Photoshop Tutorial No. 003

Shadow Diffusion

In the far off days before the dawn of digital photography, photographers were forced to use that old fashioned medium called film. The production of prints from this strange medium required the use of a darkroom, a secret space where the photographer practiced what were known as the "black arts". Every so often a cry of "Eureka!" would emanate from within the hallowed space and the world would understand that another great masterpiece had just been born. It wasn't unusual for the photographer/printer to place a mesh such as a ladies nylon stocking over the enlarger lens in order to diffuse the highlights. Less commom though was the practice of using a black nylon over the camera lens in order to diffuse the shadows rather than the highlights. Thankfully, we now have an easier way to do the same job in the comfort of our own living room and using our computer. Here's how to, using Photoshop.

1. Open your image and immediately duplicate the background

2. With the duplicate layer highlighted, go to, Image....Adjustments....Invert

3. Now, go to, Filter...Distort.... Diffuse Glow

Try figures of 4, 5 and 15 in the resultant dialogue box

4. Now, go back again to, Image....Adjustments....Invert

5. This has now reverted your image back to a positive

6. If necessary, reduce the opacity of the duplicate layer to suit your own taste.

7. Now, flatten your image and save

Note that in your resultant image the shadows will have diffused or spread into the highlights