examples of full moon shot at different shutter speeds

Photoshop Exercise #5 - Photocopy Filter

Photoshop Exercise # 4 - Fixing Perspective

1. Open your photo in Photoshop
   
2. Duplicate the Background layer by clicking Layer > Duplicate Layer
   
3. Create a grid for aligning your image
   
1. On the full version of Photoshop, click View > Show > Grid
   
2. On Elements, Create a new layer (Layer > New Layer)
   Choose your Brush Tool
   Hold down the shift key and drag a horizontal line; release the mouse
   Click your mouse and then hold down the shift key and drag a horizontal line; repeat in horizontal and vertical stripes until you have enough of a grid to align your image.
   
4. Make sure “Background Copy” is your active layer
   
5. Begin Transforming:
   
1. In the full version of Photoshop, Click Edit > Free Transform
   
2. In Elements, Click Image > Transform > Free Transform
   
6. Move your cursor off one of your corners and rotate the image until one edge is vertical (your image may work better if the straight edge is horizontal)
   
7. In our example, the door has a perspective problem.
   Right Click (Ctrl Click in mac) and choose Perspective.
   Drag the upper right corner straight up so that the top edge of the door is parallel to one of your horizontal guides.
   
8. In our example, this does not resolve all the perspective issues.
   Place your cursor in the middle of the right edge and drag down until you have an equal amount of perspective distortion at the top and bottom.
   
9. Drag the upper right corner straight up so that the top edge of the door is parallel to one of your horizontal guides.
   
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 until the perspective tool has done all that it can
    
11. Right Click (Ctrl Click in mac) and choose scale (or free transform)
    Drag the right edge out until the panel nearly fills the space.
    
12. Right Click (Ctrl Click in mac) and choose distort
    Pull on the right hand corners until they are perfectly square.
    
13. Hit the enter/return key to finish the transformation.
    
14. Turn off your grid
    
1. On the full version of Photoshop, click View > Show > Grid
   
2. On Elements, make your grid layer your active layer and delete it.
   
15. If you are finished with your image, flatten your image by clicking Layer > Flatten image.
    
16. Save your work
    

Exercise #3 - combining images using clipping paths

Note: In the full version of Photoshop, we can use layer masks to isolate a subject; In Photoshop Elements, there is no layer mask function for image layers, so we’ll be achieving the same effect using a Clipping Path.

1. Choose two images and open both in Photoshop. One of these layers will be the background layer and the other will sit above. You may need to experiment to figure out which image works best as a background image.
   
   In our example, the skateboarder will be the background image.


2. Make your background (skateboarder) image the active image.
3. Create a new blank layer by clicking Layer > New > Layer
4. Click Window > Swatches
5. Click on one of the vivid colors in the swatch panel (preferably one which is not in your image)
6. Take your rectangular marquee tool and draw a rectangle around the part of the image you wish to keep.
7. Click Select > Inverse to outline everything except your rectangular area.
8. Click Edit > Fill; fill with your foreground color at 100%
   Your canvas should be filled with the vivid color you chose in step 5.
9. Click Select > Deselect to make your outline disappear.
10. Use your polygon lasso, magnetic lasso, magic wand or quick select tool (newer versions of Photoshop & Elements) to begin outlining small portions around your subject.
11. Click Edit > Fill; fill with your foreground color at 100%
12. Repeat steps 10 and 11 until your subject is completely surrounded by your vivid color.
13. If you make an error, use your eraser tool to remove excess color. Re-outline your subject and fill again.
14. Make your other image the active image. In this example, it is the graffiti.
15. Click Edit > Select All
16. Click Edit > Copy
17. Make your background image the active image
    with the vivid color layer as the active layer.
18. Click Edit > Paste
    Your graffiti image should now cover the background image and vivid layer.
19. Save your work.
20. Create a clipping mask
1. In Photoshop CS2 or newer, Click Layer > Create Clipping Mask
2. In older versions of Photoshop, Click Layer > Group with previous
3. In Photoshop Elements 8, Click Layer > Create Clipping Mask
4. In earlier versions of Elements, Click Layer > Group with Previous
21. Save your work.
22. (Optional) Use your move tool to move your topmost layer to a desirable position.
23. (Optional) Crop your image
24. Save your work.

Photoshop Exercise # 2 – Creating an “old time image” with blurred edges

Edited Image
Original Image

• Open your photo in Photoshop
• Duplicate the background layer by clicking Layer > Duplicate Layer.
• Blur your duplicate layer using the Gaussian Blur filter
1. Click Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur
2. Set your blur to somewhere between 10 and 30 pixels – your image should look pretty blurry. Click OK.
• Use your elliptical marquee tool to draw an oval around the part of the image you would like to keep sharp.
• Feather the edges of your selection
  On newer versions of Photoshop, click Select > Refine Edge
  On older versions of Photoshop, click Select > Feather
  Set your Feather Radius to a soft amount between 30 and 50 pixels.
• Cut out your elliptical selection by clicking Edit > Cut
• Create a Hue/Saturation Layer by clicking Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue and Saturation
• Reduce your saturation to -40 or -50%
• Save your work as a psd or tiff to keep the layers
• If you are finished with your image, flatten your image by clicking Layer > Flatten image.
• Resave your work as a jpeg for sharing

Photoshop Exercise # 1 – Colorizing an image

Colorized image

Original Image

1. Open your photo in Photoshop
2. Click Window > Swatches
3. Click on one of the colors in the swatch panel
4. Click Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color
1. Change the made from normal to color and click OK
2. Adjust your color to a desirable color in the color picker and click OK
5. If you are finished with your colorizing, flatten your image by clicking Layer > Flatten image.

3 views of the same scene

f 2.8 - focused through the mat on the flowers. Note that the background is black, not red. The mat is red.

f 22 focused on the flowers

f 32 - focused on the mat

Beth's Skateboarder - New background

After

Before

Keep working your subject until you get what you want out of your photo

While in Issaquah this past weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph the restored Hailstone Feed Store on Front Street. On the back is a restored advertisement for Owl Cigars. I loved the graphic and historic design of the lettering.

Below are 3 shots I took in succession. The first is the straight on graphic shot. Then, I moved to an angle so I could include both the 5 and 25 cents in the same image without adding too much background. The final image is a study in lines, directionality and reflections.

Reflection or no?

I say the green is not a reflection because the green in the right hand image doesn't line up centered with the house; it is in between gables. What do you think?

comparison of images with perspective correction

Maryland Office Park with Perspective Corrected
Maryland Office Park as Originally Shot

Bellingham Cityscape with Perspective Correction

Bellingham Cityscape as Originally Shot

Images from Blending Mode Handout

Two images combined using the "lighten" blending mode. Blurred image is the blend image. Color image toned using a brownish "Hue" blending layer over the image of the Geese Pattern Fill Layer Blended with a color photo using the "Overlay" blending mode

Image using two identical layers, the colored pencil filter and the "overlay" blending mode

Change your white balance setting when using available light indoors

Photographing indoors without flash can create photos with odd colors. Often the automatic color correction feature of our cameras, auto white balance, doesn't work well in household lighting situations.

By choosing a white balance setting which matches our light source, colors in our image look realistic and natural.

The photos above show the results of different white balance settings with an image shot using regular household lights.

More White Balance Examples

More White Balance Examples

Link to Alexa's Spring White Balance Experiments

White Balance, Digital Photography and Gardens

White Balance, Digital Photography and Gardens

To include the manmade; that is the question

In pursuing our landscape project this month, I have been pondering many aspects of the topic, including "what is a landscape". Like Carolyn, I have not been limiting myself to thinking of landscapes as only pieces of the natural world. Landscapes can be man-made, natural, or exist only in the mind of the photographer.

Currently, I am pondering the relationship between natural landscapes and human influenced landscapes. When photographing in a city park, like the Arboretum, it is hard to escape the influence and impact of man. Paths, benches and exotic plants are all part of the norm.

My question to you is whether or not city landscapes are stronger for their man-made elements; or, do you prefer a landscape where the concentration is on the plant and geologic elements? In these images, the presence of man and man-made gives a sense of scale that might otherwise be difficult for us to determine.

What do you think?

Effects of Colored Filters for Black and White Photos