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This tutorial shows how a number of special-purpose apps can be used with iColorama for a creative composition.
I started with this photo from Pixabay, a source of copyright-free images.
I also used this photo from Pixabay.
In iColorama, in Effect/Blend, I blended the little person on top of the bricks, in Normal mode, using the gray slider under Set, which creates some roughness in the bricks.
I used Style/Coherence to smooth out the result of the blend. I moved the Min Input slider a bit to the right in Adjust/Levels to increase contrast a bit. I used Effect/Denoise to smooth the image in preparation for Raise, then I applied Effect/Raise. I used Effect/Light to emphasize the highlights.
I used a preset in Texture/Leak to add a light source off to the right, consistent with the illumination of the little man. I used Tone/Duotone in Multiply mode at low opacity, to deepen the shadows with a very slight tint. I used Effect/Sharpen preset 7 for a touch of sharpness, and then Preset/Border preset 2 with a low radius to get a vignetting effect. I like vignetting for drawing the focus inward, towards the subject.
Here I used Form/Ray. Ray is one of those parts of iColorama that you might have tried with the default settings and not liked the result. But I discovered there is actually quite a bit of control in there. Experiment with all the sliders and settings. In this image, I was able to use Ray to create the appearance of a brick roofless structure surrounding the little man.
The "floor" of the brick structure appears to be of similar material and also reflecting, which makes less sense to me than if there were an actual reflective surface there. So I'd like to put water there, to be a reflecting pool. So I used the Reflect app to add in the water. The Reflect app is a versatile little single-purpose app that lets you choose from a large number of settings to create the type of watery look you want to add to your image, and where you want to place it in your image.
Now in iColorama, I used Effect/Blend to blend the image that was result of the Reflect app with the previous Ray version, in Normal mode.
The sky as seen through the brick structure is not so suggestive of a sky. So I used the AlienSky app to add a starry sky. AlienSky is another single-purpose app that lets you choose from a number of sky effects to place on your image.
Back in iColorama, I used Adjust/Levels to darken the image and add contrast, protecting parts of the little man with a brush mask.
Since I've constructed this image to give the feeling of an open-air structure with no roof, it makes sense that the water should reflect the sky as well as the walls of the surrounding brick structure. So I will use this photo from Pixabay to make a sky reflection in the water.
Back in iColorama, to create a reflection of the starry sky in the water, I used Effect/Blend to blend the outer space image onto the scene in Normal mode, using an inverted brush mask, taking care to resize and position the top layer to make an attractive star pattern in the water. While painting the mask, I used the opacity slider under Settings/Adjust on the brush mask bar, to paint each stroke or dab with a different opacity.
I used Style/Coherence and a brush mask in the "brick" section to add a touch of smoothness to the brick. Again I used Preset/Border preset 2 at low radium for a vignetting effect, using a brush mask to protect the figure. This is Version 1.
I wanted to create a version where the little man wasn't faded into the bricks. So In Effect/Blend I blended the Pixabay image onto the scene in Normal mode at full opacity, using an inverted brush mask to bring back only the figure. While blending, I set the opacity to 50% so I could resize and position the top layer, and also so I could see where I was painting the brush mask. When I had finished painting the brush mask, I put the opacity back to 100% and saved.
I need to make some adjustments to the little man to make him look more natural in this setting. With the brush mask still in place, I processed the little man using Style/Coherence, Adjust/Tonelab preset 4, Adjust/Levels, Effect/Denoise, and Effect/Raise. I also used Tone/B&W at low opacity to reduce saturation.
Now the reflection of the little man is not right. So I used the Reflect app to create the water all over again.
In iColorama, using Effect/Blend, I blended the result of the Reflect app with the previous version, using a brush mask to blend the reflection of the figure into the water at medium opacity. The I used Effect/Blend with a brush mask to blend a bit more of the starry sky onto some of the water area at low opacity as well.
Now for the finishing touches. I used Tone/B&W at low opacity with an inverted brush mask to reduce saturation in the figure, as well as the saturation of the brick wall reflection of the figure on the far right. I saved and removed the mask. Then I again used Tone/B&W, this time at full opacity, and a brush mask, to paint away the green color along the top of the brick "wall" and between the seated figure and the water. I saved and removed the mask. Then I used Adjust/Exposure to reduce exposure, and with an inverted brush mask I applied the effect to the left of and underneath the figure, for a more natural shadow. This is Version 2.
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