IRON MAN
For this shoot I again decided to shoot outdoors to make use of the natural light and shadows which I was looking to use to add natural depth to my photographs. I used a background of cement building blocks to give the appearance of buildings along with newly excavated earth and the roots and weeds. The sunlight was quite bright so I was able to use a low ISO during the shoot which kept the pictures sharp and not grainy.
In this shoot I placed an Ironman figure, sitting him on a ledge on the blocks. I chose to keep the focus sharp on the image as it was not implying motion. By taking the picture at eye level I could keep the image cropped so that the illusion of a building ledge was maintained.
I edited these shots in Adobe Lightroom by decreasing the highlights (-16) and the shadows (-14). On the colours I increased the vibrance (+59). I really wanted to enhance all the details of the model so I used the texture (+17) to emphasise every small detail along with switching up the detail setting to (41) and using the sharpening tool (53).These settings had the effect of bringing the texture of the concrete blocks into sharp focus and actually highlighted some blue flecks in the concrete adding to the picture.
Using Magic Eraser I removed the background from a royalty free Avengers symbol and then in Procreate I decreased the opacity to make the image more see through. I airbrushed the image to blur the edges. I transferred this image into the original Ironman image using Phonto to create the final image.
For the second series of Ironman images I cropped the original image to bring the focus in entirely on the figure. I then edited the image in Adobe Lightroom adding a vignette effect and increasing the vibrance (+32) and texture (+39) on the image. I used an image of Ironman’s reactor and removed the background using Procreate and added this edited image to my Ironman photograph. Using the luminescence settings I used the flare pen to add the glowing effect to the reactor and the lightpen to make the figures eyes glow.
I was pleased with the editing effects I managed to make on these images. I feel that the extra details increase the realism of the photographs and give them extra dimension.
WANDA AND VISION
In the image of Scarlet Witch and Vision take from below it looks like they are on top of a building and Vision is clambering up to the top. I increased the vibrance (+39) on the image and added a slight vignette to the edges in Adobe Lightroom. As the Scarlet Witch’s power comes from her hands I decided to edit these in Procreate luminescence settings and used the flare pen to give them the glow. I really like this as it has the effect of making the image feel like something is about to happen.
In my shoot I also used the excavated earth as a set along with the Marvel action figures of Vision and Scarlet Witch models. The rough earth, roots and small weeds made the perfect backdrop for this shoot and I used small twigs as props for the figures. Once again I took the photographs from eye level or slightly below as this technique helps to add realism to the toy photography.
In the final set of images I selected from this shoot I used the natural light from “golden hour” to illuminate the figures and create the natural shadows seen in the images. In the first image I used a small twig as a prop and the weeds and earth created a natural background to the picture. I slightly altered the highlights and contrast in this image along with the vibrance (+63). I like this shot as there is implied motion and it almost looks like a still from a movie.
My favourite images from this shoot are the ones of Vision. As I shot from as low down as possible the foreground and background are slightly blurred but the details of the subject figure are very sharp. He is positioned as if he has just landed of the ground and the natural lighting just enhances this. I increased the highlights and textures on these images as well as sharpening them (+43) in Adobe Lightroom.
The combination of the golden light, the excavated earth and the positioning of the figure makes these the most realistic of the images that I shot. I feel that there is an energy to this photograph as if it is a moment captured.
I really liked the effect of shooting the figures from below so I zoomed in on the Scarlet Witch figure. This showed all of the details in the figure which I then enhanced in Adobe Lightroom increasing the highlights (+29) and vibrance (+70). I added a small vignette to draw the eye to the figure and decrease the effect of the background which was not as pleasing to the eye. I sharpened the image (+92) and increased the detail (+44). I then put the edited image into Procreate to add the special effects. I used the light brush and flare brush to add the effects to her head piece, eyes and hands. In the second image once I had done this I added a cloud effect to the image using the cloud pen changing the colour to red. I used a similar approach to an image I edited from a viewpoint further below the figure. In this case the cloud effect looks quite menacing against the blue sky of the background.
In the movies Scarlet Witch creates a red glow of energy and I think that the effects I have added in Procreate simulate this quite well.
