I had a few people ask for a tutorial for this particular edit, I don't feel completely comfortable laying out my entire actions or posting the tiff file. This may seem silly but I have been making graphics since the good old live journal days and it has taken a long time to find my style. Below the cut I have included a kind of mini-tutorial to lay the base work for making this kind of image but I haven't included all the actions I take in Photoshop.
Step 1 > Find high-res images to use, in some cases I use the background already included (the Alayne image) or mask the figure on to a new background (the Sansa image). Generally I work full size and then size down/crop once I am happy with the composition. I do this because it is easier to see the edges you are masking at high-res.
Step 1 Image
Step 2 > From here on I will be only explaining the Alayne image as it was specifically requested. After I was happy with the base image I copied it on to a new layer and inverted it (Image > Adjustments > Invert) and set it to ‘Screen’ and shifted the layer over. I then masked out the face and part of the figure to achieve the ‘ghost’ look on Alayne’s gown.
Step 2 image
Step 3 > I duplicated this ‘Screen’ layer and set it to ‘Multiple’ to darken the grass/background area.
Step 3 image
Step 4 > Here I added an image of a mountain, I mostly get my images from Google or Pinterest. I set this layer to ‘Multiply’, earlier I made Alayne’s gown white (Step 2) so that this layer would be visible (Multiply layers are more visible on lighter colors)
Step 4 image
Step 5 > The next few layers are brightening and color correction. In this case I used a Curve adjustment layer to brighten the whites and add contrast, then I enhanced the saturation, and used a Color Fill layer to tone it blue.
Step 5 image
Step 6 > This is where I get a bit more creative with edits, usually once I am happy with the color and brightness I will enhance with different textures. Then I will sharpen or add noise depending on the edit, I always do this before incorporating text.
Step 6 image
Step 7 > Finally I added the text, ‘Alayne Stone’ is written in the font ‘Red Velvet’ and ‘is coming down’ is written with ‘Futura’.
Step 7 image
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask :)
