Photoshop User TV

This week's episode of Photoshop User TV is up. If you've never watched it and you're interested in some quick tips on Photoshop, have a peek. It takes about half an hour. I usually download the episode and watch it when I can, like right now. See ya.

Photoshop Adjustments

After some good photo taking discipline while on holidays, I failed to even get out this weekend to do a photo of the week. But, here's a blog post for those few who do come to visit here.

I've had a conversation with a friend on Facebook concerning Photoshop. He uses it to color some of his sketches that he scans in to the computer and, like me, I think is in the process of learning more about the program as the days go by.

He wondered at how Photoshop is used in photography. Now, I know this is obvious to those who are photographers and who use Photoshop, but for others who may only be getting acquainted with the program or have just started to experiment with using it in other fields, it may not be as obvious. So, I thought I'd give a brief demonstration by just showing an unadjusted photo right out of the camera and the same photo after I have worked on it a bit in Photoshop.

The picture I will use was originally posted in my February 7 PAD post.













Here is how the picture looks right out of the camera. I shoot in RAW with little in camera processing so this is like a digital negative. As you can see, the contrast is poor and it is all rather bland.













This next one is how it looks after being processed in Camera Raw, adjusting it to get a better contrast and prepare it for final work in Photoshop.













This one uses a little bit different effect than in the original post referenced above. In addition to "developing" the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw, I also made some adjustments in Photoshop to increase contrast, clean up some sensor dust spots, darken the sky a bit and bring out some of the shadow detail in the bench. I also cleaned up some footprints in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. This version has an action applied that gives it a bit of a dark, gaussian glow to it. It has created some artifacts in the sky, but overall, I have just kind of fallen in love with the look of this image.

Hopefully, you can see that there is considerable difference from the straight out of the camera shot above.

You may think that this is a lot of work, but I consider it fun and the more I learn, the quicker it becomes. It is no different from the advanced hobbyist from the film days who had his own darkroom and produced his own prints. I never quite got there although I always wanted to. Digital gives me an opportunity to have similar fun without the chemistry and need for a darkroom. All I need now is a printer, the final step in this great hobby.

Gift Books

I now have months worth of reading and experimenting in Photoshop thanks to the following three books from my daughter and my wife:

Skin - by Lee Varis;
7-Point System - by Scott Kelby;
Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers - by Martin Evening.

All look great, all slightly different, all designed to keep me at my computer in Photoshop.

But, I definitely need to practice my lighting portrait skills after looking at some of the pictures I attempted yesterday. I used off camera flash, bounced, but too far away thus creating some hard shadows behind the victims subjects.

Plus, I need to get out and just shoot some more non-portrait shots.

But, I'm still having lots of fun learning Photoshop.

Let's Go Hollywood

One way to learn a new program or technique is to actually do tutorials that you read about. These pictures were made by following a technique in December's Photoshop User Magazine presented by "the Lad", Corey Barker. It is titled "Let's Go Hollywood" and is based on a movie poster effect that he saw for the movie Aeon Flux. So, I gave it a shot on a couple of pictures I had of my grandsons, Nathan and Ben.

Who knew Photoshop could be so much fun. Well worth the investment.

Making the Most of Mistakes

I like lone trees. I see them and I want to photograph them. Too often I don't stop to shoot them, but I will make it a project someday.

I took this picture outside of Drumheller in October on our way to Saskatchewan. When I looked at the pictures most of them were blurry. I think it was due to the wind and an unstable tripod. Partly because of this I purchased a new tripod, but I still basically like the shot. So tonight, I started playing with it a bit. I purposely over-sharpened it, extremely so, then applied a few Nik filters including this Polaroid Transfer and finally giving it an overlay layer blend dialed back a bit.

I kind of like how it turned out even though it really is a discard and should have been thrown out. It doesn't matter, I had fun doing it.

NIK Color Efex Pro 3.0

While relatively new to the whole full-blown Photoshop scene, I have been enjoying learning how to better use it and how to spice up my pictures with proper developing techniques and also the use of different actions and plugins. I have been trialing Nik Software's Color Efex Pro filters, first version 2.0 and the last few days, version 3.0. There are some very useful filters that give pictures some pop and different effects.

Version 3 is mostly an interface improvement that is very nice. Plus, the U point technology is a great feature for turning on or off the filter effect on different parts of the picture. It is quicker and easier to use than brushing or erasing the effect and, to my still untrained eye, seems to work quite effectively.

It is good enough that I have been seriously thinking about buying it. However, I have been experiencing some crashes while in the interface that needs a ctrl-alt-delete to bring up the task manager and shut down Photoshop. It has happened frequently enough that I'm a little hesitant to buy it. It could be that I am taxing my computer too much and I'll have to experiment a bit more.

Also of interest is onOne Software's PhotoTools 1 Professional Edition. I have downloaded the trial version and will install it shortly to provide a comparison. However, I am beginning to wonder if there is any end to spending money in the hobby/profession.

Reworked Picture

I bit the bullet today and purchased Photoshop CS3. I kind of feel like I've graduated out of kindergarten and moved into 1st grade.

Here's the big thing I like about taking pictures and playing with them in my sandbox, I mean Photoshop. No politics, no arguments, no disagreements like what I seem to experience in too many other areas of my life. (Gee, maybe it's me and not everybody else!)

Anyway, I posted an earlier version of this picture here. I was never quite completely satisfied with it so I just spent some time working it again and came up with what you see here. I used the brand new NIK Color Efex Pro 3.0. My 15 day trial of version 2.0 just ran out yesterday and I checked the site and the new one had just been released so I get another 15 day trial. I like it too much and it's another $300 program so I'd better get with it and start shooting some portraits for money or something.

UPDATE: I just kind of looked at both pictures and I still like the first one better so I better go back to the drawing table on the one above. Lots of fun.

NAPP

I joined NAPP, The National Association of Photoshop Professionals. I had been thinking about it and when I read that you got a 15% discount at Adobe's store, I figured it would just about pay for itself when I purchase Photoshop CS3 in a few days. (Just haven't bit the bullet yet.) The fees were $129 US ( I think I got $10 off because of a David Ziser DVD I bought a few months ago) and it will save me around $97 when I buy Photoshop. Plus, I will get their magazine, a very interesting looking one that I have seen in Chapters for $15.95 or thereabouts. Let's see, 8 or 9 issues at $16 each plus tax equals more than the membership itself. Cool!

So does this make me a Photoshop Pro? Nah! Not yet anyway. But there are lots of tutorials and videos and stuff on their site accessible to members only.

I think it's a great deal. I'll let you know if I change my mind.

Next purchase. CS3 when the 30 day trial runs out or the Canadian dollar climbs higher again.

Still Playing with PS

I played around a bit more with a picture posted previously. I just did a vivid overlay and then added a border.

Photoshop Fun (While Learning)

I posted a couple of pictures of my wife, Rena, and I a couple of days ago. We took the pics on our recent trip to Saskatchewan. I have been playing around in the 30 day demo version of Photoshop CS3, trying to learn different and new things that will be useful if I actually ever do this as a business. I gave the extract filter a try on the picture of my wife and pulled her out of the picture and put her in with me. A little bit of scaling and it almost looks like we were both in the picture at the same time. A uselful tool to say the least.

I know for many these things are second nature in Photoshop, but it's all new for me and, even though a ripe old age of 53, it is invigorating learning all this new stuff. Now all I have to do is figure out how to retain it.

CS3

In finally got around to installing the 30 day trial version of Photoshop CS3. Whew! Quite the program. I had started to get to know some of the features of Elements 3 (an ancient program since they just released version 6) and some things are a bit different in terms of menus and toolbar buttons. Of course, the major difference is in all the additional, pro features that you don't get in Elements. Like masks and smart filters and many others I haven't even begun to explore.

I did a couple of cool things and I've posted some pictures below. Following Scott Kelby's Photoshop CS3 book, I double processed a picture. I had a picture from my recent trip to Saskatchewan of the sun shining through some clouds that looked quite neat. However, the picture was exposed for the bright sky and the foreground was deep in shadows. Basically, you open two copies of the raw file in Photoshop, one corrected for the sky and one brightened for the dark foreground, put them together, with the bright copy on top and then make a mask and just paint the dark sky back into the picture. Very cool and gives you a picture that you probably can't capture in camera.

So here was the best I could do using just regular processing. You can see that the bottom is very dark and I was not at all happy with how it turned out.













But using the double processing I mentioned above, I was able to get this picture, which, though not perfect, is a far better picture than above, although I'm sure there are those who would consider it overprocessed in Photoshop. I kind of like it a lot, though and that's the main thing for now.

**UPDATE** On closer inspection I see that the horizon line is not level. I will be fixing that later on and reposting the picture below.

**UPDATE 2** This has now been fixed.

Glowing Grass

I continue to play around a bit in Photoshop (Elements 3 currently but hopefully CS3 soon) and thought I would see what I could do to spice up a picture I took this summer in Kekuli Bay. The first photo below is a picture of some grass blowing in the wind. One night I was sitting by the fire, the propane lantern was sitting on the table and I noticed the grass blowing softly in the breeze, lit by lantern light. I got my camera and tripod out and took a few shots. I wasn't real happy with what I captured so I tried again the next night and this was one of the one's I liked the best. Last night I did some level adjustments and improved it a bit and this is the result.













Then I thought I would play around with some of the filter effects in Photoshop and I liked the one below the best. I really enjoy the abstract effect of the shot. I know it is obviously altered but that's some of the fun that I'm having right now.