I began this project by downloading the provided files from 3D GameLab, and opening them in Photoshop. The first step was to combine all of the pictures into the same document, because they were all initially opened in separate projects. I did this by creating a new document using a 800x600 image size specific for use on the web. Once my main document was created I used the Move tool to drag each provided sample photo into my new document, and releasing the mouse.
Now I had one single Photoshop document with the four individual pictures, but I also noticed I had five different layers indistinctly name layer 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. I knew this was going to be confusing so I renamed each layer to something I could easily recognize: Background, Hills, Aspen, Stream, and Fence. When I created my document I used a transparent background, but I knew I wanted to change it by adding some color. I clicked to select my background layer, then clicked on the Paint Bucket tool to color the entire layer white. The solid white color seemed a bit too plain, so I added a Pattern Overlay layer Style to the Background layer to give it some character. I didn't find a pattern I cared for, so I clicked on the small button inside the Pattern Picker box to append more pattern options to the dialogue box. I finally decided on Canvas for the pattern type.
The photos layered over my background layer looked quite boring because there was no depth to the photos. I used the Move tool to move my Aspen picture into place, opened the layer style dialogue box and added a drop shadow to give the photo a 3D look over the canvas background. I liked the effect, so I used Shift + Alt to copy the effect to the remaining three pictures. Note that I sometimes use a Mac laptop with a Windows keyboard, so some of my key combinations may sound unusual. My next step was to move all of the photos into proper position over my background layer. I clicked on the layer I wanted to move, clicked on the Move tool icon, and moved each photo into place. After my initial move I wasn't pleased with the results because each corner of the photo as on the same layer as the other. Meaning, one entire photo was either completely underneath or completely over the other photo. I wanted each photo corner to overlap different, much like you can image folding a cardboard box would look. So, I drug each photo into different positions in the layers field until I found my desired look.
I added my name to the project by selecting the Horizontal Type tool, clicking inside the document, and typing. I changed the font size to 36 and type to Verdana because I wanted to use a screen font to make it easily readable. Like the picture issue I mentioned above, the text lacked depth and looked very plain. I double-clicked on the font layer which opened the Layer Style box and added a drop shadow with a normal blend mode to help the text stand out more. It seemed like the default settings for the drop shadow made the text too blurry, so I changed the shadow to a distance of 2px, spread of 0px, and size of 5px. This darkened the shadow by reducing the distance of the shadow from the text while also decreasing the spread of the shadow.
With the background, layout, and text set I went back and focused on retouching the pictures themselves. To help concentrate on a single picture, I turned off the visibility by clicking on the eye icon beside each layer except for the Aspen photo. The photo was small so I used "Command +" on my keyboard to zoom in on the document. I opened the Hue/Saturation settings by clicking on Image, Adjustments, Hue/Saturation and increased the hue to +5 to darken the green elements in the photo. I also decreased the lightness to -7 to create more contrast between the light and dark areas of the photo. Next, I turned the visibility of the Aspen layer off and turned on my Fence layer. For this layer I wanted to increase the intensity of the green grass and the blue sky. So I clicked on Image, Adjustments, Color Balance. For the midtones color balance I slid the green color level to +50, which added more color to the grass for better tone. I wanted to darken the clouds and tried using the Dodge tool, but I didn't like the results. I chose the Magic Wand tool and clicked on an area of the sky to select the clouds. Then I held Control and clicked, and selected "Similar" from the pop-up menu to select the rest of the clouds. I did this because I didn't want my color adjustments to affect any other colors in the picture. Once everything was selected that I wanted to adjust, I opened the Levels box and slid the midtones adjustment bar to the right (toward black) to darken the clouds. I decided to save my selection in case I decided to adjust the clouds later. I did this by clicking on Selection, Save Selection and naming it "clouds". Then I pressed "Command + D" to deselect the selection. The Hills photo was very whitewashed. My first adjustment was darkening the clouds and adding more definition by using Dodge tool. The picture also seemed to be out of focus so I used the Sharpen tool (Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen) which added more detail to the silhouette of the trees. I actually liked the results so much that I added the Sharpen filter to all of the photos. To make the hills have a better feel I added a Vibrance adjustment and set the level to +64. I also increased the Saturation level to +10. For my last photo, the Stream picture, I added an Exposure adjustment and reduced the offset which removed some whitewash and increased the saturation of the trees. To give the water more character I added a Hue/Saturation adjustment and used the eyedropper tool to set the color adjustment to match the water. I changed the hue level to +3 which darkened the water tone.
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