3.21. Maximizing the mundane

While certain photographers may be strongly associated with one genre, many shoot personal images of other kinds, too. Usually thought of as a fashion photographer, Irving Penn created a stir with pictures of discarded cigarettes and decaying fruits and vegetables, and also undertook a series of ethnographic studies. More recently, Bob Carlos Clarke, best known for erotic portraiture, applied his eye to forks and mundane objects washed up on a tidal riverbank. Such photographers lend glamor and a surprisingly timeless quality to their sometimes unlikely subjects.

Pick your subject carefullyan ideal subject is one that is commonplace, often overlooked, with interesting form; I chose asparagus spears. A squareformat print would be most appropriate, as would an expensive platinum printing process. Luckily, with Photoshop, we can emulate this style perfectly well without the same level of investment.

What could be better than an edible subject?

Not the most elaborate studio setup, but certainly an effective one.

For the new background, scan in some expensive writing paper, coated with oil, to simulate the platinum look.

Activate the Eyedropper tool and click a background pixel. In this image, the red will become the Foreground Color in the Toolbox. Choose Select > Color Range. The Color Range dialog box shows all pixels matching the foreground color. By holding down the Shift key, you can add other colors to the selected area. The Alt/Opt key has the opposite effect. I like to switch between the options in Selection Preview-sometimes Black Matte is most appropriate, at other times Quick Mask is best to show which areas are selected. When the selection looks good, click OK. In the Layers palette, double-click the Background layer to make it a normal layer, and click the "Add layer mask" icon at the bottom of the layers palette. The layer mask probably won't be perfect, and may contain scattered individual pixels. These will be easier to clean up if you view the layer mask on its own, so hold down the Alt/Opt key and click the mask in the Layers palette. On the mask, paint with black to hide any remaining pixels. Boost the mask's contrast by applying Image > Adjustments > Levels. Push the black point slider a long way to the right, which will mean far fewer spots to paint out. When your mask is sufficiently accurate, click the image thumbnail in the Layers palette and move on. The layer mask can be fine-tuned later. Open your background image, drag its thumbnail from the Layers palette, and drop it in the subject's window. Name the resulting layer "Paper" and move it to the bottom of the layer stack. Zoom out a little to give yourself more room around the image, and activate the Crop tool. Hold down the Shift key and drag in one movement to make a square-format crop. At first, the mouse will stop at the edges of the image, but release it and then drag again, still holding the Shift key. Now you can compose the imagein this instance, increasing the canvas to the right of the spears. Resize and position the background using Edit > Free Transform. In the Layers palette, click the "Create new fill or adjustment layer" icon and select Channel Mixer. Check Monochrome and adjust the channel sliders until you achieve a strongly textured black-and-white look. To adjust image contrast, add a Curves adjustment layer. Lift the curve to increase overall brightness, then drag down a point near the curve's lower end. This produces a gentle S curve that increases contrast. When your image is a composite, a single contrast adjustment may not be right for each original picture. So, for this image, add a Curves adjustment layer immediately above the Paper layer, so that only the paper's contrast is affected. Add a second Curves layer directly above the asparagus spears and hold the Alt/Opt key as you click the line separating them. This groups the layers and means that the new Curves layer only affects the asparagus. For a final touch, add a thick border. Add a new layer at the top of the stack, use Select > All and then click Edit > Stroke. This draws a line along the edge of your selectionset a suitable width and click OK. Objects often look better in groups of three. Asparagus spears have subtle curves and can be photographed just as they are, or glistening with a spray of oil or water.