Image 1 Process: Vaporwave
The edits for the vaporwave image began with establishing a color palette and applying it to the portrait. Vaporwave often incorporates neon pinks and blues, and seldom includes natural skin tones, which so the same gradient was used to color both the background and subject. Afterwards, a number of adjustment layers were used to increase contrast and brightness of the face. Additional layers were used to manually brighten the face and add shadows. The circle in the background was created with the ellipse tool, with the rectangular marquee tool used to remove sections. The final adjustment made was the slight glitch effect, which was achieved by creating separate layers to isolate the red and blue channels, lightly distorting these layers so they no longer lined up with the original image, then using a mask to create rectangular sections of these edited layers. This gave an effect similar to a chromatic aberration, which is often seen in vaporwave images.
Image 2 Process: Daguerreotype
To achieve the effect of a daguerreotype photo, I began by adjusting the colors and lighting. A curves adjustment layer was used to increase exposure and contrast, and an orange hue was added using the soft light blend mode. To recreate the scratchy and unpolished aesthetic found in daguerreotypes, I created 3 texture layers that added noise to the entirety of the canvas. I used textured brush strokes on a divide layer to break up the dark sections of the portrait, a color burn layer which focused on darkening some of the shadows that had been previously toned down while adjusting lighting and contrast, and a final overlay which used a variety of the Photoshop’s textured brushes to imitate scratches discoloration. My final addition was a vignette effect. I could not figure out how to create this effect with Photoshop’s built-in features, so instead I used the rectangular marquee tool to create a border, turned up the feathering on the selection, filled the area with black, then warped the layer until I was satisfied with the placement. I then changed the blend mode to color burn so that the texture I added earlier was still visible on the corners of the canvas.
Image 3 Process: Post-Apocalyptic
Post-Apocalyptic is a difficult style to convey with just a portrait and without the option of drawing in details, but as with the other images, I attempted to capture the style through just lighting and texture. I began by recoloring the image. Most of the heavy lifting was done by a gradient map, which utilized a blue to orange gradient create warm highlights with cooler shadows. I then used several more adjustment layers to fill in more specific selections, like the hat and eyes. I also added my variety to the skin by deepening some of the shadows and bringing out more of the reds around the mouth, cheeks, and nose. Many post-apocalyptic shots in movies feature deserts with bright blue skies, so I initially set the background color to blue. However, I felt this made the image too cartoony, so I settled on a much more subtle yellow that better fit with the color palette. Although the movie shots I used for inspiration for this piece all featured a clean lens and crisp image, I needed a way to emulate the dirty worn-down feeling of post-apocalyptic environments. I ultimately decided to capture this by adding scratches and discoloration to the image, using many of the same methods from the daguerreotype image.
Image 4 Process: Baroque
Baroque portraits often feature chiaroscuro lighting, so I began the editing process by adjusting the curves and brightness and contrast using adjustment layers. I especially focused on keeping the skin light enough to stand out against the background, as most baroque paintings have the skin tone as the lightest part of the image. I then proceeded to recolor the image using layer masks and blend modes. I picked colors similar to my background for the hair and shirt, while keeping the face light. I also stuck to mostly shades of red, as many of the images I used for reference featured very warm color palettes. The final step was adding texture to make the photo feel more like an oil painting. This involved using a texture brush and blend tools to paint in background texture, and using a combination of filters and the brush tool to simplify the colors on the face, creating distinct areas of highlights, shadows, and midtones that didn’t detract from the form of the face.
