I need help with a photoshop Project, Can any Photoshop Gurus help me out please?

[SamWickens]

Hey gurus!
I'm a very average photoshop..er and this is way out of my depth!
Basically im trying to recreate something like the smoke monster from the TV show "LOST" into a photo of me, I cant get it right at all!
The smoke would be coming from the left side and down to my face like im staring at it.
I was just hoping someone here may be able to do this?
I would be so grateful dudes!
Sam

 

[SamWickens]

Here is the photo I need help with, If anyone could help out i would be so thankful!


MOD Edit: Please upload the image.

 

[SamWickens]

Here is the photo but the resolution isnt the same its smaller quality for uploading

 

[gedstar]

In case anybodies wondering I think this is the smoke monster Sam's referring to

https://www.google.ie/search?q=smok...6YvLAhVGYA8KHdBLCbcQ_AUIBygB&biw=1366&bih=669

 

[kerby]

Here's what I would do.


It would be somewhat difficult to crop the cloud out of any one of those images, so let's make our own! Here is the image I'll be using:


Let's adjust the color first. First invert the color, the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+i.



Some spots are a little bit too light, so let's adjust the levels. Image > Adjustments > Levels.



Next, let's paste it into your image and resize it.



From there you can scale the cloud, duplicate it, rotate it, blend it, etc until you get the desired outcome. Hope this method helps you!

 

[SamWickens]

Still not getting the monster..y effect from it

 

[kerby]

Sam, I noticed that you replied just 7 minutes after my response, did you give the method a try?

 

[SamWickens]

Yeah it worked for the cloud but its trying to get the shape etc to look like the one from lost thats confusing me i tried with brushes but it ends up looking patchy

 

[kerby]

Yeah it worked for the cloud but its trying to get the shape etc to look like the one from lost thats confusing me i tried with brushes but it ends up looking patchy

You can manipulate the cloud in an infinite amount of ways, sometimes it's just about how you duplicate and rearrange the layers to give it the look you're searching for. It's trial and error until you come across something you like.

All I did here was duplicate x2 and rotate the cloud layers:



Let's give it some movement now, Filter > Blur > Motion Blur.


Time for some shadows. I just drew a line with the brush tool and gaussian blurred it, Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur at 25 px.



Next, some color blending. Ctrl + alt + shift + e will create a new layer from visible.

I'm going to run a gradient map (Image > Adjustments > Gradient Map) using green and pale yellow, set layer mode to Darken at 50% opacity.



One more map with purple and orange, layer mode set to Soft Light at 25% opacity.



Another tip is to find more cloud images, maybe some that look closer to the exact cloud on Lost to manipulate rather than my example. The liquify filter can help make edges look more "wispy" or "puffy" if that's the look you're searching for.

Like I said previously, much of the process is trial and error until you are satisfied with the outcome. Just playing with some of these basic Ps functions should increase your comfort level with the program. I hope that reading some of these steps will be helpful for your project Sam!

 

[SamWickens]

Thanks buddy! Gonna be a long night ahead haha! Thank you everyone! Its great having a place where you can ask for advice and not be trolled! Much respect!

 

[IamSam]

Hey Sam, you looking for something more like this?

 

[IamSam]

Well, if so, here's how I did it.

I first found an image with heavy with billowy black smoke.


I then made a selection of the the smoke using the Rectangular Marquis Tool.


I then imported the image into the document containing the subject.
I used free transform to rotate the image.
I turned down the smoke layers opacity so I could see where to place the smoke.


When I had it in place, I duplicated the smoke layer and used the Move Tool to moved the second smoke layer into place.
I tried to make the middle seam match as well as I could to save some time with the Clone Stamp Tool.


I then merged the two smoke layers together.
I added a layer mask to the smoke layers.


On the layer mask, use the Brush Tool set to black with low settings to shape the smoke cloud.
Note the seam.


On a new layer , use the Clone Stamp tool to blend the seam.


Lastly, add in a shadow layer. You can use the Brush Tool for this.