Adding shadows in Photoshop

[c073186]

I've been working on a project where I want to cut out some people and place them in another background. I've done that, but now, to make it look more realistic, I want to try to add shadows to their faces. How would I go about doing that? I tried this tutorial (link) but the second copy does not appear black/gray as a shadow should, it just looks like a mirror of the image. Does anyone have advice on this topic? Thanks.

 

[zblaxberg]

Use the dodge and burn tool. See if you find a tutorial for that.

 

[Eric5h5]

In most cases you're better off just adding shadows by hand so they look right. Depending on the lighting angle/surface/etc., the shape of a shadow is likely quite different from the source in purely 2D terms.

--Eric

 

[snickelfritz]

Paint the shadows into another layer(using soft-edged black paintbrush) above the image, and use blending modes and transparency to tweak it.
This is where Wacom tablets are very useful.