Help with shadows

[emkayess65]

Hi, this is a work in progress.
I cannot figure out how to attach the shadows to her shoes.
Make a silhouette on a separate layer, fade it and then adjust/attach to her shoes?
Is there an easier way?
Comments on pictures?
Too many people?
Suggestion for a better background?

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1KP38YemSFgEGMbsXNWzQjfyhAj1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1KP38YemSFgEGMbsXNWzQjfyhAj1)
Thanks!
mks

[mljrbg]

This is an adorable montage!! I see the shadows under her shoes so I'm not sure what you mean.

[jjvera00]

Very cute. I really like it.

For the shadows, are you trying to recreate real shadows so that they appear under her shoes like in real life?

I like the drop shadows the way they are though. Try making them a little darker.

Please do get rid rid of the man in the front. He is VERY distracting.

I like the rainbow background. It seems to fit the little girl's personality.

[Wendy]

Hi ...

If you want to make the shadows look more realistic then don't move them so far away from her ... try just moving them from her body over to the right and up (not down) that way the shadow will not show beneath her feet.

Another way is to do a cast shadow ... one that lies across the ground. That you would distort so that it looks like it is on the floor, attach to her shoes and fade it out the further it gets from her body. There is a tutorial in the subscriber area that show you how to do that :)

Wendy

[lsweeney]

I think Wendy has a good idea with the cast shadows on the floor. It would give the appearance of a little more space in the image--think of the difference between the little girl playing in front of a wall immediately behind her and the little girl playing in front of a wall farther away from her. In the first instance, the shadows would be upon the wall. In the second, roomier, instance, the shadows would drop along the floor toward the more distant wall.

[Wendy]

I really like Lorri's idea .. it would give a really nice perspective to the montage :)

Wendy

[emkayess65]

Thanks Mary Lou, Johnny, Wendy and Lorri for your input.
Who knew you cannot erase part of a dropshadow!
You also cannot select and delete part of a dropshadow!
You also should not copy the same layerstyle to all images.
The pictures are extracted from different crowd scenes on the church steps....
So one size does not fit all. :rolleyes:
Thanks Wendy for recommendig your tutorial.
I have used it before with great succss.
I was being lazy.
I will have to rethink the idea - fewer people.
BTW - the big head is Daddy teaching her how to use the bubbles.

Thanks everybody! The help is greatly appreciated.
mks

[jjvera00]

Who knew you cannot erase part of a dropshadow!


Actually you can (sort of). Once you are happy with your drop shadow, you can Simplify the Layer that has the drop shadow, and then use the Eraser Tool to erase the parts of the drop shadow you don't want.

[emkayess65]

Hi Johnny, WOW thanks.!!!!!!!!!!!
I didn't know that.:rolleyes:
Thanks for the tip.
Does that work also for select and delete?
Off to try this out.
This forum is the absolute best!
mks

[Wendy]

Another interesting thing about the drop shadow layer style is that you can move it with the move tool :eek:

Just apply your drop shadow ... then go to the layers palette, double click on the little icon.
When the box comes up on screen, ignore the sliders and instead get the move tool and move the drop shadow to where you want it to be :)

Wendy

[emkayess65]

Hi Wendy, thanks so much. That is a cool tip, moving the shadow.
Can't do it in V5 Elements, won't let me select a tool, but I can do it in CS2.
Guess it's time to start using CS2 regularly.

Thanks for looking in again.
I have been having trouble with drop shadows -
-- just don't know how to formulate a question sometimes.
This has been great - I learned a lot about dropshadows.

Thank you, everyone! I Appreciate the help.
mks

[Wendy]

Hi ...

It works on the Mac with both PSE6 and PSE4 ... so maybe PSE5 doesn't work the same way.

On both if I apply a drop shadow then double click on the layers palette icon it then lets me either move the sliders or move the shadow itself :) ... I really like this way of moving shadows as I find it easier to get the right effect :)

Wendy

[msbrad]

Great shadow tips. I often create my shadow on a totally different layer. Then I am in control of where it goes.
m

[emkayess65]

Hi Wendy, I don't know why I could not get moving the shadows to work in V5.
Because it DOES work in V5.

That is really a cool tip and it lets me do what I want - stitch the shadow to her shoes.
Thanks a lot!
mks

[Wendy]

Oh that is great news ... so glad that you now have it working :)

Wendy