Discussion
I'm guessing that it's just multiple layers of the polariod edge which are layered on top of each others but with a hollow centre. The image you want is placed at the back.
Very nice idea - Would make a lovely wedding photograph, perhaps of the Bride and Grooms place setting at the table as the main picture which has the polariod layers added and a picture of them underneath...
mmmm Lots of ideas are running in my head..
I too wouldn't mind the PSD file
>> Edited by crmcatee on Wednesday 3rd May 18:46
Very nice idea - Would make a lovely wedding photograph, perhaps of the Bride and Grooms place setting at the table as the main picture which has the polariod layers added and a picture of them underneath...
mmmm Lots of ideas are running in my head..
I too wouldn't mind the PSD file
>> Edited by crmcatee on Wednesday 3rd May 18:46
Saw a shot like that in a mag a few years ago iirc, but it was done the old fashioned way. It's a great pic Matt, but there's something lost in the digital traslation from the origional idea. I liked the way all the shots were ever so slightly off line (it being difficult to line them all up perfectly) but it gave the shot a warmth that has been lost a little, as I said, with the digital translation. Great effect all the same though 
.
.Matt, love the effect. I'm no expert on these things, and can only imagine how long its taken, but to me the centre of the image looks too flat. There's one of the 'photos' on the right hand side which includes a bit of the headlight, that seems slightly greyer than the rest, but it is raised slightly too - some shadowing around it, that seems a bit more real than the ones right in the centre, although I guess if light was directly on top there's be no shadowing, and the colour of car probably doesn't help. Just my two penneth, but do like the shot and seems as others have said to have lots of possibilities. Would love to know how it's done.
Ok...
Like most things in photoshop/photography there are loads of different ways of doing things.
This is they way that I did it. Its quite good fun and requires only the most basic knowledge of photoshop.
I cant post up the ps file for download as its 235 mb, so apologies for that.
The photography:
I took a photo of the table looking straight down (use a tripod) with a 40mm lens (full frame)
as I thought it would provide the best perspective on the table, and fit a large enough area of the table in
that I could use the polaroids full size without the need for extra work making them smaller.
I shot it with a bounced flash off the ceiling above to provide soft even light, removing as many shadows as possible.
I also shot a grey card so that I could white balance all the images to make it look as natural as possible:
I then got some polaroids I had and scattered them across the tabel randomly and took several different shots of this.
Be sure to do this on manual exposure and focus so that all these shots are have the same exposure etc.
The reason I chose to do it this way is that the more that the shot is real the more realistic it will look and the
more photography and less photoshop the better! Basically these shots of the polaroids form the basis of the montage.
The photoshop:
the first layer should be of the photo you want coming through, in my case I chose the audi QE2 as I thought it would
look good kind of bursting out of the table. I slightly desaturated the image and reduced the contrast slightly to make
it a bit washed out, so that it looked like a photo of a photo if that make sense.
On top of that layer goes the blank table top, then all the photos of the polaroids on top of each other.
Select one of the polaroid layers, and using the magic wand tool select and delete everything apart from the white frames
around the edges (remember you can use the shift key for multiple selections). Do this for each of the polaroid layers and
you will basically have a load of blank random looking frames in a stack. The best thing about doing it this way is that all
of the polaroids will look slightly different which makes it look more real at the end:
Now, take the first layer of blank frames and position them somewhere, then using the magic wand tool again,
select the blank areas in the inside of the frames
When you have this selected, click select > modify > expand > 2 pixels then select the background image layer
(in my case the audi) copy from that layer and paste the selection into its own layer, then make sure this new layer
sits just below the blank frames. The reason for the expansion of the selection is to make sure that the background image fills
the frame. Should look a bit like this:
From here just repeat that process over and over, moving the polaroid frames around and overlapping them as you see fit.
Rotate them etc so they look different. Try not to confuse yourself and got all the layers in a muddle like I did.
Get all the layers in order etc then flatten the image and thats it. I wanted to try doing one with the table at an angle but the photo not, a similar
effect to the adverts painted onto the pitch at a rugby/cricket match where the ad appears to be standing up but I never got round to it.
There are loads of different variations to try too, like having other smaller photos from the same series around the edges.
Here is a link to a layered tiff file with some blank polaroids for those who dont happen to have them lying about: www.mattwatkinson.com/PH/polaroids/blank_polaroids.tif
Matt
>> Edited by matt gravy on Thursday 4th May 10:33
Like most things in photoshop/photography there are loads of different ways of doing things.
This is they way that I did it. Its quite good fun and requires only the most basic knowledge of photoshop.
I cant post up the ps file for download as its 235 mb, so apologies for that.
The photography:
I took a photo of the table looking straight down (use a tripod) with a 40mm lens (full frame)
as I thought it would provide the best perspective on the table, and fit a large enough area of the table in
that I could use the polaroids full size without the need for extra work making them smaller.
I shot it with a bounced flash off the ceiling above to provide soft even light, removing as many shadows as possible.
I also shot a grey card so that I could white balance all the images to make it look as natural as possible:
I then got some polaroids I had and scattered them across the tabel randomly and took several different shots of this.
Be sure to do this on manual exposure and focus so that all these shots are have the same exposure etc.
The reason I chose to do it this way is that the more that the shot is real the more realistic it will look and the
more photography and less photoshop the better! Basically these shots of the polaroids form the basis of the montage.
The photoshop:
the first layer should be of the photo you want coming through, in my case I chose the audi QE2 as I thought it would
look good kind of bursting out of the table. I slightly desaturated the image and reduced the contrast slightly to make
it a bit washed out, so that it looked like a photo of a photo if that make sense.
On top of that layer goes the blank table top, then all the photos of the polaroids on top of each other.
Select one of the polaroid layers, and using the magic wand tool select and delete everything apart from the white frames
around the edges (remember you can use the shift key for multiple selections). Do this for each of the polaroid layers and
you will basically have a load of blank random looking frames in a stack. The best thing about doing it this way is that all
of the polaroids will look slightly different which makes it look more real at the end:
Now, take the first layer of blank frames and position them somewhere, then using the magic wand tool again,
select the blank areas in the inside of the frames
When you have this selected, click select > modify > expand > 2 pixels then select the background image layer
(in my case the audi) copy from that layer and paste the selection into its own layer, then make sure this new layer
sits just below the blank frames. The reason for the expansion of the selection is to make sure that the background image fills
the frame. Should look a bit like this:
From here just repeat that process over and over, moving the polaroid frames around and overlapping them as you see fit.
Rotate them etc so they look different. Try not to confuse yourself and got all the layers in a muddle like I did.
Get all the layers in order etc then flatten the image and thats it. I wanted to try doing one with the table at an angle but the photo not, a similar
effect to the adverts painted onto the pitch at a rugby/cricket match where the ad appears to be standing up but I never got round to it.
There are loads of different variations to try too, like having other smaller photos from the same series around the edges.
Here is a link to a layered tiff file with some blank polaroids for those who dont happen to have them lying about: www.mattwatkinson.com/PH/polaroids/blank_polaroids.tif
Matt
>> Edited by matt gravy on Thursday 4th May 10:33
Great image and guide to how it was created Matt.
Apart from the pic's on display, equipment advice etc one of the best things about this site for me is seeing how things like this have been done, which will hopefully help me to learn / improve. Now all I need to do is find that rarest of commodities; more time....!
Longers
Apart from the pic's on display, equipment advice etc one of the best things about this site for me is seeing how things like this have been done, which will hopefully help me to learn / improve. Now all I need to do is find that rarest of commodities; more time....!
Longers
I've always liked the photos of photos thing and that's a great example I'll be trying next!
Much better than mine that I knocked up based on this tutorial:
www.pinoy7.com/psptutorials/7/thephotowithin/p1.shtml
A wallpaper one:
A compilation (printed out great at 20x30):
Much better than mine that I knocked up based on this tutorial:
www.pinoy7.com/psptutorials/7/thephotowithin/p1.shtml
A wallpaper one:
A compilation (printed out great at 20x30):
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