Camera Shake

The phenomenon known as camera shake is caused by movement of the camera (hence the name :-)), which becomes noticeable as blur when using a slow shutter speed. The resulting blur is not quite the same as the blur caused by incorrect focusing.

How can we tell the difference between blurred focus and camera shake?

Have a look at the picture on the right. Here we have a mixture of blur caused by the subject moving, blur caused by the camera moving and the blur of the background which is out of focus. The focus is actually sharp on the main subject, but you'll have to take my word for that :-). You can see the difference between the two types of blur if you look closely, rather than a general fuzziness, movement blur looks more like a double exposure or a series of exposures. If you look at the back wall in this first picture you can see both types of blur. The wall is 'soft' due to being out of focus but also there is a double, or triple, image which is caused by camera movement.
Motion blur, whether it is caused by movement of the subject or movement of the camera, looks the same. Although some of the movement is caused by the guitarist moving, the microphone, which wasn't moving, is blurred too, as is the background, this is due to camera shake.

Take a look a this second photo, The photo is now generally sharp because I have used a flash, and therefore a much faster shutter speed, but the wall is still blurred because it is out of focus. I think if you look at the green tiles in both pictures you can see the different types of blur quite clearly.
Whereas blur caused by movement of the subject can be desirable, sometimes, to help create 'atmosphere' in a picture, camera shake should be avoided in all but the most 'arty' type of photos.

Why do we get camera shake?

No matter how careful we are, when we press the shutter button there is always some movement of the camera. At faster shutter speeds there is no noticeable effect on the picture but at slower speeds the blur becomes apparent. The way we stand, the way we hold the camera and how vigorously we press the shutter button all have an effect on the amount of movement we get.

How can we avoid movement blur from camera shake?

To eliminate the blur we can do several things:-

1. Use a faster shutter speed and/or a shorter lens.
2. Use a tripod with or without a remote release.
3. Brace ourselves as best we can against a wall or other object to minimize movement.

1) The most obvious way of eliminating shake is to use a faster shutter speed. Either by opening the aperture wider or introducing more light by using a flash gun for instance.

The rule of thumb for a sharp picture, free from the effects of camera shake, is to use a shutter speed which is at least as fast as 1 divided by the focal length of the lens. So if you are using your zoom set at 100mm you should use a shutter speed of at least 1/100 of a second. If you are using a 50mm lens you will get a sharp picture at 1/50th of a second.

The reason why the focal length of the lens is important is that camera shake becomes more apparent as the angle of view gets narrower, the narrower the angle of view the more the shake is magnified. You will know this if you have ever tried to hold a telescope or a high powered pair of binoculars still.
2) Putting the camera on a sturdy tripod is the best way to keep it still and this is the way to go, especially when you want to get some movement blur from the subject like in the waterfall picture here. Even better is to get a remote release for the camera so you don't have to touch it at all.
3) If, like me, you didn't bring your tripod with you and you still want to take pictures in the dark, you can stretch the rule of thumb (above) by a few stops by bracing yourself and/or the camera against a tree or wall or lamppost. Also controlling your breathing can help quite a bit too. Here's a picture shot at a slow shutter speed using this technique.
Finally I just want to say that an inherent problem with a lot of today's smaller cameras, especially phone cameras, is that, because they have no viewfinder, we are obliged to hold them at arm's length to view the screen, often holding them only with our fingertips. This makes them infinitely more difficult to hold still and makes them much more prone to show the effects of camera shake. So even more care needs to be taken to get a sharp picture. If you are taking a picture with a phone camera (if you really must!), try to rest it on something, a table or wall, to help keep it still.

http://www.geofflawrence.com/camera_shake.html

Sharpening with the Unsharp Mask filter

The unsharp mask filter in Photoshop can be used to save certain blurred pictures. Sharpening a photo in Photoshop will not save any shot that is very blurred, nor will it save photos where the point of focus is in the wrong place, but it may help with a picture that is a little bit 'soft' due to the use of a slower than ideal shutter speed.

In Photoshop, under the filters menu, there is a submenu called 'Sharpen' where you will find several choices.

The bottom two choices, 'Unsharp Mask' and 'Smart Sharpen' open boxes full of faders that you can twiddle.

The other choices are presets that will give you a quick fix in a hurry but do not have any adjustments, so we will ignore them.

At this point I have to confess that I am still using Photoshop CS2 so there might be new filters in CS3 that I am not aware of, in fact I have only just discovered the 'Smart Sharpen' option while preparing for this article.

I will leave the 'Smart Sharpen' option until later and start with my tried and tested favorite the 'Unsharp Mask'.

There are three sliders in the 'Unsharp Mask' window, the top one 'Amount' does what it says on the can, it adjusts the amount of sharpening.

The 'Radius' slider adjusts the width of the halos that are created. Basically the way sharpening works is that it finds the edges in your picture by looking for areas of high contrast and increases the apparent sharpness by adding dark and light halos. If you look at the edge of the apple in the picture on the left you can see a dark line, rather like a pencil line along the edge.

The 'Threshold' slider allows you to specify how much contrast difference there has to be before that area is sharpened. Set this fader too low and the picture will appear grainy as there will be a sharpening halo around almost every pixel. Set the value too high and only clearly defined edges will be sharpened which can make the blurred bits look even more blurred.

This filter needs to be used very carefully to achieve the best effect. Too much sharpening can make the picture look false. On the other hand, if you look for every single little tell-tale detail and every little line, you end up not using the filter at all.

How Much Sharpening? What Settings to Use?

The final adjustment of the sliders is down to you and will vary from picture to picture, but here are some guidelines to get you started. The amount of sharpening you can get away with, especially the 'Radius' settings, depend on the resolution of the image. If it is an image destined for viewing on the screen the resolution of the image should be 72 pixels per inch. (some say 96ppi) If the image is destined for print the resolution should be 300ppi or as near as you can get it to that.

If you are planning to change the size of an image, by this I mean the file size, make sure you do the sharpening after the sizing, especially with JPEGS. Sharpening should be the last thing you do in Photoshop.

For an image that is 72ppi you should use a radius setting of about 0.4 or 0.5 pixels. Use less than this and you won't see much happening, use more and the halos will start to look too obvious. For a print image, 300ppi, start with a setting between 1 pixel and 1.7 pixels.

I prefer to use as small a 'Radius' setting as possible and push the 'Sharpen' slider quite high.

I read somewhere a while ago that the 'Threshold' slider should be set at about 3 levels. But I find that I use it anywhere between 0 and 20 or so. This is one you have to play with yourself as it really does depend on the type of picture.

Here's a picture ripe for sharpening, although I used a tripod it was taken at a very slow shutter speed in available light. The depth of field is not great so we are never going to get the whole photo in focus but at least the middle apple should be sharp. I have made the pictures nice and large so you can see the effects better.

As we are using this on the web, the radius setting should be about 0.4 pixels. So set that first and then set the 'Threshold' slider to zero for now. Move the 'Sharpen' slider from side to side to see what it will do. Normally you need to move it past 80 to see anything happening at all. If you get all the way to 500 and the picture is still not sharp enough then you need to set the 'Radius' higher.

Below you can see the settings I chose and the result. Overall it is probably the best compromise. There is a white halo around the stalk which is a bit more obvious than I would like and the black line between the apples is a bit bold but, as I said before, if you look for every bit of evidence you would end up not using the filter at all. The low 'Threshold' setting has sharpened up the skin of the apple which is where we really wanted to see the improvement. The stalk of the middle apple is now as sharp as you could want.

Sharpness always used to be the ultimate goal in my pictures but nowadays I can see that you can sometimes have too much sharpness and soft focus has it's place too.

Here's a version that has been sharpened way too much, just so you can see all the bad things to watch out for. You can clearly see the black and white halos around all the edges. This is what we need to minimize. So, use the sharpening filter with great care, better still, get the focus right in the camera.

Finally a quick look below at the 'Smart Sharpen' filter. This has many more knobs and dials to play with and so is a bit confusing at first. The left tab is much the same as we saw before but we now have a drop down menu with three different types of blur to choose from. 'Gaussian Blur' is what we have been fixing with the other filter so 'Lens Blur' in this case or 'Motion Blur' when appropriate would be a better choice for photographers. The shadow and highlight tabs give you a chance to minimize the halos and, as you can see from the preview, they can be greatly reduced. The halo around the stalk is gone and the black line between the two apples is almost gone.

This filter then, used carefully, can give you a more subtle effect. Look at all three pictures carefully, the second picture is obviously sharper but with a few tell-tale signs of sharpening, the bottom picture is more subtle but does not appear quite so sharp.

In the end, the choice is up to you. You will probably find that you over sharpen everything at first, so make sure you work on a copy file and keep the original safely out of harm's way. I now keep all original files straight from the camera and only ever work on copies. That way, as my skills improve, I can go back to the original and try a new edit.

http://www.geofflawrence.com/photoshop_tutorial_sharpening.php

 

Bring Cool Colors to A Photo

In this tutorial we will learn how to play with colors in a photo, turn it into a cool and dark style that can easily impressive your viewers

Let's start to Photoshop!
Step 1: Download the original photo and open it with Photoshop. First we should make it darker by going to Image>Adjustments>Levels and drag the black slider to the right to make the photo darker

Step 2: Duplicate the photo by pressing Ctrl-J. We will make the photo more contrastive by turning this layer to black and white for later effects. Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and use these settings:

This will make our layer become nearly black and white

Step 3: One again using the Levels tool(Image>Adjustments>Levels) to make our photo darker by moving the black slider to the right. You can also make slight adjustments to other sliders

Step 4: Change the blending mode of this layer to Screen, notice that this mode just lets light colors go through. Our photo now looks brighter and more contrastive 

Step 5: Create a new layer and change foreground color to #1F768C (dark blue) and background color to #62bdd3 (light blue) and go to Filter>Render>Clouds to add random clouds to this layer

Step 6: Change the blending mode of this layer to Overlay to apply this layer's colors to the below layers

Step 7: Press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E to create a new layer that is the result of all underneath layers. We will make lighting effect on this layer by going to Filter>Render>Lighting Effects and adjust the ellipse to create a light source from the top-left

Step 8: Our photo now looks great. This step is just optional to give the viewers a dreamy feeling.
Duplicate the current layer (Ctrl-J) and go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and use a small radius

Step 9: Now change the blending mode of this layer to Soft Light to make the photo a bit "softer"

Step 10: You can easily change the brightness and contrast of the photo by Curves tool (Image>Adjustments>Curves) or Brightness/Contrast tool(Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast)

Let's have a look at the result again to feel the difference:

In conclusion, we used some blending mode (Screen, Overlay, Soft Light) with adjustment tools (Curves, Hue/Saturation, Brightness & Contrast...) and Lighting Effects to greatly change the colors of a photo, making it cooler and darker. Maybe you have seen some photos of this style!

http://www.9tuts.com/Photoshop/Photo-Retouch/Bring-Cool-Colors-to-A-Photo.html

Dreamy Scene

In this tutorial we are going to create a beautiful scene that works well with fairy stories. You can also use it in some posters which require dreamy effects as well

Let's start our tutorial!
Step 1: Download the original image or open your own image. Duplicate our image by pressing Ctrl-J. Before applying some effect on it, we should increase its contrast by going to Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast and increase the Contrast slider to 100%

Step 2: Change its blending mode to Multiply to make the picture sharper

Step 3: Press Ctrl-Shift-Alt-E to create a new layer which is the result of its underlying layers. Next we will add a nice sky to it. You can cut out the sky from this picture

Place it on our castle picture. Make sure the sky covers most of our image

Step 4: Change the sky layer's blending mode to Multiply to apply the new sky to our image. This mode works well because we had a nearly white sky in the original image (notice that Multiply mode eliminates white areas and retains darker areas)

Step 5: Use the Eraser Tool with a soft brush (0% hardness) to erase the junction of two layers

Step 6: In this step we will add a light source to our image, a cold sun!
Create a new layer and use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to create a small selection area on the sky

then fill it with black

Go to Filter>Render>Lens Flare and choose 105mm Prime light source

and change its blending mode to Overlay

Finally use the Eraser tool with a soft brush to wipe out the edges. Now we had a beautiful Sun!

Step 7: Now we will add a dreamy effect to our image. Press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E again to create a composited layer and press Ctrl-J to duplicate it. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and set a Radius of 1.5 pixels

then change the blending mode of this layer to Overlay

Finally, you can use the Eraser tool to reveal some dark areas on the castle. Let's have a look at the final result again:

This is the end of the tutorial. I hope this lesson will useful for you!

http://www.9tuts.com/Photoshop/Effects/Dreamy-Scene.html

Area Focus

Most of the newer digital cameras include three focusing modes: Center Focus, Area Focus and Multi Focus. If you are sometimes getting out of focus pictures even when your camera indicates successful focus lock, you need to understand the difference between these focusing modes.
Center Focus will focus on the center of the frame.
Multi Focus automatically selects between a number of AF frames and focuses on the most contrasty subject closest to the center of the frame. For example, if your main subject (i.e. the subject you want to be in focus) stands beside some other object (behind or in front of your main subject) of greater contrast, the camera will focus on the latter object and your main subject will be out of focus. So, if you use Multi Focus as your default focus mode, this may explain why many of your shots are out of focus.
Area Focus deserves some explanation. I believe it is a focus mode that few uses, but there are certain situations where Area Focus is perfectly suited for and can help you capture a sharply focused shot where the other focus modes fail.
Center Focus
If you look in the LCD of your digital camera, there will be a rectangle at the center of the screen, commonly called the AF frame. This AF frame depicts the zone where the camera will focus on.
If your subject is smack in the middle of the screen, well and good. But, what if your subject is not in the center of the screen?
Well, we use a handy technique called Pre-Focusing. Pre-focusing simply means that you center your subject on the center AF frame, depress the shutter release half-way (which will cause the camera to lock focus), then swivel the camera back to your desired composition, and finally depress the shutter release fully to take the picture. In other words, we “pre-focus,” compose, then we take the picture.

In the example above, the butterfly is not centered. If we take a picture using center focus, the butterfly will be out of focus. We move the camera so as to center the butterfly in our screen, half-press the shutter release button to lock focus on the butterfly, then recompose and depress the shutter fully to take a picture that is now in sharp focus.
Pre-focusing is used extensively in action photography when you know that you want to take the picture at a certain fixed spot. In this case, you can pre-focus on that spot by a half-press of the shutter release, then follow the action and depress the shutter fully when your subject reaches the fixed spot. Examples of a fixed spot can be a basketball hoop, a finish line, a spot right in front of you, etc.
Area Focus
Area Focus extends Center Focus by allowing the AF frame to be moved anywhere on the screen. So now, if your subject is to the left of center, instead of moving the camera left, pre-focusing and then moving the camera back, all you do is move the AF frame left instead while keeping the camera still!
On some cameras, Area AF is implemented very well and you can move the AF frame easily without taking your eye off the LCD or viewfinder. On others, you need to go into the menu, set Area Focus mode and position the AF frame where you want it to be using the four-way controller.
Most of the time, pre-focusing works as well as Area AF. But there is at least one photo situation where Area Focus is perfect for: macro photography. When taking a close-up you may want to compose your picture so that the subject is at one corner of the frame. Since precise focus is paramount in close-up shots (depth of field is very shallow), pre-focusing can be difficult to achieve since when you recompose you may end up moving the camera a little closer or further to your subject. The result is an out-of-focus picture (your main subject will be out of focus though other parts of the picture may be in focus).
This is where area focus comes in and saves the day.
By moving the AF frame on your subject to the corner of the frame so that it covers your subject, you can maintain your composition without having to move your camera, lock your tripod, set your self-timer, and take the shot — for a spot on, razor sharp image.
An Example
Here is an example of how Area Focus helps me achieve sharp focus in a macro shot. The AF frame in the center of the frame encompasses both the fir needles and the leaves. Where will the camera focus on: the fir needles (which is what I want) or the leaves in the background? In the first picture, using Center Focus, the fir needles do not come out as sharp as I want; instead the leaves get the focus.When I try to pre-focus, moving the camera back to my composition is enough to lose precise focus.

I could switch to Manual Focus but I don’t trust my eyes (even with a central enlarged image). I could switch to Multi Focus and let the camera decide on the most contrasty area. But why leave this to chance? I decide to use Area Focus instead. In the second picture, I move the AF frame to the bottom left, completely covering the fir needles. Result: fir needles in focus, leaves in background nicely blurred.

So, why not try Area Focus next time if your camera allows it? You may find that, besides macro photography, there are other instances when it is the appropriate focus mode to use.

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorials/tutorial-area-focus/ 

Center AF

Most digital cameras use contrast detection to auto focus (AF). Usually, the focus point is a small rectangle in the middle of the viewfinder frame (Center AF), though many digital cameras now also offer additional AF points (Multi-Point AF).
Center AF
If you look in the LCD monitor of your digital camera, there will usually be a rectangle at the center of the screen, commonly called the AF Frame. When your digital camera is set to Center AF mode, this rectangle in the middle of the screen is your AF point.
Multi-Point AF
Multi-Point AF automatically selects between a number of AF points (the most common seems to be 5 or 9 AF points -- i.e. 4 or 8 AF points clustered around a center focus point) and finds the most contrasty subject among those AF points.
An Example
If your default AF mode is Multi-Point AF and some of your shots are sometimes out of focus, it may be that Multi-Point AF is the culprit.
Here is an example of how Multi-Point AF focused on the more contrasty background well behind my main subject (the lone green leaf left on the bush).
Even though the green leaf is in the center of the frame, Multi-Point AF has chosen to focus on the more contrasty background around it instead.
The result is that the ground of fallen leaves come out in focus, while my main subject is out of focus.

Sony DSC-P150 Cyber-shot: 5 Area Multi-Point AF
Program AE, Multi-Pattern Metering, Macro ON
7.9mm, 1/250 sec., F2.8, ISO 400

I took a couple more shots with the same result before I realized what the problem was. I immediately went into the camera's menu to switch AF mode from Multi-Point AF to Center AF. This time, I got the result that I was after: the lone green leaf in focus against a nicely blurred backdrop!

Sony DSC-P150 Cyber-shot: Center AF
Program AE, Multi-Pattern Metering, Macro ON
7.9mm, 1/200 sec., F2.8, ISO 400

Summary
Multi-Point AF works pretty well usually but sometimes the camera will focus on something else besides your main subject if that something else happens to fall under one of the AF points and is also more contrasty than your main subject. In these instances, switch AF mode to Center AF, point the AF Frame on your subject and half-press the shutter release button to lock focus on your main subject, then reframe, if necessary, before fully pressing the shutter release button to take the shot.
Some more advanced digital cameras also allow you to move this AF Frame away from the center to other parts of the screen (so your subject does not need to be centered).

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_center-af.html 

Night Photography

Night photography has an attraction all its own. There's something about scintillating lights from office windows hanging in the dark of the night -- a modern version of the starry skies -- that appeal to us. Whether it's a city skyline, lamp posts on a dark and deserted street, or the front of your house all decked out with holiday lights, the challenge of capturing the mood of a night scene depends on whether your digital camera is capable of night photography and on a couple of simple techniques.
Can My Camera Do Night Photography?
For successful night photography you need a digital camera that allows you to keep the shutter open for a long time, anywhere from 3 to 30 seconds. Check your camera specifications in the User's Manual under Shutter Speed. The shutter speeds available will be given as a range, e.g. 30 sec. - 1/2,000 sec.
If you are seriously into night photography, then you would want to ensure you purchase a digital camera that allows the longest shutter speed possible, and even Bulb (where the shutter remains open as long as you depress the shutter release button).
But before you plunk down your money for that digital camera, there's two more features to verify -- and one accessory to purchase, if you don't have it already.
Shooting Modes
For an image to be captured by a digital camera's image sensor, the latter requires exposure to light. But at night, light is what we don't have enough of.
Some of you may have noticed that, if you select a shooting mode of Auto (A) or Program Auto (P), your night pictures always come out too dark. They are simply underexposed. But, why is that -- if your camera's shutter speed ranges from, say 10 sec. to 1/2,000 sec.?
Go back to your camera's User's Manual and look a bit more carefully. Are all the shutter speeds available in Auto or P mode? Ah-ha, many digital cameras (we're talking consumer models here) do not make the whole shutter speed range available in A and P mode! Perhaps the slowest shutter speed available in A and P mode is only as slow as 1/3 sec. That's usually not long enough for night photography. To access the longer shutter speeds, you may need to select one of the other shooting modes, e.g. Shutter-Priority, or even switch to full Manual mode.
So ensure that your digital camera has full Manual mode and allows access to the full range of slow shutter speeds in that mode.
Self-Timer & Remote Controller
Another feature that you want your digital camera to have is a self-timer or, ideally, a remote controller. The purpose is to allow you to depress the shutter release button without introducing camera shake. I particularly like the remote controller, but not every camera comes with one or even has one available optionally.
But almost all, if not all, cameras has a self-timer. Usually the self-timer counts down from 10 sec. I find that a bit long to wait, especially since you would need to take more than one shot and it's minus 10 with the wind chill outside. The cameras that additionally provide a 2 sec. self-timer have my nod of approval here.
Tripod
A mandatory accessory that you need is a sturdy tripod. When you let the shutter stay open for a long time, the camera needs to be kept rock steady, otherwise you end up with blurred images.
Examples
OK, so we have our digital camera and tripod, and are ready to venture forth into the night in search for interesting night shots. When we find one, we set up camera and tripod, frame and... what do we do now?
Well, the images below show what happens when you take the same shot using P mode, then in Manual mode with various different shutter speed/aperture combinations, all in search of the correct exposure. The camera was on a tripod for all three shots.

Programmed Auto Mode - Underexposed

Fujifilm FinePix E550 7.2mm, Programmed Auto, Pattern Shutter Speed 1/4 sec., Aperture F2.8, ISO 80

In the above example, the camera uses the slowest shutter speed and largest aperture available in P mode and at the widest focal length. The picture is underexposed.

Manual Mode - Overexposed

Fujifilm FinePix E550 7.2mm, Manual, Pattern Shutter Speed 3 sec., Aperture F2.8, ISO 80

Switching to Manual mode allows me to access the slowest shutter speed available on this camera, 3 sec. while keeping the aperture at F2.8 (the largest aperture available). The effect is immediately better, but it does seem a bit too bright, giving almost a daylight effect. If this is the effect you're after, then you're done. But if you wanted to capture the night mood, read on.
Now it is just a matter of adjusting the shutter speed and/or aperture to obtain the desired exposure. I choose to close down the aperture so as to increase the depth of field also.

Manual Mode - Correct Exposure

Fujifilm FinePix E550 7.2mm, Manual, Pattern Shutter Speed 3 sec., Aperture F4.0, ISO 80

Closing down the aperture to F4.0, a more pleasant image is obtained with enough dark areas to indicate it is night time (dusk, really) and enough lighted areas to reproduce what my eyes saw at the outdoors skating rink at the Mississauga Civic Center.
ISO
For the three pictures above, I used ISO 80, the lowest ISO available for best image quality. But what if at 3 sec. and F2.8 (i.e. at max. exposure possible for this particular camera), the image still came out too dark? In this case, I would need to increase the sensitivity of the image sensor to a higher ISO. Do note that increasing the ISO also increases the amount of noise visible in your images.
Technique
Take a number of shots at different shutter speed/aperture combinations.
Immediately review the shot as soon as you've taken it.
Ensure your LCD brightness is set to Normal, not Bright, for a truer representation of your recorded image.
A good aperture to start with is F4.0 or F5.6 (for greatest depth of field), and adjust shutter speed up or down until you're satisfied with the shot.
For good measure, take an extra shot past your optimum exposure setting. For example, if you were progressively using longer shutter speeds, and you think you've find the correct one, take an extra shot with the next longer shutter speed. Conversely, if you were using progressively faster shutter speeds, take an extra shot using the next faster shutter speed.

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial-night-photography.html 

Sharpen Your Photos For Display

Most of us upload our pictures or print them the way they were captured by our digital cameras. We read and hear of a post-processing technique called "Sharpening" using "USM" (or "UnSharp Mask") and decide it is just too difficult for us. If you are comfortable using a computer and can load an image into an image editing software, such as Photoshop Elements, then be prepared for a pleasant surprise! 

Most cameras -- especially in the "pro" category -- will capture an image without applying any sharpening to it, resulting in an image that appears "soft" or even slightly "out of focus." Others will apply a certain degree of sharpening to the images and output crisp looking images. Most beginners prefer the latter type, while most advanced photographers prefer the former. Here's why.
When a camera processes your images, it is in effect deciding the amount of sharpening to give your images without your input. Some cameras do a good job at it, others do too much of it. It is akin to processing labs a couple of years ago that treated all your negatives the same way, and all got printed with the same adjustments. If you go back and look at your old prints, chances are they all have a bluish tint to them. As competition heated up, processing labs started to examine each print individually and making adjustments and corrections to each, resulting in much better color rendition. This is akin to you sharpening your own images the way you like them.
Of course, if you have to do that for every single picture you take, it is really not worth it. Truth is, most pictures don't need it. It is only the few pictures you really want to highlight, either on screen or in print, that will benefit most from sharpening (and other adjustments).
If your camera produces "soft" images (because it does not sharpen for you), then you are in fact in luck. Using an image editing software such as Photoshop Elements, you can apply sharpening yourself to selected pictures for maximum impact, either for screen display or for printing.
In fact, if you are in the habit of printing unretouched pictures from the different digital cameras and then comparing the prints to see which camera is better, you are making a grave mistake. Unless you have sharpened the images individually first, the comparison is really not a valid one, and you'll end up with wrong conclusions.
Sharpening for screen display and sharpening for prints are also two different things. So, let's understand what sharpening is and how to do it for screen display. (I cover for screen display here, and for prints at a later date.)
What Is Sharpening?
Sharpening is enhancing the edges of an image. This edge enhancement technique is called unsharp masking and involves isolating the edges in an image, amplifying them, and then adding them back into the image. In Photoshop, amplifying the edges is accomplished by locating pixels of greatest contrast, lightening one side and darkening the other. Once sharpening is appropriately applied, people's reactions is usually, "Wow! It jumps right out at you."
Perhaps the simplest way to understand sharpening is to attempt one in Photoshop Elements.
Here is our original unsharpened image we will be working with in this tutorial. It is a "soft" image, even appearing out of focus in some places. Don't be deceived by appearances.

Original unsharpened image
Canon PowerShot S50
Program AE, Center-weighted averaging, Auto WB
7.1mm, 1/60 sec., F2.8, ISO 50, Flash ON

Make A Copy
Open Photoshop Elements and do File - Open - select the picture you want to work with.
Immediately, save it as a different name, with a psd (Photoshop) extension. For example, if your original image was named IMG0001.JPG, then save it as IMG0001.psd (i.e. use the default extension of the image editing software you are using). This way, you will preserve the original file (IMG0001.JPG).
If the Layers Panel is not on your desktop, drag it from the tabs at the top into your work area. If necessary, drag the bottom edge down so you can see more than one layer. You will see your picture (probably named "Background") in a layer.
Double click on that layer and rename it as original. (You could leave it as "Background" but renaming it is a good habit, since you may want to add a real background in some cases.)
Now, drag it to the new layer icon (the middle one at the bottom of the Layers Panel) to create a new layer, original copy.
Click on the original copy layer to select it as the one you want to work with. (Remember, we never want to muck with the original layer.)
Your Layers Panel should end up looking like this:

Sharpen
If not already selected, click the original copy layer to select it.
From the menu bar, select: Filter - Sharpen - Unsharp Mask... and type in Amount = 200%, Radius = 1.2, Threshold = 4. Click on Preview to view the original and sharpened version. Yeah!, I hear you say already. You may select different values, though the above values are a good starting point.
Separate Darken and Lighten Pixels
Now, copy the sharpened original copy layer by dragging it to the new layer icon. You'll end up with original copy 2.
Double click on original copy and rename it darken.
Double click on original copy 2 and rename it lighten.

Select the darken layer by clicking on that layer.
Set the blending mode to darken: See where it says, Normal in a drop down box at the top of the Layers Panel? Click on the down arrow and select "Darken":

Select the lighten layer by clicking on that layer.
Set the blending mode to lighten: Click on the down arrow and select "Lighten":

What we have done is separate the darken and lighten pixels into two layers. Now, we can control each layer separately.
Adjust Sharpness
If you are following this tutorial in your own Photoshop Elements and using our image, you'll notice that the lighten pixels (the highlights) are a bit too bright. (You might have to zoom in 200% to see things clearer.)
Click on the lighten layer to select it and adjust the Opacity until you are satisfied. (Ensure Preview is ON.) In my case, I select 26%.
Likewise, select the darken layer and adjust the Opacity until the darken pixels (the dark edges) just "jump out." I select 90%.
Each picture you sharpen will require different values, so if you are using your own image, adjust to your own liking.
Here is the original (unsharpened) version:

Original unsharpened image

And here is my final (sharpened) result:

Sharpened image

There, you have it. Pretty simple, huh?
Save this final work (in our example, as IMG0001.psd).
  

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_sharpen_display.html

Choosing the best Viewpoint

taken from: 
http://www.geofflawrence.com/photography_tutorial_viewpoint.php

Selecting your viewpoint, the position from which you photograph the subject, is a very important part of composition and one that some people pay very little attention to. When taking a photo of a group of friends, how often do you move around the group looking for the best angle?
The first, most obvious difference between one viewpoint and another is the background. If you are photographing a subject that cannot easily be moved, the only way to change what is in the background is to choose a different viewpoint.

The subject itself can look quite different viewed from different angles. Photos can be made to take on a whole new dynamic by selecting an extreme angle of view. I shoot a lot of pictures, especially sports shots, laying down, getting the camera as close to the ground as possible.
Also the perspective can change quite drastically, especially with wider angled lenses. If you photograph a person full length with a wide angle lens from a standing position, their head will be too big in proportion to the rest of their body. If, on the other hand, you kneel down and shoot the same picture from waist height, you will see that the whole picture is better proportioned.
When shooting outdoors, the viewpoint you choose also affects how the light from the sun falls on your subject. This is a whole new can of worms which is fully discussed under lighting.
Here are a couple of examples exploring the effects of high and low angle viewpoints.

Two full length shots from fairly extreme angles. A moderately wide angle lens gives a certain amount of perspective distortion, the first shot in particular makes her feet look very big in proportion to her head. This distortion enhances the effect of the flared jeans and the big shoes, whereas in the second shot the distortion of the shooting angle is working against the effect of the big shoes and flares balancing the picture. If we use a wider angled lens and shot from even closer, the distorted effect would be even more pronounced. In both cases you can see that the choice of angle has given us a nice plain background as a bonus.
These two shots were taken from more or less the same position as the first shot but, as we zoom in, the effect of the low angle is lessened. Less distortion but a pleasing angle giving us a slightly 'larger than life' feel to the picture. When shooting against a bright sky like this you need to pay careful attention to the exposure, the automatic metering system will render the face too dark so you need to compensate for this. Take a few shots with the exposure compensation at different settings or, better still, meter manually taking a reading from close in to the face. The shot on the right metered correctly because the face fills the frame more and is lit by the sun.
These two shots were taken from the same position as the top right and show the same lessening of distortion as we zoom in. What I didn't bargain for until I saw these two pictures side by side was that the apparent height of the camera changes with the angle of the head. I think you'll agree that the picture on the left appears to have been taken from a greater height than the one on the right. Weird!

10 Tips To Better Photography

By Michael Colucci

Taking a good photo isn't as hard as you may think. You don't need the most expensive camera or years of experience, just 10 simple tips. Enjoy!

Tip 1 - Use All Your Available Space

Don't be afraid to use all the space in your photo. If you want to take a picture of something, it's ok for it to take up the whole shot with no or very little background showing. Keep distractions out of your shot

Tip 2 - Study Forms

This is a vital aspect to photography. Understanding forms in your photos. Don't see an object, she its shape and its form and find the best angle to photograph it from. Form is all around us and I highly suggest you read as many books on it as possible.

Tip 3 - Motion In Your Photos

Never have motion in your photos if you are photographing a still object. If there is something moving while you are trying to photograph a stationery object, your photo won't turn out anywhere near as well. Also never put a horizon line in the center of your frame.

Tip 4 - Learn To Use Contrasts Between Colors

Some of the best photos have shades of white, gray and black. You can take great shots with just one color on your subject, but the contrasts between colors in a shot is what makes you a great photographer.

Tip 5 - Get Closer To Your Subject

This is one of the biggest mistakes most photographers make, not getting close enough to their subject. Get up and personal and close the distance gap. You can always reshape and resize a good shot but you can't continue to blowup a distant object.

Tip 6 - Shutter Lag

Shooting action shots with digital camera's can be tricky due to shutter lags. What this means is, when you press the button to take the photo, it can take up to a second for the shutter to take a photo, by that time what you were photographing would have moved or changed somehow. This means you have to compensate for shutter lag by predicting what your subject is going to do and taking the photo just before it takes the action you want. More expensive digital cameras don't have this problem.

Tip 7 - Pan

If you are taking an action shot and your shutter speed is slow, pan with the object. Follow through with the subject, from start to finish and one of those shots will be a winner. You have more chance of getting a good shot if you take more then one photo.

Tip 8 - Continuous Shots

To pan like I suggested above you will need a camera that does continuous shots and doesn't need to stop and process after every shot.

Tip 9 - How To Take Fantastic Night Time Shots

Night time shots can be spectacular, almost magical.... if done right! If not they can look horrible. Really horrible. Without adequate lighting, even good camera's can turn out crappy photos if the photographer doesn't know what he or she is doing.

Tip 10 - Study Your Manual

If your digital camera has a special night time mode, read the manual and follow their instructions on how to use it properly. 

http://www.photosecrets.com/tips.10tipsbetter.html

3 Fast Fixes In Photoshop

Do you have some near-perfect digital photographs that are marred by overexposure, underexposure, or low contrast? If you’re itching to fix them, but reluctant to muck about with Adobe Photoshop’s Curves and other manual adjustments, Photoshop also offers some jiffy fixes.

Called Layer Blending modes, these use math to combine the pixels of one layer with the pixels of an underlying layer to create an improved image. First step: Duplicate the image layer, which stacks your picture on top of itself. Then click on the drop-down menu in the upper left corner of the Layers panel to change the blend mode from Normal to one of the following:

Multiply: This darkens images and increases highlight contrast, just what you want for an overexposed photo. It multiplies each layer’s pixel values together.

Screen: Basically the inverse of Multiply, this lightens images and increases shadow contrast, good for underexposed photos.

Overlay and Soft Light: These, in effect, multiply the shadows and screen the highlights, which increases contrast. Soft Light is a weaker version of Overlay.

You control the degree of the blend effect by adjusting the opacity of the upper layer—the lower the percentage, the more transparent the layer. When you get the look you want, merge the layers and you’re done. Duplicating and blending layers takes only a few keystrokes, so it’s well worth trying for quick fixes of your photographs.

http://www.popphoto.com/Features/3-Fast-Fixes-In-Photoshop

How To Shoot Panoramic Landscapes

Shooting panoramic landscapes keeps getting easier. You don’t need special equipment, and virtually any camera will work. I like to shoot a sequence of verticals using a telephoto lens, then stitch them together in software. The long focal length delivers much more detail than a single wide-angle capture, and you’re still rewarded with a sweeping view. Here’s how, step by step.
1. Gather the gear.
You’ll need a tripod and, because it’s essential that the camera rotate across a level plane, I recommend adding a leveling base such as the Acratech Leveling Base ($150, street) between the tripod and tripod head. A spirit level is an adequate substitute, though—you level the rig by adjusting the legs individually.
2. Find your landscape.
Best are broad—with lines, patterns, textures, or shapes that draw the eye, plus points of interest throughout the scene. They should be evenly lit, without broad areas of dense shadow or bright highlights. Time of day is important. Panoramas captured around sunrise or sunset, when the quality and quantity of light changes rapidly and exposures times are long, often have different color balances and brightness levels from image to image—not good for beginners.
3. Set up.
Capture images in RAW format for maximum exposure latitude. Avoid auto white balance, because each image can show a different color cast. And, of course, make sure the camera pivots over a horizontally level base.
4. Shoot it.
Shoot slowly and methodically, making sure the shutter has closed before you rotate the camera. Overlap your shots between 10 and 50 percent of the image area to make them easier to stitch together. Key camera settings such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length, white balance, and focus should be identical. To achieve this, I avoid all auto modes, shooting in the manual exposure and focus modes. To determine exposure settings, I first pan the scene, taking meter readings continually along the way. These show me an exposure range from which I can determine a median setting.
5. Stitch it together.
I stitch the panoramas manually in Adobe Photoshop by dragging and aligning all the images in a single canvas sized to the approximate pixel dimensions of the final version, which equals roughly the dimension of a single frame times the number of component frames. I then use Layer Masks to blend the overlapping areas into a seamless whole. The Photomerge tool also does a really nice job.
Ready to try? Practice making a few before you shoot a panorama that you care about. Lots can go wrong, and it’s better to learn how to do it using throw-away scenes than landscapes that really speak to you. 


http://www.popphoto.com/Features/How-to/How-To-Shoot-Panoramic-Landscapes

How To: Get Better Selections in Photoshop (photoshop tutorial)

Make Your photo better one piece at a time. 
By Debbie Grossman Posted September 10, 2009



Want to really harness the power of Adobe Photoshop to improve your photos? You’ll need to make a good selection first. Whether you want to extract a subject and place it on a new background, or just modify a portion of your picture, you have to start by selecting the area correctly. Here are step-by-step instructions for great selections, and a way to save them for later use. With the image here, we’ll simply blur the background to make the woman and her balloons stand out. But you can use your selection to make other changes, from tweaking the Levels on an Adjustment Layer to distorting the subject’s size.

1. Duplicate the Background Layer, and work on the copy.
Type W for the Quick Selection tool. Pick the Add to Selection brush (circled), then paint along the woman and the balloons to make a selection— Photoshop will do most of the work.
2. Although your initial selection will be a bit rough, you can keep using the Quick Selection tool to perfect it.
(This step is not pictured.) How? Zoom into your photo for a close-up view of one of the more complicated edges of the selected area, then shrink your brush size. Switch to the Subtract brush (it’s to the right of the Add brush), and paint on your image to remove the selection from areas where it doesn’t belong. To add a little of your selection back, hold down the Shift key to temporarily return to the Add brush.

3. Sometimes the software can’t quite get a grip on what you want to keep in your selection and what you want to take out.
When that happens, type Q to go into Quick Mask mode and tweak your selection manually. In Quick Mask, the red tint represents your unselected area. Type B for the Brush tool, then D to make sure black and white are in your color palette. Start with a brush at 90% hardness, then paint with white where you want to add to your selection, or paint with black to remove it. Zoomed in close, check all the edges, making sure you’ve selected only what you need. Type Q again to exit Quick Mask mode.

4. To further perfect your selection, go to Select > Refine Edge.
Zoom in to 100%, and choose the On White preview (circled) so you can really see how your edge looks. Use the sliders to improve it. Your Radius and Feathering should usually remain low. This selection needs some contracting because we captured too much of what was slightly outside the balloons. Finally, turn up the Smooth slider to iron out the bumps introduced by the Quick Selection Tool. Click OK when you’ve got it right.
5. After all that work, save your selection.
Go to Select > Save Selection. Name it, and click OK. Then hit Ctrl (Command on a Mac) + D to deselect. Don’t worry that your selection disappears. Since it’s saved, you can always bring it back.
6. Now that we have a clean selection to work with, we’ll use it to blur the background, but keep the main subject sharp.
Start by blurring the Background Copy Layer. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.

7. To begin hiding the blur where you don’t want it, add a mask to your Background Copy Layer by clicking the Mask button in the Layers panel (it looks like a rectangle with a circle in the middle).
The blurring will look fake if there isn’t a bit of sharpness in the foreground, so hit G on your keyboard to get the Gradient tool, and draw a gradient to reveal some sharpness on the street. Then load your selection by going to Select > Load Selection. Choose your saved selection from the pulldown menu, and click OK.

8. Now fill the selection by going to Edit > Fill and choosing Use: Black.
This will fill your selection and reveal the sharpness beneath. Use the Brush tool to mask out sharpness where it doesn’t belong— this photo looks more polished with the distracting foreground details blurred out, too. If you want to keep editing (say, adding saturation to the balloons or brightening the figure), make those changes with Adjustment Layers and use your selection for more masks.



 



http://www.popphoto.com/Features/How-to/How-To-Get-Better-Selections-in-Photoshop

5 Things You Should Know About Your Camera's LCD

You will be amazed at what you can really do with your camera's screen.
By Kathleen Davis Posted September 21, 2009

1. What You See May Not Be What You Get.
If you shoot RAW, the LCD actually shows you the JPEG preview. So don’t panic if the color, contrast, and exposure aren’t exactly what you were looking for—your file will contain more data and be more flexible. On the other hand, the LCD image may look better than your final print—images on LCD screens often seem brighter and sharper because they are smaller and backlit, so some exposure and focus issues may not be detectable.
2. You Can Zoom In To Check For Problems.
LCDs on both compacts and DSLRs almost always let you zoom in on areas in an image. Use yours to check for sharpness and depth of field.
3. It Can Help You Compose Your Picture.
Many cameras allow you to place grid lines over the image on your LCD during live-view shooting (and sometimes during playback). Use this grid to make sure your horizon is level, remind yourself not to place your subject squarely in the middle, or check to see that buildings aren’t keystoning.
4. It May Display Histograms For Both Exposure And Color.
The exposure, or luminance, histogram graphs the tones in your image from shadows (on the left) to highlights (on the right). The higher the peaks on the histogram in a given spot, the more pixels of that tone there are in your photo. A warning will blink over the areas in your image that are overexposed.
Many cameras also have RGB histograms—three separate graphs for each color channel. Find them in the custom functions or via the Info menu. These work the same way as the exposure histogram and can help you figure out if you’re losing detail in a particular color. Color histograms can help you make your black-and-white images look better, too. For example, if you’re shooting a red rose, check that your tones aren’t clipped in the red channel to get the cleanest image when you convert to monochrome—otherwise the reds may lack detail.
5. You Can Modify The JPEG Preview Of A RAW File Without Changing The Image File.
The LCD allows you to preview different versions of your image. For instance, you can compare how the image would look set for “natural” versus “saturated” color, or check it out with more or less contrast. Shooting JPEGs? You can modify the file itself through controls on the LCD.


http://www.popphoto.com/Features/5-Things-You-Should-Know-About-Your-Camera-s-LCD

Give your photo stunning depth! (photo edit tutorial)

I know that lately I’ve been blogging a lot about… well blogging actually. However, I’m interested in covering as many topics as possible that are relevant and helpful to the design/webmaster community. This tutorial will be the first of hopefully many completely original photoshop tutorials that show some of my personal techniques for designing.
This tutorial will show you how to give fantastic depth to your regular flat photos in order to really liven up your graphics! I’ve used this technique, or variations of it countless times in my design work. The key is to give focus to your images, as far too many images appear unprofessional as the background has equal precedence to the more important parts of the graphic.
Step 1
Start by pasting your original image into photoshop. For this technique to work most effectively your image should already have some kind of depth or perspective, as we are going to work at exaggerating that existing depth. There are going to be two main elements to your image: your background, and your object. Your object is the part of the image that you wish to make stand out, whereas your background is all the unimportant data around this. Start by selecting your object, in this case a rock climber, and pasting it onto a new layer above your background layer. You should try to be as precise as possible when selecting your image (I used the lasso tool).

Step 2
Next, try to work out exactly which parts of your object you wish to bring to the foreground, and which you wish to send to the background. In short, which parts of your object are closer to you, and which are further away. In my example I want to bring the woman’s head, torso and right arm into the foreground, and send her bottom half and either end of the rope more to the background. You must be careful to look for parts of your object that combine both foreground and background areas as you will need to separate these. In my example the woman’s right arm and the part of the rope nearest to it are the only areas to cross over into parts of the object that I wish to ‘background’ and so I must select this, and paste it onto a new layer above my object layer.

Step 3
To add further depth to the photo you may want to consider areas of your background that you wish to bring forward. Simply repeat the step of selecting this area and then pasting it onto a new layer. In the example I wanted to bring forward parts of the rock face as these areas seemed closest in terms of perspective. I simply returned to my ‘original image’ layer, selected around the parts of the rock face that I wanted and pasted them as new layers.

Step 4
This is the part of the tutorial where things start to take shape. Select your layer containing your original photo and duplicate it, calling the new layer something like ‘background image’. This is done just so that you can play around with your background but still retain the original in case you need it later. Now, you want to create as much of a visual different between the background and foreground objects as possible without making your image appear doctored or unrealistic. To do this try out a few of the following effects, but use them subtly. For my background image I increased the brightness (around 20), gave it a motion blur in the direction of the falling water (strength: 4) and decreased the image saturation by 35. All of these effects are designed to make the foreground objects bolder, brighter and more colorful than the background image in order to give more depth to the image as a whole. You can see this starting to take shape in the image below (see the waterfall area):

Step 5
Select one of your layers with the foreground rock face cut out. Go to menu > layer > add layer mask > reveal all. Then select your layer mask thumbnail in your layers palette. Go to the gradient menu and create a gradient with foreground black fading to transparent. Drag this in the direction that you want to erase from in order to nicely blend your fore-grounded rocks into your background image. This will give your image a more natural perspective and get rid of any harsh lines between foreground/background. In my example I did the same with the top and bottom of the rope, to fade it into the waterfall background. As you can see the area of rock closest to us is now the clearest, thus foregrounding it.

Step 6
Select the layer ‘background image’ and go to menu > filter > render > lens flare. Position your lens flare centrally on your object, and choose the settings: 50-300mm Zoom, Brightness 100%. This is done in order to bring your object forward by creating an area of contrast behind it (remember your real object layers are above the ‘background image’ layer). Next apply some drop shadows to your object layer to create further distance from it’s background. Select the layer ‘woman copy’ and apply the following drop shadow settings: blend mode: multiply, distance: 2, spread: 0, size: 3. Then select your layer with the woman’s arm on it and apply the same settings. This will help to show that her arm is closer to us by having it create a shadow against her body.

Conclusion:
If you compare the final result with the original image the difference is not startling. But it is not meant to be. As I mentioned earlier if you play with the image too much it will appear fake. What this tutorial is designed to do is to cut out the overwhelming background noise in most photos, and highlight what is important. I use this often in my own website designs as it can help highlight important products or people. If you study the original image your eye doesn’t really know where to go due to the sheer detail present in the background. By manipulating the background and bringing forward the object you are not only creating depth, but controlling where your viewers look.
You can download the original .psd file here: imagedepthtutorialpsd.zip


http://pushstandards.com/2008/02/give-your-photo-stunning-depth/

The Orange Sky (tutorial for photoshop editing)

This lesson will explain to you in all details the process of creation of a collage. By means of simple actions we will create a fantastic landscape from several simple pictures.

Let’s find a suitable photo for a background. I used a photo with the pure sky in which the orange shade predominates. Just that is necessary!



Now we make the duplicate of a layer, and we will change Blending Mode on Screen.
Merge Down the layers.





We choose Dodge Tool (Highlights, 50%), and clarify the horizon.



Then we take Burn Tool (Midtones, 50%) and black out the top part of a firmament.



The sky it is too empty. We will insert on the new layer a planet (http://ap123.deviantart.com/). We’ll adjust its size and arrange in the necessary place.



Let’s change the Blending Mode of a layer on Screen to make planet’s background transparent.





One heavenly body, let at be the moon - is too stereotyped. We will make our collage more interesting, and we will add on the sky one more “body”, but smaller.



Let’s change and its Blending Mode on Screen too.





We choose a hard brush with a shade more darkly than background, and we paint over planets inside that planets did not seem like glass.



Then by means of Eraser Tool we will mop up accurate the dark edges of a planet.



To add a tree, I used brushes Tree Silhouette with ready trees (http://xsy.deviantart.com/art/Tree-Silhouette-29527352). You can make it with any other way convenient to you.



Branches must not cover the planet. So we have to change a few arrangement of the last on the canvas. We will displace them a little more to the left.



We enter into Blending Options of the layer and changed them as it is shown on picture.


Using Smudge Tool, we make some branches smoother.



Let’s make the background softer. We will copy the layer with the background, and we will apply filter Blur – Gaussian Blur to a copy.



We have to reduce Opacity of the layer up to 50 %. Now distant trees do not look more precisely, than near to us.



Let’s add on the sky some shining stars. I used a simple brush of white color, changing the size with 14 pixels. Do not overdo, all should be accurate and with taste.



Now we make the duplicate of a layer with stars, and we will apply to it filter Gaussian Blur.



Let’s find a suitable texture of clouds (http://resurgere.deviantart.com), and we’ll copy it on a new layer. It will add beauty to our sky; will make it more perfect and more interesting. We will put such the size, that the texture would lie down exactly a top of a firmament.



We change Blending Mode of a layer on Soft Light.





By means of Eraser Tool and Smudge Tool we will correct the area at mountains where the texture terminates.



Let’s make little bit more fine boughs on the tree. We draw them by means of an ordinary brush, the size of 2-3 pixels.



We change color on brightly yellow (almost white) and we will draw petals. Some petals in flight to the ground, others are on a tree.



For the further work we have to save the collage in a format jpg, and to open it by Photoshop. In menu Image - Adjustments - Brightness/Contrasts we will put adjustments, as on picture



We put last touches. By Dodge Tool (Midtones, 100 %) we will clarify the area of planets on which rays of light fall.



By means of Burn Tool (Midtones, 50%) we will black out the top part of a firmament.



We choose Dodge tool (the same adjustments), and clarify horizon.



Well, that’s all. The collage is ready. Don’t afraid to experiment. I hope, you have learned something useful to yourselves.

View full size here.



from: http://www.adobetutorialz.com/articles/2985/1/The-Orange-Sky