bending and blending shadows, dual surface

So, as you may or may not have guessed, i'm trying to cast a shadow, behind this polaroidy picture, that makes it look like its resting against any imaginary vertical surface and setting on an imaginary horizontal surface. The quality of my current shadow should give you some idea of how long ive been using photoshop :p

I've been working at it a little while and i cant seem to get anywhere. I have the feeling the trick lies somewhere in the confluence of two gradient shadows, coming together and bending to form a slightly darker area where the imaginary 90 degree angle would be.

In case anyone wants to hotdog it and show off their ps skillz, heres the image psd

Don't know if you have tried it before but what about a drop shadow? Or is that too simple?

I think it's too simple. He wants the effect of a shadow being cast on two surfaces, like a floor and a wall.

Heh, i thought you were going to say that the pic is the effect you wanted to do, and needed some help tryin to get it...So i'd say thats a nice job with the effect!

I think one of the key parts is the darkened edge on the near side; the outlines of the other sides probably shouldnt be as dark as they are. Key also is that the photo appears curved (convex) a bit. Looks like it is a little already?

My next suggestion is to do a simple 3d render if youve got a prog. Set up a simple scene, wall and plane, and set up some lights and see what the real shadows, etc would look like. Also there is a plugin from Andromeda Shadow that will replicate most shadow types (angles, perspective, etc). Its pretty old and I tried it a while ago...might be free.

gl

I've actually considered the 3D idea. I have a friend that dabbles in that, but he hasn't been online lately, so I haven't had the chance to ask him. :(

Alas, after all the time I've spent on trying to get something that looks natural, I've decided I'm just spending too much time on it, unless I'm going for logo of the year or something. :D In truth, I didn't think that one I posted looked that bad, but a couple ppl i showed it to said it just looked like a 3D wedge. Since I have a notoriously bad aesthetic sense, I just trusted it their opinions.

http://technosquid.com/externaljunk/pagetop6.png

That is the direction I'm leaning towards right now, and it's approximately the layout I'm probably going to go with. I may give it some kinda craptastic drop shadow effect, if any at all. I dont think it looks so bad, really.

All the same, thanks for taking the time to write! I was starting to think I was going to be ignored altogether. I'll definitely look for that shadow plugin, too.

yea looks fine like that. maybe a short, fading shadow from the bottom edge heading back.