Private residence, Dayton, Ohio

Original photo by Janet Lennox Moyer

Rendering by George Gruel

George Gruel
Turning day into night
When Janet Lennox Moyer needs to present her
ideas to her clients, she calls in George Gruel,
photographer and Photoshop master.

Out with 3D CAD lighting renderings,

George Gruel of Oddstick studio has
a better solution that can turn day into
night. Harnessing the power of Photoshop,
George realises the Lighting Designers
vision, in the eyes of the clientarguably
the most important place of all. He shares
with us how its done.
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Private residence, Villanova, Pennsylvania

original photo by Janet Lennox Moyer
Rendering by George Gruel

Like all creatives, central to the Lighting

Designers success is expressing ideas
in a way the client understands. This is
where Visualisation Artist George Gruel
steps in. Leveraging his understanding of
light, George collaborates with Lighting
Designerslike his partner Janet Lennox
Moyerand transforms, in Photoshop, a
photo of a day time scene, to recreate an
alternative reality of the night time space.
...it all starts with an image
The renderings, or digital paintings, says
George, begin with a photograph supplied
by the architect, designer or client.
To provide a realistic outcome, he
recommends that photographers avoid
using toolssuch as wide angle lenses,
which enhance a siteand concentrate on
how a visitor experiences a space. Detailed
shots of plants, sculptures and trees
deemed the focus or visual destination can
be supplied, but should be zoomed in from
the same point of view as the entire scene.
And as for the rendering itself?
Overcast sky with no hard shadows
that have plenty of light, says George.
Bracketed exposures are preferable, but
they are rarely supplied.
George likes to work with images that are at
least five megapixel in size, at 300dpi, which
are full of detail.
I have worked with small 72dpi images and
they are usable, but the final render suffers
because of details and posterisation.
Tools of the trade
After testing a number of specialised
lighting programs available for rendering
architectural buildings, George has
returned to Photoshop time and time again.
Photoshop is, by far, the best software
for my painting with light renderings,
he says.
They (other programs) do an acceptable
job of rendering hard surfaces, but
the rendering of plants look fake and
sometimes silly, and definitely unreal.
Of course, having a command of Photoshop
certainly helps too. Its a tool that George
has been using for fifteen yearssince
version one, which, he says, came on
one floppy disk.
The self-confessed Mac man insists that
Apples operating system is the best for

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Photoshop. He also uses a Wacom

tabletas drawing with a mouse is like
drawing with a bar of soapto assist
in the transformation of light.
Scoping the project
The rendering process begins with a
consultation between George and the
Lighting Designer. Here, discussion focuses
on the position, style and direction of the
desired light and how it fits within the
overall composition and balance of the
scene. Lighting accents are communicated
through arrows, which George and the
Designer mark on a layer in Photoshop.
Once this has been established, I begin to
paint with light.
To keep the image real, George says that
the Visualisation Artist must view and study
the effects of light on actual objects.
Visual accuracy is the key.
As he renders, George observes the details
of the reflections, shadows and colour shifts
that are created using various light sources.
I find that creating shadows as they really
would be, is very important.
Preparing the image for night
Before recreating the light scene, the image
needs to be prepared for night ambience.
Its necessary to remove those shadows
created by the sun in the base day time
photo, says George.
A cast, dictated by the light sources is
applied to the scenea yellow cast is used
for Halogen and Metal Halide lamps and a
blue cast is used for Mercury Vapor.
To know what lamps are going to be used
is paramount for realism.
Once the base image is prepared, it is time
to turn day into night.
George fills a blank layer with black,
and sets it to 92 and 97 percent to create
the night time overlay.
This overlay sits above the base
image, and is manipulated with masks
to reveal sections of the base image to
simulate the lighting effects.
I make a subtle over-all mask for the
background light levels, and several
individual masks for key objects, he says.
Typically, the main mask is pre-loaded with
grey scale object information from the base
image, to provide George with a starting
pointwhich is where channels come in.

What is a channel, and how is it used?

Alpha channels derived through
Calculations in Photoshop are usually
a good place to start a rendering and the
masking process, says George.
Channels change the contrast relationships
between objects, as they express just a
single characteristic within an imagelike
a colour that defines part of the colour
space (think red, green or blue)in shades
of grey. This makes it an ideal companion
for creating masks.
George will select a channel from the base
image layer for the basis of the night time
overlays main mask, depending on the
contrast relationships between the objects
to be lit and the objects to be shaded.
Controlling the light
By masking the night time overlay with
channel information, light has been
reintroduced into the scene. George
references the lighting designers
instructions and further shapes the light
using his Wacom tablet.
The large main mask resembles, (when
finished) in many cases, an underpainting similar to traditional oil painting
techniques, says George.
Photoshops brushes provides him with all
the versatility that he needs.
I often set the overall opacity of the brush
that I am using to 50%, thus making it easier
to build-up a mask.
Key lighting and shading
It is, however, the secondary masks
created for key objects that define the
scene. George fashions the light using a
combination of similar selection techniques.
My preferred selection method is the Color
Range selection tool, under the Selection
menu heading. Its an excellent starting
place for isolating plants and leaves. I also
use channel mixing quite often too.
At the end of the rendering process, the
overall and localised saturation levels are
assessed and adjusted according to the
how the light is used.
George says the projects vary in complexity,
with some renderings exceeding 40 layers.
What really brings the picture to
life are the subtleties in the masking
and control layers.
Visit: www.oddstick.com

Private residence,
Atherton, California
(top, series)
Original photo by Janet Lennox Moyer
Rendering by George Gruel.
The original day photo, the rendering and
the finished lighting.
Private residence,
Syracuse, New York (above, series)
Original photo by Janet Lennox Moyer
Rendering by George Gruel.
Instead of Photoshopping out the
vehicles, George left them in, and lit
them accordingly to add more realism
to the rendering.

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Original daylight image

This garden setting was
photographed on an overcast
day to avoid harsh shadows.
The image is opened in Adobe
Photoshop and the work to
turn day into night begins,
forecasting how the scene
will look with the proposed
landscape lighting in place.

Notations guide
In conjunction with Janet
Lennox Moyer, George Gruel
makes notations on a separate
layer in yellow.

A warmer feel
The first step is to warm the
scene up to emulate the colour
temperature of the night lights.

Private residence,
Atherton, California (spread)
Original photo by Janet
Lennox Moyer. Rendering by
George Gruel.

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Night layer
The first step is to create
a night layer over the
background layer. This is
solid black with an opacity
of between 92% and 97%.
Using a layer mask, holes
are made, allowing specific
items to show through.
George Gruel uses many
layers to modify elements
in the setting.

Individual treatment
Because some of the lights
will affect certain objects,
single layers are dedicated
to individual lights.
Here, the Buhdda and the statue
in the foreground have been lit.

Final concept presentation

The finished result gives
a very close representation
of the planned landscape
lighting design. At this stage,
it is easy (and relatively
inexpensive) to make changes.
Once the plan is agreed, the job
can proceed with both client and
lighting engineers aware of the
desired outcome.

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