Original photograph and final images taken on New Utrect Avenue in Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY. This fine old news stand and luncheonette is now a 99cent store.

The instructions here are for PHOTOSHOP.

The base image is light and clean with slightly high contrast. It is shot with as few people as possible.

I wait for several interesting people to walk by and photograph them individually from the same perspective for consistent lighting and tone. I silhouette each person on a separate layer and position them.

The combined image gives a better feel of the residents of the neighborhood. A shadow layer is added for the shadows that make the people look like they are there. This layer is set to MULTIPLY so it is transparent.

To soften the image and give it a more nostalgic feeling I blur the shadows by creating a sharp image layered over a blurred image letting the softer one come through the shadows.

This is the mask for the softening layer which is made from the actual image. To do this, copy the image to the clipboard. Duplicate the layer and add a mask to the top layer. SHOW the channels and paste the image itself into the mask channel. DODGE or paint white the light areas of importance which will be sharp. Darker areas will be softer.

Use a Gaussian Blur on the bottom image of around 6 pixels. The mask will allow blurred shadows to come through keeping highlights sharp. this technique emulates 30's photographs where the lighter areas were in focus and shadows were not.

Copy the image into a separate file, convert it to a duotone in a sepia color with a lowered midtone curve as shown and revert back to RGB or CMYK.

Return to the mail document and add the sepia as a layer. The softened shadows are more visible here.

To give the image a hand-colored look, paste the original color image over the sepia layer and set the layer to COLOR at 30-40%. You can use another mask on this layer to reduce color in some areas. I usually reduce color overall except in the signage and maybe an item like the apron.

To create a darkened vignette, paste another copy of the image on top set to MULTIPLY and lower the contrast. Use an oval feathered 120 pixels to remove the center.