Get Your Dragan On! Lets do this together. Ive obtained this picture from MorgueFile.

If you want to follow along, you can download the picture here, along with the finished PSD files. Open it in Photoshop. In the layers panel clic on the bac ground layer and duplicate it by hitting Ctrl-J !"ac# $ommand %&.

Set the layers blending mode to Vivid Light and invert it by pressing Ctrl-I !"ac# $ommand'I&. (es, it loo s terrible, but well get there. )e*t, go to +ilter,-lur and select Surface Blur. Set the .adius to /0 pi*els and the 1hreshold to 23 levels. $lic O . Merging Layer )ow we need to create a merged layer by hitting Ctrl-!lt-Shift-", !"ac# $ommand'Option'Shift'4&, all at one time. If done right, a new layer will pop up, and then you must delete the one in the middle. Select the top layer and set the blending mode to Overlay#

!dding Layer Ma $ 5hile holding the !lt ey, !"ac# Option ey&, clic on !dd Layer Ma $, located at the bottom of the layers panel. 1his will add a black thumbnail, or a mas , to the picture. )otice that the picture goes bac to its original state, and this is e*actly what we want. )ow well use the Bru h tool and set our %oreground

Color to white and the Bac$ground Colorto blac . )e*t, we can paint the effect bac into specific areas of the picture. Ill start with the face.

6s I move to the clothing articles, Ill change the brush opacity so that the clothing is not as sharp and detailed as the face. I want the bac ground to pop a bit, but not too much, so well duplicate the current layer, select the mas and invert it by hitting Ctrl-I !"ac# $ommand'I&, then Ill change the O&acity to 738.

De aturation 1he color in this picture is too saturated. Ill go to the bottom of the layers panel and select 'ue(Saturation from the!d)u t*ent Layer+ drop'down'menu. +rom the 'ue(Saturation panel, Ill select ,ed from the drop'down menu, and set the Saturation to '99. 1his is going to de'saturate those ugly reds.

%inal -ouche 1o finish it off, Ill create a merged layer by hitting Ctrl-!lt-Shift-" !"ac# $ommand'Option'Shift'4&. 1his layer needs some sharpening, so Ill go to +ilter , Sharpen , Smart Sharpen. :ere Ill set the 6mount to /;38 and the .adius to <.7p*. 1hen Ill O it. )ow that youve learned the basics, you could ta e it to another level by intensifying all the affects that we have applied here. (ou can even come up with your own steps. 5e can end it here or continue= !dditional -ouche .O&tional/ 1o create the very final image, I repeated the steps mentioned above, and used higher values for each step. Prior to converting the image to blac and white, I added lens blur and a custom vignette to the bac ground. I finished by recovering some blown out highlights in the white blouse. In the end I sharpened the image. 1hats it>