Photoshop masking compositing 2nd edition

Conceptualizing, planning, writing, reviewing, editing,proofing, designing, formatting, printing, and delivering a final product requires a dedicated team oftalented people who may never

Second Edition

Katrin EISMANN Seán DUGGAN James PORTO

Notice of Liability

The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without warranty While every precautionhas been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the authors nor Peachpit shall have any liability toany person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or

indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware productsdescribed in it

Trademarks

Adobe, Lightroom, and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the UnitedStates and/or other countries All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed astrademarks Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim,the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark All other product names and servicesidentified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companieswith no intention of infringement of the trademark No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended

to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book

ISBN 13: 978-0-321-70100-8

ISBN 10: 0-321-70100-3

Printed and bound in the United States of America

For Mark Beckelman—friend, artist, Photoshop fanatic, talented photographer, dedicated family man, and generous teacher You are valued, remembered, and missed a great deal.

—James Porto

We’ve heard it over and over again: “Oh you can fix that in Photoshop” or “Just Photoshop it.” Anyonewho has ever had that cavalier attitude of being able to quickly change this or move that in Photoshopquickly regrets it because what seems like a quick fix turns into hours of work We’ve also heard, “I have

a great idea for a book” or “You should write a book.” Although the bookstores and Amazon pages may

be full of books, writing a book is never a quick, easy, or painless undertaking to take a germ of an ideaand turn it into a 500-plus-page book Most important, writing a book is not the romantic undertaking of alone author toiling away to create a masterpiece Conceptualizing, planning, writing, reviewing, editing,proofing, designing, formatting, printing, and delivering a final product requires a dedicated team oftalented people who may never meet face to face but have one goal in mind—to create a valuable, useful,and in this case inspiring book that will help you understand and master the finest details of masking andcompositing with Adobe Photoshop

inspiring

• Our Technical Editor Wayne (Option-click [Alt-click]) Palmer Knowing that you read the textand tried out all of the exercises helped us avoid many errors and inconsistencies

Best regards, Katrin Eismann, Seán Duggan, James Porto, and our neglected plants, pets, and familymembers

Personal Projects and Series

Proof of Concept

Plan and Photograph

Color Correction Using Gels

Matching a Single Directional Light SourceAnalyzing the Background Image

Selection Preview

Applying a Layer Mask

Refining Layer Masks

11 Fine-Edged Selections

Working with White, Black, and Gray BackdropsMasking on White with Multiply

Bluescreen and Greenscreen Photography

Working with Digital Anarchy Primatte ChromakeyerGreenscreen with Adobe Camera Raw

Foreground, Midground, BackgroundRealistic Compositing

There is a well-known saying that compares painting to photography: Painters include and

photographers exclude Painters begin with a blank canvas and decide what elements to add to create

their interpretation of the scene; every brush stroke and mark on the canvas are gestures of their hand andhave a reason for being there Photographers start with a scene from the world in front of the lens that isoften chaotic and visually cluttered, and through conscious composition, they decide what to exclude untilthe scene is just how they want it

Although the source material begins as photographs, creating a composite image has much in commonwith painting Everything in the image has a purpose, which is to build the story of the scene and createthe message you want to communicate The conscious arrangement of these elements, combined with aunified color and a tonal and textural palette, all help to bring the different elements together into a singleimage

Compositing allows me to create an image that doesn’t exist in reality The collage process lets me

explore ideas and concepts that would be difficult, if not impossible, for me to portray with a straightphotograph A good composite is like an intriguing doorway, partly open—an invitation to viewers tocome inside and see what they can find When you view a composite, you pick up a conceptual thread left

by the artist and follow it to see where it leads

Creating composites on the computer requires not only a creative vision, but also the technical knowhowneeded to implement that vision This book provides the reader with the necessary technical foundation ofthe essential techniques and considerations required for masking and compositing in Adobe Photoshop.Katrin Eismann, Seán Duggan, and James Porto are dedicated photographers, artists, and educators

They’ve been compositing images for many years and have learned how to master the digital tools so thatthe technical part of the process doesn’t get in the way of their creative vision Whether you want to

create composites yourself or are shooting the source images and having someone else do the

compositing, this book is an ideal guide for anyone who wants to learn the art of combining differentimages together

Photoshop Masking & Compositing is certain to broaden your horizons as to what is possible when more

than one photograph is combined into a new image With the techniques covered in these chapters, you canlearn to create your own composites that will become those intriguing invitations to explore—those

delicate conceptual threads to leave for others to discover and follow as they view your images

—Julieanne Kost

Principal Evangelist, Photoshop and Lightroom, Adobe Systems, Inc

© Julieanne Kost

We photograph to explore Each time we raise a camera to our eyes, we see two worlds, our interiorworld and of course the exterior world that the camera lens is focused on We photograph what catchesour eye; what is important to us; the ideas and questions we are trying to express and resolve; and in manycases what a client is paying us to photograph Each person has a unique point of view, and even if wewere all in the same place at the same time with the identical camera and lens combination, what we eachperceive, frame, and create would be uniquely different

We work with Photoshop to refine and deepen our exploration of our imagination, to create, and to makethe unreal very real Being a visual artist requires you to see (not look), be honest (not cynical), be

curious (not stubborn), and be open to exploration, learning, making mistakes, and starting over again.Being a visual artist involves showing the world what is important to you, and with each image you areportraying yourself

Collaboration and Update

The first edition of this book was released in October 2004, and as you know, Photoshop has been

updated and improved upon at a geometric rate since then What took hours of work in 2004, such aspulling a fine-detailed mask can now be accomplished in a few minutes with the Refine Edge controls.But one thing remains the same—visual talent requires time and practice to develop confidence and skills

On that note, I asked and was greatly thankful that Seán Duggan and James Porto agreed to collaboratewith me on updating this book Seán, who is an outstanding educator and fine artist, concentrated on the

“Creative Compositing” and many “Essential Skills” chapters Jim, who brings decades of photographicand commercial experience, focused on the “Photography,” “Lighting,” and “Photorealistic” chapters Ihad the pleasure to write the “Art of Compositing” chapter and then delve into the finer points of the

“Channels” and “Fine-edged Masking” chapters In all honesty, I would not have updated this book

without Seán and Jim, and I owe them more thanks than I can ever express They both put many more longnights and countless weekends into this book than they had imagined they would I’m sure that there is aneffigy doll full of pins in it that bears an uncanny resemblance to me on their desks Ouch and thank you!

Is this Book Right for You?

This book is right for you if you enjoy working with photographs, and have ideas to express and explore

by combining multiple images This book is right for you if you’re excited by the possibility of staying uplate at night to finesse a perfect mask or to combine images in new and unusual ways Masking and

compositing requires flexibility and dedication: There is no “make great art” button on your keyboard,and it often takes a few attempts and approaches to get an image right

This book is not for you if you don’t have the time, curiosity, or patience to read through the examples, trythem out, and then—just as we push our students—take the techniques further by applying them to yourown images

If you’re a Windows user, don’t let that deter you from this book Photoshop functionality, for the greatestpart, is identical on the Macintosh and Windows platforms All the features discussed in the book areavailable on both platforms, and the interface is nearly identical When offering keyboard shortcuts, wegive you both Macintosh and Windows commands The command for Macintosh appears first, followed

by the command for Windows, which appears in parentheses, like this: Command+Option+X

(Ctrl+Alt+X)

The Structure of the Book

Creating art is part craft and part imagination—one without the other gives you lifeless and banal results.With this book, we address both—sometimes with words, but many times more quietly and effectively byfeaturing images created by professional photographers, creative artists, and a number of our students Weare fortunate that they trust us with their work and that we all can benefit from the insights and talent thatthe images reveal New to this edition of the book is the “Artist in the First Person”—a double-pageinterview featuring one artist, photographer, or illustrator’s images and insights

This book should really be called Photoshop Vision, Photography, Selections, Masking, and

Compositing, but that title would be too long to fit on the spine of the book! However, the four sections of

the book reflect how important and interrelated creative vision, photography, selections, masking, andcompositing really are:

selections, layers, layer and channel masking, and maintaining fine details The final part of the book isdivided into two chapters—“Creative Compositing” and “Photorealistic Compositing,” and even if youprefer one type of composite over the other, we recommend that you don’t skip a single page, because thesame skill or technique can be used to work on and create a wide variety of images

Each chapter starts with a brief overview of what is covered in the chapter We always start with a

straightforward example that leads to more advanced examples You may be tempted to jump to the moreadvanced sections right away, but we don’t recommend it The introductory examples serve as the

foundation for the advanced examples, building on the same tools and techniques

Although this book was an ambitious project from the very start, there are many Photoshop aspects we donot cover We concentrated on the (for us) most exciting aspects of image making—combining,

We used the latest version of Photoshop CS6 when writing this book If you are working with earlierversions, you will still learn a lot, because the most important tools for masking and compositing—layers,alpha channels, and blending modes—are a part of previous versions And this book will also be usefullong after the next release of Photoshop

Tutorial Files and Pen Tool Chapter

Please visit and bookmark www.peachpit.com/pmc2e to download the tutorial images Many chaptershave up to 12 JPEG images that you can download to work and learn along with as you read the book.Posted images are signified by an icon and a name in the book, such as

For those specific images that we didn’t have permission to post on the book’s website, we recommendthat you use similar images from your own photo collections to follow along Although you won’t be usingthe exact image we used, the issues being addressed are so universal that we’re sure you’ll be able tolearn the techniques using your own images After all, you’ll probably be branching out to your own

images sooner rather than later

Due to page count and print quality, we opted to update and post the “Pen Tool Power” chapter on thebook’s website at www.peachpit.com/pmc2e The PDF is laid out exactly like the book, and we hope itallows you to call the Pen tool a friend, not your foe!

Note to Educators

This book was built around the techniques that we have taught over the years to the numerous students inour digital- and creative-imaging classes We hope that this book can help you teach Photoshop, and thatthe examples and images we have provided will help you learn and demonstrate the concepts and

techniques of masking and compositing As teachers, we’re sure you know how much time and work isinvolved in creating exercises and preparing materials that fulfill all the needs of a classroom We ask thatyou respect our work and the work of the many contributors and imaging professionals featured in thisbook by not copying pages of the book, distributing any images from the website, or otherwise

reproducing the information, even if paraphrased, without proper attribution and permission Of course, ifstudents own their own copies of the book, they can freely download and use images from the website inthe classroom

Closing Thoughts

expression We create images to explore, discover, reveal, and express ourselves, and they often end upbeing more profound than our words We hope this book inspires and encourages you to discover, create,

Best regards, Katrin Eismann, Seán Duggan, James Porto authors@photoshopmasking.com

Inspire: Seeing & Creating

1 The History of Compositing

2 The Creative Process

Artists have been combining drawings, photos, paintings, remnants, and found objects for centuries Thedigital tools and techniques that this book describes are an important addition to the practice of

envisioning, combining, and discovering images that uniquely express the subconscious and conscious

No one lives in a vacuum, least of all artists whose eyes and very beings thrive on viewing images andexploring ideas for substance and inspiration

As artists and educators, you appreciate the importance of understanding the history, terminology, andcontemporary practices of the art form in which you are a part For example, you enjoy visiting

contemporary art galleries because they inspire and inform you as to what is relevant in the contemporaryarts We’re not suggesting that you look at someone else’s work and copy it, but instead that you see howthe many past and presently practicing image makers have investigated similar ideas and issues, and learnfrom their examples and solutions Or as Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727) succinctly put it, “If I have seen

a little further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Appreciate where you have come from inorder to know where you are going

To create successful composites and collaged images, it is essential to value the history of compositingand understand the basic vocabulary of your chosen art form Before we get into the nuts and bolts ofAdobe Photoshop, we’ll take a brief foray into the history of combining images, discuss composite

Due to image copyright and licensing requirements, we cannot feature all of the historical imagesaddressed in this chapter We hope that the references inspire you to look up, search, and visit

galleries and museums to appreciate the work of the many artists mentioned in this chapter who

inspire our creativity

Nonphotographic Collages

People have been gluing, sticking, stitching, and attaching disparate objects to a variety of surfaces formany centuries, such as adding valuable jewels and gemstones to religious artifacts and coats of arms On

a less expensive note, quilting—the art of combining cloth remnants into complex and meaningful patterns

—is enjoying a true renaissance Quilts that were once discarded are now valuable collector’s items andshown in museums The practice of scrapbooking is also enjoying immense popularity, as young familieseven in this digital age gather to glue, notate, and memorialize family events, such as children’s births,first day of school, and other similar rites of passage

In the early twentieth century Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) and Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) createdartwork with discarded or found objects Their works influenced Louise Nevelson, Joseph Cornell, andRobert Rauschenberg, who all worked with what most people at that time would consider trash to createunique artwork that has in turn influenced countless artists and achieved great critical acclaim Theseartists encourage us to be inspired by source materials that are in our basements, in our garages, and even

on the curb on trash day For example, Louse Nevelson (1899–1988) created stunning sculptures out ofdiscarded blocks of wood that she most often painted a monotone white or black Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) created beautiful assemblage boxes that remain quirky, beautiful, and intriguing, and have

motivated many artists to take a second look into the back of kitchen drawers and attics to see what

hidden objects they have to tell their personal stories with In fact, Katrin’s mother Carol (1922–present)used such objects to create her autobiographical boxes (FIGURE 1.1)

Figure 1.1 Carol Eismann’s exploration of feminine roles and identity.

Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) was an incredibly prolific artist who worked with paint, silk-screenprinting, and sculpture His multilayered approach of juxtaposing images of contemporary media acrossand on top of one another was a precursor to the Pop Art of the 1960s Among his most important worksare the “Combines” in which he gathered found objects and integrated them with one another to createsomething new He enjoyed the use of the found object, as he perfectly expressed, “I wanted to use thegenerosity of finding surprises And if it wasn’t a surprise at first, by the time I got through with it, it was

Cubism, and Abstract painting to develop and flourish But just because painting was liberated did notguarantee that photography would or could record reality perfectly In fact, it couldn’t Even in the earliest

In the nineteenth century, photographic materials were overly blue sensitive and couldn’t differentiatebetween sky and clouds, causing the skies to be very white and uninteresting Photographers used

combination printing to add skies, as Camille Silvy (1834–1910) did with his highly regarded river

scenes in the 1850s The difference clouds make to a landscape was well described by a contemporarycritic of Silvy, “A sky should convey the effect of space, not surface; the eye should gaze into, not upon it;and instead of coming forward and throwing back every other object, it should retire and bring the

landscape into prominence.” Landscapes without skies, with only a uniform white tone above the ground,were found wanting by critics They lacked atmosphere But the blue sensitive negatives of the time madelandscapes with skies an almost impossible challenge

Oscar Gustave Rejlander (1813–1875) used multiple exposures and combination printing to choreographand create complex images, which even today would be impossible to take with a single exposure One ofthe most famous examples of an early photo composite of Rejlander’s is “Two Ways of Life” (1857),which was made from over 30 glass plate negatives (FIGURE 1.2) The image portrays a sage who isguiding two young men toward adulthood On the left a lusty young man eagerly looks at a life of wine,woman, and gambling; on the right side the young man sees a life of family, hard work, and faith It may bedifficult to comprehend, but at this time in history the sight of naked people created quite a stir When theimage was displayed in Scotland, the left side of the image was covered with a cloth In 1860, Rejlandercreated a scandalous composite image called “The Bachelor’s Dream,” which portrayed a young manlying on a daybed as he fantasizes about the scantily clad and tiny woman climbing on the ribbing of awoman’s corset Viewers were incensed by the blatant sexuality Although Rejlander is considered thefather of fine art photography, he died in absolute poverty

Figure 1.2 Oscar Gustave Rejlander “Two Ways of Life,” 1858.

Henry Peach Robinson (1830–1901) studied with Rejlander His images started with sketches and

drawings in which he worked out complex scenes Robinson’s pictures told stories, including the famous

“Fading Away” (1858) in which a young woman is seen lying on her deathbed surrounded by her motherand sister, as the distraught father gazes out the window (FIGURE 1.3) The image struck a deep nerve inVictorian Europe, because deaths of children and young family members were personally experienced bymost families Viewers were incensed that the photographer had been privy to and profited from such apersonal event, even though the image was of willing models and at least five different glass plates were

Figure 1.3 Henry Peach Robinson “Fading Away,” 1858.

Well into the late nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century, photographers were compositing

or double-exposing images to create trick photos of people with two heads; people standing in boats,including Bobby Leach, who was the second person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel

(FIGURE 1.4); and the very popular spirit photographs, which often portrayed a seer who could

communicate with the deceased who were shown floating in the background (FIGURE 1.5) Perhapsmost famous are the five images of the Cottingley Fairies that were “photographed” in 1916–17 by twoyoung girls, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright, who lived in Cottingley, England The photographs

Figure 1.5 Spirit photo Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, DC

20540

As artists and photographers, we cannot rush to judgment and quickly discount these seemingly crudeattempts at photorealism with our Photoshop-induced superiority and hindsight It is important to

understand the roots of our art form and to appreciate that the times of our great-grandparents were moreinnocent, and in regard to photographic images, less sophisticated

The Twentieth Century: Dada

The nineteenth century saw the dawn of photography Much of the work was dedicated to working aroundtechnical limitations and simply showing what photography could do It wasn’t until after World War I thatartists began to use montage as a truly new art form—one that tore, questioned, and challenged existingperceptions The Dadaists in Berlin, including Raoul Hausman, Hannah Höch, Kurt Schwitters, and JohnHeartfield (1891–1968), worked with photomontage to question the status quo Of this group, HannahHöch (1889–1978) continued working with photomontage until her death In fact, she rejected the literaland what she deemed the tendentious political work of the group’s most well-known member, John

Heartfield

Born in 1891 as Helmut Herzfeld, Heartfield anglicized his German name to protest World War I Not one

to shy away from expressing his political views, Heartfield exposed and criticized Adolf Hitler’s

Heartfield’s critical images as featured in the groundbreaking magazine the AIZ (Arbeiter Illustrierte

Zeitung) or Workers Illustrated Magazine Heartfield’s work was banned during the Third Reich and

then rediscovered in the late 1950s Since then, his powerful use of image and type has greatly influencedmany artists and graphic designers Katrin had the good fortune to visit a retrospective of John

Heartfield’s work, which taught her two lessons: First, whenever possible, it is essential to see artwork

in the first person, not on the web or in a book but in a gallery or museum Second, she was fascinated byhow he used mundane newspaper images and cut and pasted them into place To create the final image, hephotographed the montages and retouched the copy negatives to conceal the seams that were so obvious inthe original pieces

The Twentieth Century: Surrealism

World War 1 had soaked the European continent with blood, and the war to end all wars had forever

changed the established social, political, and economic systems The darkest, irrational aspects of warhad been exposed to the world through the press and film Taking impetus from Dada, surrealists,

including the artists Man Ray (1890–1976) and Méret Oppenheim (1916–1985) as well as filmmakersLuis Buñuel (1890–1983) and Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), were part of a wide-reaching and influentialart movement whose characteristics included exploring shocking juxtaposition and the surprising use ofthe absurd

In the early twentieth century, Emmanuel (“Manny”) Radnitzky’s family changed its surname to Ray due to

a deep fear of anti-semitism, and Manny took on the moniker of Man Ray Man Ray had ties to both Dadaand Surrealism, and although he considered himself a painter, he is most often remembered as an avant-garde photographer who created compelling photograms (images created in the darkroom on

photosensitive materials without a camera) In fact, he coined the term rayographs or rayograms Theimages are ethereal renderings of familiar objects, such as bottles, glasses, and scissors layered on top ofone another to create images of Man Ray’s imagination Many credit his lover and muse Lee Miller

(1907–1977)—a fashion model and photographer who also explored Surrealism—with influencing Ray’sart As the story goes, she accidentally exposed one of Man Ray’s images to light by opening the

darkroom door, which resulted in the first solarized image—a technique that Ray used quite often

thereafter

Man Ray’s grave in Cimetière de Montparnasse in Paris (FIGURE 1.6) is an oft-visited site for art

lovers, and as the headstone says, “unconcerned but not indifferent.”

Figure 1.6 Man Ray’s final resting place.

Try It

Serendipity, experimentation, and making mistakes are the best ways to learn So the next time yourush to Undo a step in Photoshop, take a moment to look at it with a fresh eye and learn from it

The list of artists and photographers influenced by Man Ray is lengthy and continues to grow Two ofKatrin’s favorites include Maurice Tabard (1897–1984) and Lucas Blalock Tabard, a French fashionphotographer, printed through multiple negatives to create images that do not exist in a recognizable space

or time; Blalock, a young, contemporary photographer, frenetically and wonderfully mixes and matchessubject and materials

The Twentieth Century: Darkroom Masters

In the late 1950s, two American photographers were beginning to emerge as montage artists Jerry

Uelsmann (FIGURES 1.7 and 1.8) and Duane Michals (1932–present) composed evocative, dreamlikeimages with traditional black-and-white materials Michals is best known for his image sequences thatoften include handwritten text According to Michals, “to illustrate grief by taking a picture of a womancrying does not aid the observer in understanding what it is truly like to experience deep sadness Instead,the photographer must help the viewer feel what the woman feels by tracing the woman’s pain with

photographs, text, icons, or anything else that brings the audience closer to the actual experience It’s thedifference between reading a hundred love stories and actually falling in love”

Artist in the First Person : Jerry Uelsmann

Although Jerry works in the darkroom to create his original images, he takes advantage of thequality of large-format inkjet prints A few years ago at the AIPAD (Association of InternationalPhotography Art Dealers) art fair in Miami, my husband and I suddenly stopped in front of a

stunning 30- by 40-inch large-format, black-and-white print Both John and I instantly recognizedthe work of Jerry Uelsmann, the master of traditional darkroom compositing But we simply

couldn’t imagine Jerry working in the darkroom to produce such a large print (FIGURE 1.9) Thesheer size of the paper and required developer and fixer trays would make handling such a printunwieldy

compositing artist whose work we’ll introduce later in this chapter, goes to her computer and Jerry

enters his darkroom where they each work for hours to examine and create fabulous images AsJerry says, “Simply stated, my hidden agenda is to amaze myself.” We’ll address “working as anartist” in Chapter 2, “The Creative Process.” But one important fact we can tell you right now isthat to be a successful artist, it is essential to maintain a regular schedule and a working

would integrate with each other, so that when the elements were scaled to the desired size, theirgrain size would match This required a lot of planning and using a variety of cameras and filmformats For example, sometimes I would have to duplicate a 2 ¼ image up to 8×10-inch film toget the scale right

2 I would then make a sketch by tracing the image elements onto a clear piece of 8×10-inch film and

punch pin registration holes in it Using this as a base, I would position each piece of film that was

to be combined onto a separate sheet of registration-punched, black, opaque film, and then cut asmall window for the image

3 I would overlay a frisket (similar to a layer mask) of plastic adhesive film onto the image and

precisely cut it to the edge of the image Removing the waste film, I would paint around the imagewith black opaque, let it dry, and then remove the frisket to create a single element component

4 For the cigarette stomp image ( FIGURE 1.14), I made a mask for the cigarette, the figure, and thebuilding by exposing a sheet of Kodalith or Pan Kodalith film with the pin-registered element onblack, resulting in a clear piece of film with a black image of the element in exact registration Atthis point, I had three elements—the cigarette, guy, and building—and three corresponding masks(which appear very much like the alpha channels in Photoshop), as well as the last image element

—an 8×10 duplicate of the sky

dupe film The smoke exposure was a separate exposure with no mask

Jim concludes, “You can see how laborious this process is This particular image took over a month tocreate Given that Photoshop wasn’t showing up for at least seven or eight years, it was a nice way to getstriking, conceptual, multi-image composites when almost no one was willing (or crazy enough) to makethese types of images (FIGURE 1.15) The amazing thing is that all the techniques learned in the

Figure 1.16 Working on self-assigned projects, James Porto explored advertising and information overload, and collaborated with the Blacksnow fashion company to explore fashions via dance.

Analog to Digital History

The years ranging from the 1970s to the 1990s were a hotbed of innovation and development: Kodak andSony were working on electronic cameras, Apple Computer was founded, and Xerox PARC was

encouraging researchers to be innovative In addition, graphical software, such as MacPaint, SuperPaint,and PageMaker, was being developed All showed the way for the creative use of computers

Although the early 1990s were heady times, average desktop computers couldn’t support high-resolutionfiles, and most photographers were hesitant to give up the proven quality of film to work on low-

resolution files on slow computers Eastman Kodak, the leader in the imaging field, understood the value

of education and inspiration, and created the Kodak Center for Creative Imaging (CCI) in Camden, Maine.Here, people from all around the world could take classes and workshops in digital photography, desktoppublishing, and multimedia (FIGURE 1.17) Katrin had the honor of being the first intern at CCI Lookingback she sees CCI as being the digital Bauhaus where many artists, photographers, software engineers,and instructors came together to explore the possibilities of the newest digital media Some of the notableartists and designers that came to or taught at CCI included Russell Brown, JP Caponigro, Paul Davis,Linnea Dayton, Milton Glaser, Mac Holbert, Stephen Johnson, Jeff Schewe, Jay Maisel, Graham Nash,Grant Peterson, Gary Panter, Sharon Steuer, and Lynda Weinman

experimentation with creating altered but ‘photoreal’ realities via photocomposition I originallyused traditional methods—multiple exposures on film (in-camera and in the darkroom) and

traditional print compositing on dye transfers and Cibachrome prints

“In 1987, Tony Redhead, a partner in Electric Paint, approached me He had just finished workwith Quantel to modify Paintbox, which was primarily used for television commercials and musicvideos, to produce the higher-resolution files required for print advertisements This new softwareand required hardware was a powerful and expensive setup with a 35-inch Sony High Definition