The composition and dark style of this shot was inspired by a series of self-portraits I've seen on other sites. It's close to what I was trying to achieve, but there's still a lot of work needed. Now, this was not what I planned to shoot today, but I'm currently leashed to the house waiting on the mercy of a plumber. Since I've been planning to do a self-portrait at some point before this first year's project ends - and yes, there will be a continuation of the project into 2013 - I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a shot.
Post processing was all about contrast and darkening the tone. I started in Topaz B&W FX using a classic filter. (I planned to do low key, but the result was almost a pure black image.) I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, then adaptive exposure, contrast, boost black, boost white, protect highlights, and protect shadows. I then ran it through Neat Image to soften the image a bit. A lot of adjustment was done in PSE. A series of levels adjustments were added for proper contrast. A black and white gradient map in soft light blend mode was added to really enhance the shadows. I selected just the background and added a gaussian blur at a 30 pixel radius. I then adjusted the levels on just the background. A blue photo filter was added to the background as well. A brightness and contrast adjustment was added to the overall image followed by a deep blue photo filter. The top layer is a sepia photo filter.
