What are your favorite photoshop techniques?

[timbearden]

I have been doing photography for a some time. For the most part I did film, until about three years ago I went into digital. All the techniques I learned are either from my own, or asking people what they do. I am trying to learn more photoshop techniques to add to my repertoire. I currently know techniques like HDR, Orton, texture overlays, etc, but I am looking to add other techniques. More specifically I am looking for techniques that would be good for wedding photography.

So I would love it if people could help me find other techniques that I could use to help me get a better edge in editing. A run down of some specifics, or link to places with nice techniques would be great.

 

[dEARlEADER]

wish i could help you.... but i don't do much in the way of p.p.

i responded to bump this up for you...... it's a good question and someone should respond....

 

[toofpaste]

Hey tim, I've been using photoshop for some time now and don't consider myself an expert but it's my job lol so any other questions go ahead and PM me. I'll try to cover somethings.

In PS "layers" are the most powerful feature, and if used right it can create awesome pics.

In your case, you want things for your wedding type pics so here's some ideas.

First of all, for close ups, we wanna make sure they, especially the bride, has a great looking close up. Take the picture you want to edit, copy layer ctrl+j ,add a gaussian blur by going to filter>blur>gaussian blur. Add 20 pixels. Then add a "layer mask" by pressing alt+ and add vector mask (should be at the bottom of your layers panel, its a square with a circle in it.)
When you add this it should turn your picture to normal, because the layer is "covering" the gaussian blur. Make sure your foreground is set to white, and background to black, by pressing "D" Then select a soft edged brush and paint in areas of the face( do not paint nose lines, eyes, mouth..anything that will make sharpness poor) You will see how the skin turns softer, cleaner. This is known as "airbrushing" the same technique they use for those perfect model pictures you see. At the end, you will probably want to lower your opacity in that layer, because it will look to fake.



Now another one of my favorites for wedding pictures, is that soft glow. Same technique almost. Make a new layer. Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. This time select a 10 pixel blur. Then go ahead and turn that layers opacity down to 55ish. This should give the picture a perfect glow that goes great with the brides dress/flowers. Try to use this effect with darker pictures.


I can go on and on. Theres way too much I can tell you. Um...but any more specific questions I'll answer them. From removing blemishes, wrinkles, imperfections, complete facial reconstruction (nose, eyes, hair..etc.) Adding shadows and contrast, exposure...any questions guys, just throw em out there and I'll try to answer them.

 

[toofpaste]

Oh god...how could I forget about this wedding edit.

You probably already know it...it's one of the most used tricks with photography. It gets that white and black look, except the brides flowers are still in color.

This is an example I found on google.

So to do this, it's pretty simple. Go to layers>new adjustment layer>b&w.
Then make sure your foreground is set to White (Press D, and then X) Then grab a brush and just paint in the area you want in color. You'll probably need to zoom up and use a find brush to get the hard spots or the edges.



With any of these techniques, I hope I explained them throughly. If not ask any details or parts you dont understand. And i'll be happy to help.

 

[rubbertree]

toofpaste, you are wonderful!
Can you share your favourite methods for getting a nice saturated color in landscape photos, without it looking saturated?

 

[Mike30D]

Tim,

I hate to say it, but it seems a lot of photographers aren't using their own techniques anymore. There are a ton of them (myself included, not all the time though) that are using actions written by other people. Two of the popular ones are Kubota Image Tools and Totally Rad!

They do speed up workflow which is important in p.p. wedding work. The nice thing about them is you can always just use parts of them. There are some more out there, I just can't think of the name.

I do have one technique that I know and will share, it's kinda like the one that toofpaste posted but I like it better, it's for a "soft glow" also...

[FONT=&quot]In Photoshop create a duplicate layer, and then set the blending mode to “screen”. Then just add a Gaussian Blur with a radius of 15 to 25 pixels. Also, you may need to reduce opacity and/or lower exposure, as it can blow highlights really easily.

As for the Spot Coloring thing, it is a personal preference but most pros hate it because it's overdone and most of all it's dated. If the bride likes it though, use it.


[/FONT]

 

[toofpaste]

toofpaste, you are wonderful!
Can you share your favourite methods for getting a nice saturated color in landscape photos, without it looking saturated?

Hey, no problem. You probably already know to get the most natural saturation look is by using filters. But....ok, here we go.

You're going to want to create a new adjustement layer>hue & saturation layer. From the dialog pop up menu, choose the color that you want to boost. When it comes to grass and leaves, they tend to have a lot of yellow in them belive it or not, but it works with other colors like green..so just try it out. And now just increase the saturation and play with it. Simple, nothing to big.

Remember rubbertree, photoshops most powerful feature is layers....play around with them and the different effects some of them have, like overlaying and screening like mentioned earlier. Maybe one of those presets will get the look ure trying to get.

Hope this helped!

 

[Mike30D]

You might try using the Selective Color menu also. It's under the Adjustment Layer menu.

 

[rubbertree]

Thank you both!
Off to play!

 

[timbearden]

Thanks for the ideas. I just got back from vacation, so I didn't see your responses till now. Most of the ideas you mentioned toofpaste I already do, but thanks for the input. Mike, I'll check the tools you listed and see what they do. I'll read back through the post to see if I missed any ideas.

If there is anyone else with other ideas, I would still greatly appreciate them, thanks.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

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