'Hidden'... secrets

I posted this photo of Vik Tory on the Feature page of the site this afternoon... and on our Facebook page. I hope you'll visit both to see all we've been up to lately! This image has collected a number of questions about the process including whether or not I added the "mask" to the image after the shoot. The answer is yes, I did add the mask... and the ribbons... the stick the mask is on, the background textures and other details. I consider this a photo-montage... a collage of images that become a 'fantasy' image... like the ones that we feature at the top of the Facebook page with the moon and birds, etc.

Here are the images that are combined to make the 'Hidden' image:

The original image shot in the studio. No editing or cropping at this point.

I made a duplicate layer of her face and painted her eyelids closed... and changed the color. Then I moved the duplicate away from her face underneath.

This texture from a railroad bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is used in the background. I have a huge collection of textures like this that I've collected with my camera.

The ribbons on the mask are from a part of this vector image from a file of graphic images I've collected.

These elements are put together... one on top of another in Adobe Photoshop and then processed with the PS tools to change how they relate to one another... to create the image that is in my imagination.

That's it in a very small nutshell... lol!! Of course the message is... you must not believe everything you see! :)
Thanks for asking about what and how... now... back to work!