It's the holiday season, the year is winding down, jobs are
getting a little scarce, so it must be time to play. To go for the artsy stuff, something that
might end up on a greeting card or some other form that can be done on
spec. It might even bring in a buck or
two and that would be gravy. Doing work
aimed at the greeting card industry is kind of a seasonal crapshoot. Too early and it won't be looked at. Too late, same thing. Too cute (they can hardly ever be too cute)
and it won't be picked up because it's been done to death. Too serious is probably worse than too
cute. Cards that say 'sorry you died'
walk a very fine line. Note cards, with
photographs on the cover, have to convey what's written on the inside without
giving away the sentiment. Today's image would fall under the heading of whimsical. It started life as a photograph. Actually, a five shot panorama, and ended up
having something to do with a lake house.
It could be an invitation, a "new house" announcement, a
cheery note signaling the start of the new season for the lake community, or
other lighthearted information. It
probably wouldn't be the best card to say the house burned down or the EPA just
shutdown swimming privileges because they found out someone did nuclear testing
on the shore back in the forties. You
get the idea. You have to set the right
tone for the target audience. I'll leave
it up to you to figure out what you might use a card with today's image on the
front. What we'll do is discuss how the
image was made. To find out what alchemy
was conjured to produce today's image, hit the "Read More".
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Special Monday Q&A - Getting Rid Of Smart Objects?
Before I decide what to write about for the Q&A on
Wednesday I look through the searches that brought people to the
site. Without a doubt, the number one
query has to do with Smart Objects. I've
written about the wonders of Smart Objects several times and people are
directed to one of the posts. For the
past month, day in and day out, someone has been putting in a search string
trying to find out how to "get rid" of Smart Objects. At first I thought it might be one misguided
soul who couldn't figure out what to do with Smart Objects. In my opinion, the alpha and the omega of
working in Adobe Photoshop CS5. As the
days wore on and the search sting was persistent I came to realize that someone
really does need some help. Not
necessarily getting rid of a Smart Object, but understanding what a Smart
Object is and how to use them. I sat
down over the weekend and tried to figure out "why" anyone would want
to get rid of one. The easiest
explanation I could conjure up was that it could be someone new to CS5, who's
not familiar with Layers (no one, on their first day, knows about Layers) and
did a little right click exploring.
He/she right clicked on the Background Layer and saw that Convert For
Smart Objects was available. I'm also surmising
the fact that where was considerable work put into the image the person had been
working on. Clicking on Convert For Smart
Objects got her/him in trouble. To find
out how that caused trouble and how to get out of it, hit the "Read
More"
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Wednesday Q & A: Using Photoshop CS5's Smudge Tool To Sharpen?
Today's title asked the question: "can Adobe Photoshop
CS5's Smudge Tool be used as a sharpening device. Well, looking at the two insets, flanked by
the original image and the repaired image shows the answer is yes. The (left) original image comes right out of
Adobe Lightroom 3. LR3 was used on most
of the image to adjust color, tone, lighting and other things. The Adjustment Brush was used to lighten the
shadow area under the cap. That resulted
in a distinct light/dark light. In the
second inset the line is gone. How was it
done? To find out how, hit the "Read
More".
Read more!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Wednesday Q&A - Why Use Individual Hue/Saturation Layers?
Oh boy, have I been getting questions about why I use
individual (Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, and Magenta) Hue/Saturation Adjustment
Layer in Adobe Photoshop CS5. The gist
of the questions is why I'd bother using multiple H/S Adjustment Layers when it
would be easier to scroll down through the colors on one Layer. The answer is actually pretty simple. I really don't care about the colors of the
Adjustment Layers, I want the Layer Masks.
Do a double click on today's image to get to a larger view of the
image. Don't worry about the shot too
much. Look over to the right and
checkout the Layers Panel I have attached.
In the Panel, look at the Layer Masks that go along with the individual
colors of the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layers.
You can see that each color (other than the Red) has a unique Mask. There's even two Cyan H/S Adjustment Layers,
each with a unique Mask. The Masks are
the key to the question of why I use the multiple Layers rather than adjusting
each color on one Layer. A secondary
explanation is needed for the two Cyan Layers.
I often see tutorials where the instructor uses either different shade
of gray with the brush Opacity at 100% or they'll bring the Brush Opacity down
to 15%- 20% and build up the masking.
The problem I see with that technique is that if you go too far with the
buildup it's almost impossible to paint over the area accurately. By using multiple copies of the same colored
H/S Adjustment Layer the area can be fine tuned and the amount of masking can
be held. So, the simple explanation of
why I use multiple Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layers is to have more (better)
control over what I'm getting more colors.
To find out how that effected today's image, hit the "Read
More".
Monday, November 7, 2011
Photoshop Has Led To A Photo Tour
Today's image is typical of what may be found on the
galleries first photo tour. I've been
asked by several people if I'd lead some sort of "domestic safari "
for the purpose of shooting "something". After looking at what's available and when to
go and where to shoot, we're ready to set up a trip. It's not meant to be a money making
enterprise. I'll just be the person
coordinating a few like minded photographers, making the housing arrangements,
figuring out a little Saturday night entertainment, setting up whatever needs
to be set up, and generally doing the detail work to have a good time. The place for the escapade is going to be Ricketts
Glen State Park and the Endless Mountains in Pennsylvania, USA. Today's image comes from the park, which has
twenty two named waterfalls. The trip
will be a two night (Friday and Saturday nights), three day shoot with
discussion and instruction about Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
3. We hope to have a couple instructors
and a panel for a round table discussion of photographic and Photoshop
techniques. Read future posts to find
for more about the trip. To learn more
about today's image, hit the "Read More".
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