Channel Selection

In Photoshop, open the Umbrella Shadow picture,

1. Go to the Channels palette, select the Blue channel because it has the most contrast.
2. Make a copy by dragging it to the Create New Layer icon at the bottom of the palette.
3. Use Levels, (Command+L) and adjust to make the shadows black and the lighter areas as white as possible.
4. Select the Brush tool and a soft edge brush
5. Paint in the white areas, so they are solid white
6. At the bottom of the Channels palette click on Load Channel as Selection.
7. Reselect the RGB channel, and turn off the visibility of the Mask layer
8. Go to the Layers palette and Inverse (Shift+Command+I) the selection,
   
9. Press Command+J to make a copy of the shadow
10. Add an abstract background.