need to have the same look and feel, and colour treatment to work across a brand.

Time Allocated

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30 Minutes for Beginner: Mask model in the image, and apply contrasting lighting to the model, left and right. 60 Minutes for intermediate: Mask model in the image, and apply contrasting lighting to the model, left and right. Apply this same technique to a series of images (at least 3). 75 Minutes for advanced: Mask model in the image, and apply contrasting lighting to the model, left and right. Add a different colour background to the images that have been masked. Apply this same technique to a series of images (at least 3).

Design Goals

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Make an image have a distinct look and feel using uniform colour lighting and direction of the colour lighting to replicate a colour gel that a photographer would use to make a shot special.

Constraints

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Use Photoshop layers and blending modes to create your colour lighting effect. Make sure you use 2 contrasting colours for right and left lighting respectively.

Resources

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Software

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  • Adobe Xd

    Website Design

  • Adobe Photoshop

    Smart Objects, Path Tool

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