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Posted on 01/05/24 4:46:32 PM |
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ConnieR.
* Posts: 53 Reply  |
realistic shadows in sand?
How can I add seashells to a sand background, so that it looks like the seashells are really nestled in the sand? I tried all sorts of shadow tutorials, but they only work for hard surfaces. 1. Stacked shadows, where the first one is right underneath the shell, blurred a little, and then there are two more layers blurred more, and stretched further away from the shell. (the example) 2. Plain old drop shadow from Layer Styles. 3. duplicate shell layer below, set fill to 0, and add bevel and emboss. Still, nothing looks realistic!  |
Posted on 02/05/24 11:14:18 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6924 Reply  |
Re: realistic shadows in sand?
I think your best bet would be to make a layer mask for the shell, and paint in black on that with the Brush tool set to Dissolve, to replicate the effect of sand creeping over it. That will look a little harsh, so use a small amount of Gaussian Blur to soften it. To make the shell look like it’s standing up in the sand, add a deeper shadow on the other side.And remember that since the sun is effectively at an infinite distance from the shell, the shadow should be hard, not soft.  |
Posted on 03/05/24 03:44:37 AM |
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ConnieR.
* Posts: 53 Reply |
Re: realistic shadows in sand?
Thank you very much! This is much better than what I was trying to do! I would have never even thought of setting the mask brush to Dissolve. And I was making the shadows too blurred. |
Posted on 03/05/24 11:52:22 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5295 Reply  |
Re: realistic shadows in sand?
The dissolve brush for sand is one of those simple ideas that I never thought of myself but, from the moment I first saw, it was so completely obvious I wished I had! Give everyone time to forget that Steve posted this, and maybe I will ..................  _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |