Okay, okay... April Fools! :-D
Or as the folks on the Adobe Photoshop Express team like to say, Made you look!
This is actually a creative photo illustration I recently completed as part of my Professional Digital Photography program at CDIA. The image appears a little pixelated when viewed small on the web, so View Large On Black. The class was titled Photo Illustration, and it was the capstone Photoshop class that pulled together the skills learned in the previous four Photoshop classes as well as our Studio Photography techniques. The class is described as:
Combining your extensive knowledge of camera, lighting and Photoshop tools learned in previous classes, you will take your creative side to the next level exploring ways to create imagery as opposed to just capturing it. Subject matter is no longer limited to product. You will work to create images that express an idea or concept for use in an advertisement.
The idea for the illustration came to me during the first night of class and immediately I had it all planned out about what shots would be involved towards the final compositing project. Each of the main elements including the (fake Steve Jobs) hand, the iPhone, and the model in a Flash suit were all shot with strobe lighting in studio, isolated away from the original backgrounds with fine channel masking, and converted to smart objects.
After channel masking to isolate the Flash character, that photograph selection was converted to a cartoon using a Smart Filter combination of the Cut Out filter and the Poster Edges filter, followed with with a heavy stroke border to mimic a hand drawn pen outline. I wanted to make Flash appear similar to his original D.C. Comics illustrations as I could.
On a new empty image I pulled in the 3 smart objects, added photo realistic contact shadows and cast shadows around the iPhone, on the Flash's shoulders and head, and under the big arm across the screen. As smart objects, each element maintains all its original detail while being transformed in size and proportion to make them all fit together. Small details also include adding a red reflection under the big hand, some white reflection on the fingertips of the big hand, and reflection of the Flash in the iPhone screen. Shooting the iPhone actually required two shots, one to properly expose the phone's exterior body, and another exposed to capture the screen display.
The background images were screenshots from the Adobe and Apple websites, and the floor is the View Source from the Flash Player page on Adobe.com, all of which were combined on a lattice shaped into a box using the Vanishing Point filter in Photoshop CS3. Using a couple of the Lighting Effects filters I added a bit more realistic shading around the interior of the box to make it look less flat, as well as the Fiber filter to add something akin to a curtain hanging behind the box. It was fun project in all, requiring about 25 hours work in total including the photography.
Almost forgot... If you're in a bind and desperately need a Flash costume... I can help you out!!
