“REPETITIVE ROSIE”

The Story Behind the Photo

by Michelle Ray

Overview

I have a confession. I used Photoshop. Yes, it’s true, the dog was not lined up five times with a perfectly straight frame and photographed. I photographed Rosie the American Bulldog once. And the frame once. And a cookie sheet once. The rest was created on my iMac computer. So there it is. I am out of the Photoshop closet. So if you’re a purest, now’s the time to quit reading; we can still be friends. But if you are like me, and want to give your work and edge, or a unique spin, read on. I will tell you all about it, probably more than you want to know, because editing matters. In my 3 year Photography-as-the-Cure-for-Empty-Nest journey, I can remember being shocked at how great photographers take an image not unlike my own, and turn it into a masterpiece. I can recall how, at first, I felt like buying more expensive equipment was going to get me to where I wanted to be, but in fact, it’s my $9.99 monthly Adobe subscription that turned into my best tool. That, and improving my techniques, which I learned at Photo Club.

For each of our assignments, I start by reading the criteria for the assignment, going through old files and seeing what will fit (if it’s not fresh), and thinking about current opportunities that might work, but are waiting to be created. And then, if allowed by the description of our assignment, I make one up. An farfetched image that could never be created without the help of software, because it’s challenging. And then I select the top 3 or 4 images, and corner poor unsuspecting friends and family and ask them to select two. Sometimes I even make them justify their choices. Poor things.

How do you create and select your images for submission? I would love to know.

The inspiration for this image was created at the dinner table. We usually eat as a family, and the topic of photo club assignments came up. My son said, “Gee Mom, you should take a picture of yourself in a mirror and it would create a picture of a picture of a picture.......” an attempt was made, but the effect was not there really, but the idea of a picture in a picture...that would be something I might be able to make....it would be different...and it might be within my new Photoshop skillset...and off to Google I went...and searched for a “photo in a photo using Photoshop”...and came up with a tutorial. After watching the tutorial an embarrassing number of times, taking notes on technical photoshop stuff, I made my own project.

The images

As I mentioned, there are three photos in this image: the dog, the frame, and a newly created cookie sheet texture.

Rosie is our rescue dog. She is very stubborn, but also very food driven. We train her with tiny pieces of string cheese AKA “Bulldog Cheese”, and, while she is no Einstein, she’s gotten pretty good at some very basic commands. She follows the Bulldog Cheese with her entire head, which is massive, and her jowls sit beside this enormous head like bookends, so it’s easy to get her to turn her head right, left, center. But you have to work with drool. It helps to be prepared and fast because she can really flood the place. It is helpful to have two people for the photoshoot, one for the cheese and towels, and one for the camera. This particular image was taken on a day we were snowed in, and I had recently done a Steampunk photoshoot with people, and their costumes were still laying around. Rosie seemed to really enjoy it, as she hit the Bulldog Cheese jackpot. She was lit by a single utility light angled from above (the flash scared her), shot with a Canon 6D mkii, with a Tamron 24-70 SP lens. I positioned her on and in front of a black backdrop. The image was processed in Lightroom using the basic tools and sliders.

The frame was one I had purchased to hold the human Steampunk images. The rivets and metal edges complement the theme, and colors. It was shot lying on the light colored carpet of my living room floor. High contrast makes separating objects from backgrounds easier in Photoshop. I had to be directly over the thing, and not blocking the light. The same applies to the cookie sheet. I needed a metal texture with a scuffed and marred appearance and that worked great.

Then into Photoshop we went.

Post Processing

The first thing needed was creating a background. After trying several, I settled on a solid dark gray layer blended with the baking pan. The blend mode allowed for a significant presence of silver from the texturized baking pan to show through. Revealing some texture in your background is a splendid way to reinforce a theme (like steampunk) or just spiff up an image. It can add character, if you think you need it.

The frame was next. It had to be separated from its carpet background, and squared up a bit. Using Camera Raw, I was able to emphasize the nicks and scratches too.

I selected the image of Rosie looking straight ahead because the image would work on both the right and left sides of the final image. The tutorial had suggested, and provided, a faceless man, but we have to do our own work, right? I selected her head/torso in

Photoshop using the quick selection tool. Quick selection now has some improvements in getting fine detail, and that was helpful.

I then placed the frame on the background, then placed the dog. One tip I had gotten from the tutorial was the idea that framed art is usually lit and cast shadows within the image. The first layer seemed really complicated because there were decisions to be made regarding texture, and blending modes, and shadows. It can be overwhelming, but exciting too. As an artist, you get to make creative decisions about your work, with each decision you make adding a layer of choice. If you don’t like it, you change that decision. Because I made my background a “Smart Object,” each step was listed and/or represented with an icon, and then I grouped all my choices together. For example, in my first group, you could see

The process of making the texture blend with a solid color, the adjustments I made to get the look of the texture to my liking.
The editing of the frame in Camera Raw, which is under the filter tab in Photoshop. Placement of the frame on the texture and application of the drop shadow to the frame.
Selecting the dog in the original image, and application of a mask (which is Photoshop Speak for covering up the part you don’t want to see) to the rest.
The placement of the dog+mask, and the application of the drop shadow to the dog.
Make it a ‘group’ so all these factors can be copied and duplicated exactly, so as to
make a repetitive effect.

From there, things got easier. I made 4 copies of my group, and then slid the dog+dog shadow layer from right to left alternating in alternating groups. To size the layer, you made a size selection of the inside frame of the previous layer, and applied the constraint to the group, and it adjusted itself accordingly.

Here is the link to the tutorial: https://youtu.be/YymRuXwRY80 I like “Marty.” He’s like a cross between a Photoshop savant, and a shrink. Diving into Photoshop, I think you need one of each. Its complexity can be very frustrating, the terminology overwhelming. My virtual trash can is full of crumpled up failures, but editing helps me get to the artistic pieces I really like.