perspective

This is the final installment in this series of tutorials. Here we are going to put to use all of the things we have learned so far and go way beyond sharpening. We are still using the overlay modes, and the high pass filter, but this time we are using them for a creative effect instead of simple sharpening.

This is also a perfect example of my general approach to photoshop. Lots of people use photoshop like a glorified plugin gallery. They have a few techniques that they know how to apply… kind of like being able to cook from a recipe. Others are even more hands off, having a large set of actions at their disposal. Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this approach, but it is limiting and will produce vastly different results with different images. A good photoshop user can visualize the finished product before even starting. Only once you know where you are going then you can decide how you are going to get there.

I knew exactly where I wanted to take this photo before I started, and I knew that the high pass filter would be the building block of the effect. But, along the way I hit a few bumps that kept pushing the image away from what I had visualized. That is what I think should be most informative about this video: how to problem solve in photoshop. Never let the technique take control of the image and make it something you didn’t want.

View hi-res version here.

Sharpening is a crucial technique for any photographer to master.  Almost any digital image (and most film images as well) looks better with some amount of sharpening.  But unfortunately sharpening often involves adding artifacts as well as sharpness to the image.  Here we will discuss a technique that allows the photographer ultimate control of their sharpening process, allowing him to fine tune the sharpening process in ways not available with other sharpening methods.

Click here to view hi-res version.

The next tutorial in the series will use the same high pass filter to create dramatic contrast effects used frequently in commercial photography currently.

-Chad

This tutorial is going to be the first in a series of tutorials exploring the layer blending modes in the overlay group. It is a little more advanced than my other tutorials, so before you tackle blending modes make sure you have a grasp of most of the basic tools. This first installment is an intro, it really doesn’t get into how to use the blending modes. The idea is to give you a firm grasp of what the modes do before you start using them so that it isn’t just a recipe that can be used to do one thing, but a technique that can be applied to many problems you encounter.

View Hi-Res version here.

The next installment will use these blending modes to sharpen your images, so check back soon.

-Chad

I have already shown you a useful way to brighten/whiten eyes, but on many images that is only half the story. Many images benefit from an adjustment of the eye color itself. This can be an enhancement of the natural eye color, or a completely new color… the technique is the same. As always, my techniques are aimed at creating realistic results, but this technique in particular can be used to create very dramatic results if that is what is desired.

Click here to view hi-res version here.

On the left is the corrected image, the right is the “before.” As I said, if the result is too subtle, it can be easily enhanced… just use a higher opacity on the adjustment layer. Hope you found it useful!

-Chad

The eyes are one of the most important aspects of any portrait. There are lots of different techniques for brighting and whitening eyes, some of them are easier than others, and some are more effective than others. Here I will show a technique I use on many portraits that is very simple and can be very realistic. It can add drama and contrast to the eyes, without making them look pure white and fake (like in most magazines these days). It is easy to do, even for photoshop beginers and can make a very big improvement in a wide range of photographs. I hope you like it:

And here is a hi-rez version: Photoshop Tutorial: “Eyes”

Here are the before and after images from the photo used in the tutorial:

Thanks for looking,

-Chad

That last post about the berry photo was perhapse a little vague on the actual techniques used to create the image. So… just in case anybody is interested, I went ahead and prepaired a short video tutorial about the technique I used to splice the images together. It isn’t earth shattering, but I am sure some people will find it informative.

Download the high-rez version here: Photoshop Tutorial: Composite Image “Berry Splash”

And finally the finished image:

Thanks for looking!
-Chad