Halloween: Trick or Treat !

so… Trick it is!

The Ghost:

It’s been a while since I last shared some of the Photoshop tricks and this is a great occasion to do that!

Here is the image I shot last year, the concept was a Deadly Dinner, and we have made a series of illustrations, the one below is one of them.
You can find the full story Here.

Let me take you through the Ghost Effect I used above.

First note is that like in case of our Liquid Illustrations all the elements were photographed on the same day with the same lighting, and camera locked on tripod.

This is essential to keep the right perspective and values when working on composite.

First step was to pick the right frame with Olya (on the left), Deona (on the right) and desaturate it.
The second step is a simple treatment of that layer with the GLOWING EDGES photoshop Filter.
Depends on your base frame sometimes it is good to bring back some of the details to our ghost figure!
I did that by adding the mask with a smoke pattern on it:

The final step is to add more smoke layers to create convincing fading effect.
I used simple black and white smoke photographs and placed them above our composite in SCREEN blending mode. To match your smoke layer and the ghost figure you will have to play a bit with the LIQUIFY filter or WARP transformation tool, and voila!

The Blood:

One of the downsides of this test shoot was that even though we had a fake blood we couldn’t use it on the day. So all the blood had to be done in postproduction.
So… how?

Here is the final frame of the Vampire:

and here is the Before and After:

We photographed the blood afterwards and just layered those frames over the original illustration using the MULTIPLY blending mode.
This example should help to understand the general idea:

;-)

The MULTIPLY blending mode helps you to match the different skin tones – you can always lift or tone down the brightness using the LEVELS in photoshop, then it is a simple matter of masking out the unwanted portion of the blood layer.

And here you can see a few more illustrations where I used the same technique:

Cheers
Jaroslav
www.AurumLight.com

AurumLight featured on Strobist.com

I am very pleased to let you know that, recently we have been featured on Strobist.com where I shared the story behind The Silver Angel illustration which become an Advert for PaulBuff Einstein E640!

If you haven’t seen the post already, you can find it here.

I would like to say hello and thanks to all who came along via David’s Blog and visited us here!
I hope you have found something for yourself and I assure you that there is more exciting stuff to come!

Last but not least, I was fortunate to meet David a few times and like everyone who had a chance to spend some time with him I was always inspired and encouraged to work even harder!
If you ever have a chance to go to one of his seminars just do it, you will love his approach and attitude!

… oh, and “click” ;-]

Cheers
Jaroslav
www.AurumLight.com

AWAKENING – PROLOGUE – Seeing beyond the obvious…

I always have in my sketchbook a minimum of three complete storyboards to choose from for my personal work or to show to a potential clients.
This time I decided that we once again will try to take things to another level and instead on just working on location within the location potential – we are going to build the whole set!

The theme is a Sci-Fi and it is going to be my tribute to all those creative individuals like Stanley Kubrick, James Cameron, Jodorowsky & Gimenes, Mamoru Oshii or Enki Bilal who were for years feeding my brain with all those amazing Sci Fi stories…

So you think… “yeah, big budget…” but my point is that the great things happen from great ideas, not necessarily from big money… and you may be surprised that “TheTrial” was made with a very small budget…
I tell you this – clients love it when you can build stuff out of literally “nothing” with almost “no budget”!

So…
In that moment when I am pressing the button and starting the creative process I see things differently and looking beyond the obvious… like in Wachowskis Brothers – Matrix…

And believe it or not – today we will start our Sci-Fi concept with a bunch of pallets and a garden trampoline that someone threw away and I found on my way home…
For most people they are rubbish for me it will become a main part of the whole photo-jigsaw! And I hope you will see that soon too ;-]

Please stay Tuned – More to come NEXT WEEK!
And feel free to hit us in the comment section to let us know WHAT YOU can actually see in the above photographs…

Remember > Free your mind… and the rest will follow !

Matrix: Seeing beyond the obvious…

Cheers
Jaroslav
www.AurumLight.com

AWAKENING – THE PHOTO-QUEST with AurumLight Team

Hi there,

I would like to thank everyone for such the great feedback on “TheTrial” concept shoot!
I wanted to let you know that if you think that we need some time to recover… I am more than happy to disappoint you Guys!

We are gearing up for my new SCI-FI concept - AWAKENING - and this time we have something Special for You!

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We would like to take you on a Photographic QUEST and give you a sneak preview from start to finish!
You will have a chance to jump on board and be a part of making one of our biggest shoot to-date happen.

You will not only follow the whole process, but you are more than welcome to give us instant feedback and have an influence on the final effect!

Please subscribe to the Blog, and lets start THE PHOTO-QUEST together!

P.S. There is a ‘subscribe to blog’ option below the comments under each post.
Just tick the box: “Notify me of new posts via email”

Cheers
Jaroslav

AurumLight Milk Workshop in Australia 2011

In collaboration with Jeff Paine from www.ShutterClass.com
we are bringing the Milk Workshop for the first time to Australia!
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We have put a lot of time and effort to make all things work and I would like to especially thank Jeff for the invitation and for his time to deal with all the details on the other end!
After receiving my Australian Business Visa we can finally announce the dates!

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1st Edition – Melbourne – 16-17th – As I am writing this the first edition is already Sold Out.
2nd Edition – Sydney – 26-27th – Sold Out
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Milk Workshops Agenda:

DAY 1:
Open with an overview, covering “know how”, tools, lighting, approach and a deconstruction of previous images; Demonstration shoot, showing how to get the results, work with the models and assistants; Working in pairs, shoot two sets of your own milk source shots (one shoots, one throws, and swap!), with assistance from the AurumLight Team

Day 2:
Work through the post-production of the previous days shoots. Although intense in places, the pace is set based on the group, so no-one is left behind!
Attendees also get access to the recipes, tips and techniques for bringing the whole shoot together – including access to materials and PSD supporting content!
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FAQ :
Who should attend? Anyone interested in having a hugely fun time, creating amazing images. [max 8 Spots]

What should I bring? You’ll need your camera. You’ll also need your laptop with Photoshop on it, since Day 2 is all about editing the images. If you are OK with creating/using masks, you’ll be fine for this workshop. Lunch is not provided, but there are plenty of good food options nearby, and at least 4 coffee shops to choose from!

When is it? It’s on 16/17 November Melbourne, which are weekdays! A second workshop is due to be announced on a weekend, once the details are finalised.

Where is it? The workshop is being held at ShutterClass Studios in Melbourne, details here

Price? $490 covers both days working with the AurumLight Team, materials and instruction. Lunch is not provided, and attendees must bring their own laptops with Photoshop installed. Registration and payment details can be found here
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We’d like to thank:

The team at Paul C Buff Australia for providing the lighting for the event. If you want to see more, check out their site or this article that talks about lighting on our Silver Angel!

More Information/Enquiries
Need more info? Got a question? Please drop us a line on the email below and we’ll get right back to you:
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milk@shutterclass.com
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I hope to see you there!

P.S. Last but not Least!
I would like to say thank you to all who sent us an email from US and are interested in possible workshops there.
We will do what we can to bring the Milk Workshop to you next year! So see you in 2012… Hopefully ;-]

Cheers
Jaroslav
www.AurumLight.com

THE TRIAL by AurumLight Studio

AurumLight Team goes Epic … and Naughty !

We strongly believe that if you are driven by your passion, willing to work hard and always go the Extra Mile you can make your dreams comes true!
This shoot is one of those dream assignments and we really enjoyed working to make it all happen.

“THE TRIAL” is one of our recent conceptual photoshoots which we accomplished here in London and will become a limited calendar which will contain 12 final frames.
We are posting just part of the work here and the complete calendar will be available only in a very limited print.

It’s great to work on a big budget shoot, but the real challenge is to use all your assets and work every frame to a minimum cost!
Because of that I have decided to share a Behind-The-Scenes Video, showing you every detail of our work, from the initial sketch to the final photographs from the day.

“THE TRIAL” – Behind The Scenes video:

This video was made to show you that if you are willing to do all of that – anything is possible – and the only one limitation is in your head… your own imagination!

That shoot differences from our other projects because it is actually the first one which was from day one planned as Black & White and we finally had the pleasure to work on a Phase One camera with P65+ Digital Back, and I absolutely love it!
It is a game changer for me, but I will write more about that on a different occasion.

Last but not least!
The outcome is a result of a very hard work from everyone in the AurumLight Team, and I am really fortunate to work with such passionate and hyped individuals!

I hope you will enjoy the pictures!
[To Enlarge please click on the photo]
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“THE TRIAL” by AurumLight Studio

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Thanks for checking this out and I hope you enjoyed watching how we made our dreams a reality!

Cheers Guys!
Jaroslav
www.AurumLight.com

The Silver Angel Redux – PaulCBuff Einstein E640 Ad

The Silver Angel has landed on my desk today!!

I really believe that if you are passionate about something, doing and giving everything while working hard on your ideas… that’s when good things will happen!

Our Silver Angel illustration was spotted by an absolutely amazing guy… An inventor, constructor, not least an inspiration – Paul Buff.

I am so honoured that he has decided that this artwork is going to be a new advert for the latest Pauls creation, “a light of genius” EINSTEIN E640.

Our images and the story from that post are also featured inside the front cover of Shutterbug magazine!

How cool is that?!

For Paul Buff Einstein™ E640 Advertisements [click here]

The Silver Angel [Click Image to Enlarge]

Cheers
Jaroslav