Let's start with the vinyl record. Select the Ellipse Tool (L) and draw a circle. Fill it with black and apply a Stroke of 5pt. This will be the background of the vinyl record.
Next, we will create the rings that you can see on a vinyl record. This will be a little exaggerated, but it will achieve a nice effect. Create another circle and make it just a little smaller then the background circle. Apply a Stroke of .0.25 pt in a dark grey (K=75%). Then duplicate the circle and scale it down about 75% of the original. Have them both centered, horizontal, and vertical.
Select both circles and apply a Blend Mode of 15 Specified Steps (Command + Alt + B and then go to Object > Blend > Blend Options).
Repeat Step 2 and Step 3, but choose a light red as the Stroke color and make it much smaller. This will be for the record paper label. Apply 5 Specified Steps as a Blend Option.
Create another small circle, slightly bigger then the red blended circles. Fill the circle with a light red to dark red radial gradient.
Make yet another smaller circle with a white to black radial gradient. This will act as a hole. I outlined the size below, but of course it will be in relation to your circle sizes.
Last but not least, create a smaller circle filled with white on top of the hole. Center both and group them together.
Select all the circles we have created and center them both horizontally and vertically and group them together. I outlined the stacking order starting with the bottom circle (black background circle).
So far so good, but the record still looks a little dull. Let's create some shiny highlights. Create a long rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (M), fill it with a black to white to black radial gradient, then rotate it 45 degrees.
Create another rectangle, but have it more square than long and fill it with the reverse linear gradient, meaning white to black to white. Next, place it centered over the first rectangle.
Select both shapes and apply an Opacity Mask (you can find it under the Transparency Palette)
This is what it should look like.
Move the shiny highlight over the vinyl record and center both. You'll see that with the Opacity Mask applied, it's creates an illusion of a reflection.
Next, make a duplicate (Command + C + F) of the vinyl record background circle and place it on top of all other objects. Next, select the highlight shape and the circle copy, then apply a Clipping Mask (Command + 7) under Object > Clipping Mask > Make. Group the record and the highlight together.
Voila, your vinyl record is ready.
Let's create some background shapes. Create three equally long rectangles, space them out equally with the Align Palette and fill each with a color of your liking. I chose red, grey, and yellow. Then select all three and apply a Blend with Specified Steps. The Steps amount depends on your spacing, but you want them to be as close together as possible.
Select the blend and go to Object > Envelope Distort > Make with Warp and choose the Squeeze Style and apply the settings you see in the image.
Make a new layer, place it below your other layers, and name it "background." Create a rectangle and fill it with black and no Stroke.
Create another rectangle, a third of the black one and place it on the bottom over the black shape. Set the Transparency Mode to Multiply.
Take the star burst shape from Step 16 and create several duplicates. Next, place them in a circular rotation on your background. Keep in mind that we want to put the vinyl record in the middle.
I apply an Opacity Mask to each star burst shape to fade the inside into the background. This creates a sense of depth.
We need some more background shapes. Let's create another cool effect. Create two small rectangles and place them equal on the vertical plane, also align them reasonably far apart from each other.
Now apply a Blend with Specified Steps again.
Apply another Opacity Mask and set the Transparency to 13%
Drag the blend into the Symbol Palette to create a new symbol. Call it whatever you like.
Make the symbol active by clicking on it and select the Symbol sprayer Tool (Shift + S). Start spraying on the background. Watch what happens when you spray over the red shape that we set to multiply. Without changing anything, it gives us a neat effect.
Have a look. Place as many as you want.
Now place the vinyl record in the middle.
Let's add some text. I chose a cool font that you can download here at www.dafont.com. It's called Base and it has a grungy look to it.
Create a big circle around the vinyl record. Make sure there is enough distance for the text. Then select the Type Tool (T), and choose the Type on Path Options. When you click on the circle outline, you will see that the circle fill or any stroke will disappear and the text will be placed in a circular motion. Choose a text size that suites you and choose any words you like.
I placed more text around the vinyl record, both circular and horizontal. This will make it dynamic and add contrast.
I created more text around the vinyl record and added some brushes around a small circle on the record label. I also created a cool Clipping Path around the star burst shapes. All I did was create a rectangle and apply a grungy brush stroke. Next, expand the appearance and select the rectangle and the starburst shapes and apply the Clipping Path. That's it, I hope you had fun with this tutorial!
STEP 1 Choose Image; Duplicate Layer; Change Blend Mode
Ideally, pick a photo that already has some character: Perhaps the subject has a wrinkled face or lots of facial hair, or maybe the lighting is dramatic. (You could also accentuate the lighting before proceeding with the next steps.) Once your image is open, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the Background layer, and then use the blend mode pop-up menu in the Layers panel to change the mode to Hard Light. (Or with the Move tool active, press Shift-Option-H [PC: Shift-Alt-H].)
STEP 2 Apply the High Pass Filter
From the Filter menu, choose Other>High Pass. Change the Radius setting to something in the range of 10–20 pixels. Rather than basing your decision on the filter preview area, look at the image itself, since that will show the effect with the layer in Hard Light mode. Click OK to close the dialog.
STEP 3 Make Composite Layer and Oversharpen
With both the Background layer and Layer 1 visible, press Command-Option-Shift-E (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E). This will add a new layer (Layer 2) that’s a composite of the two layers. Change this composite layer’s blend mode to Overlay using the pop-up menu in the Layers panel (or press Shift-Option-O [PC: Shift-Alt-O]). With the top layer (Layer 2) active, go to the Filter menu and choose Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. Sharpen using values higher than you normally would—in other words, oversharpen a little. In our example, we used an Amount of 199 with a Radius of 2. Click OK.
STEP 4 Add a Slight Tint
You could actually stop at the last step if you like, but let’s add to the gritty look a little more. Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Hue/Saturation from the pop-up menu. Click the Colorize checkbox, move the Hue slider to add a warm tint to the image, and click OK. To allow a little bit of the original color to show through, lower the Opacity of the Hue/Saturation layer in the Layers panel to 70–75% (we used 71%).
STEP 5 Add Some Noise
This step is optional, but if you want to really accentuate the gritty look, add some noise. Start by adding a layer by clicking on the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Now, choose Edit>Fill and in the dialog, select 50% Gray from the Use field pop-up menu, and click OK. Change this layer’s blend mode to Hard Light and from the Filter menu, choose Noise>Add Noise. In the dialog, use an Amount of less than 10% and check the Uniform and Monochromatic boxes.
1 Set up on Tripod
Before you start in Photoshop, you have to create the files so that each has a good exposure for a specific part of the image. For the files to align properly, it’s best to be on a tripod. Although handheld, rapid-fire, auto-exposure bracketing may work in some cases, I prefer the tripod approach. The tripod is definitely a must for long exposures, such as the photos in this example, which had shutter speeds of 13 and 25 seconds. I used a 5-stop, solid, neutral-density filter to force a long exposure time that would totally blur the surf.
2 Use Remote Shutter Release
In the images of Makapuu Point on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, the sky and most of the ocean looks better in the 13-second exposure, while the longer one reveals better detail in the dark foreground rocks. I also like the way the incoming surf is blurred into a fine mist in the 25-second shot. To minimize any chance of vibration that might yield a soft shot, I turned off lens stabilization and used an electronic cable release. For the purposes of this tutorial, the files are JPEGs, but I recommend you shoot RAW for the most control and quality.
1 Bring Exposures Into One File
The first step is to bring the two exposures into a single layered file. For this example, we’re adding the darker exposure to the lighter image so that it will be the top layer. Select the Move tool (V), hold down the Shift key, and drag-and-drop the darker image onto the lighter one. Hold down the Shift key until the image appears in the lighter file as a new layer. This ensures that the two pictures are perfectly aligned.
2 Add a Layer Mask
Now we’ll add a layer mask to show only the “good” areas of the top layer. Depending on the nature of the images you’re combining and the complexity of the edge, this is the part of the process that will be different for each image. Some scenes may require intricate and precise masks, while for others a soft-edged mask will do; we’ll use a soft-edged mask for this image. With the top layer active, click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.
3 Paint the Layer Mask to Reveal the Lighter Image
Choose the Brush tool (B) from the Toolbox and set the Foreground color to black. In the Options Bar, set the Opacity to 50% and choose a soft-edged brush that’s large enough to cover the bottom part of the image (ours is 300 pixels). Check the Layers panel to make sure the layer mask is active (look for the highlight border around the thumbnail). Paint over the image where you want to reveal the lighter tones from the bottom layer (paint multiple strokes to reveal more of the lighter layer). Reduce the brush size to work on the areas where the two images meet at the edge of the rocks.
4 Add a Grouped Adjustment Layer
We lowered the Opacity to 20% and painted with black over the distant hill to show more detail there. To reverse the mask edits, press X to switch the Foreground and Background colors, and paint with white to bring back the darker layer. To add a contrast punch to the top layer, Option-click (PC: Alt-click) on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon in the Layers panel and choose Curves. Turn on the Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask checkbox and click OK. Adjust the curve as shown. The clipping mask means that it affects only the underlying layer.
5 Debriefing
If you click on the Background layer’s Eye icon, you can see how the layer mask controls which parts of the top darker layer are visible in the final composite. Click again to turn on the Background layer’s visibility, then Shift-click the layer mask to temporarily disable it and view the darker image without the lighter foreground. Shift-click the layer mask again to turn it on. The soft-edged layer mask we used here works well because the long exposure times blurred the water and we don’t have to be concerned with lining up the waves.
1 Raw Exposure Strategies for Dual Processing
If you have a single exposure, and it’s a RAW exposure, then you can create essentially the same effect as in the previous steps. This is useful for scenes that contain moving subjects or where a tripod is impractical or simply not an option. The main thing you need to do in terms of exposure is bias the histogram as far to the right as possible without clipping the highlights (i.e., forcing the brightest areas to a total white). This ensures you have the best exposure possible for the shadows, which will help minimize noise in those areas.
2 Process Raw Files as Smart Objects
Process the first version of the image in Adobe Camera Raw for a specific area (in our example, we’re keeping the sky from getting too washed out). To preserve maximum flexibility, click on the blue Workflow Options link below the preview and turn on the Open in Photoshop as Smart Objects checkbox. Click OK then Open Object to bring the file into Photoshop. Choose Layer>Smart Objects>New Smart Object via Copy to create a duplicate smart object of the embedded RAW file (the smart object duplication must be done this way to apply different RAW develop settings).
3 Process and Combine with Layer Masks
Double-click on the thumbnail for the duplicate smart object layer to access the Camera Raw dialog and adjust as needed for specific areas. We used the Exposure, Fill Light, and Brightness sliders to show more detail on the rental surfboards. Click OK to apply these new settings. Now it’s just a masking job to combine the two. We used the Quick Selection tool (W) to make a basic selection of the bright sky, then used that to make a layer mask for the top Smart Object layer. We then fine-tuned the edges using a Brush tool at varying opacities.
