4 Easy Photoshop Techniques to Make Your Pictures Pop!
#1: blur/overlay
Duplicate your picture layer by dragging the layer to the ‘new’ icon in the layers palette (ctrl+j).
Apply a gaussian blur (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur…). Blur it enough that the detail disappears but the shapes mostly keep their form.
In the layers palette, change the blending mode from ‘Normal’ to ‘Overlay.’
If you look at the before and after, you can see that this method makes the light tones lighter and the dark tones darker while softening it a touch. Basically, it softly boosts the contrast. If you want a more dramatic effect, try changing the blending mode to ‘Vivid Light’ instead of ‘Overlay.’
Try it on all kinds of shots: portraits, nature shots, you name it. I use this method ALL the time. It works so well with everything!
#2: filter the background
This one can be fun… With a picture open, duplicate the layer (as always). Use your lasso tool to roughly select the subject of your image.
Feather the selection by going to Select > Feather (ctrl+alt+d). We want a pretty large feather, so what you input depends on your picture. Try 50 pixels. Go to Layer > New > Layer via copy. You should end up with just your subject on a new layer with a nice feather to it (fades at the edges).
Select the layer copy below your subject layer. Start trying out filters. I used Filter > Brush Strokes > Dark Strokes for this example. Most of the Brush Stroke filters work well with this effect. Using blurs tends to look a little funny. When you’ve got it all done, your layers palette should look a little like this:
That’s it. Try this out with lots of different filters. If you want to tone down the effect, change the opacity of the effect layer. If you want to get more advanced with your subject selection, you can duplicate the layer, mask it out, and use a large soft white brush to paint the subject back in.
#3: neon glow
Have you ever played with neon glow and wondered when the heck you were ever going to use it? Well, it’s time to give it another shot. This can add a touch of color and drama to your shot.
Duplicate your layer, then pull up Filter > Artistic > Neon Glow. Pick a color that you think will complement your shot. In mine, the cat is lit with sunlight, so I went with a yellow to exaggerate that. Start with a glow size of 4 and a glow brightness of 18, then tweak it to suit your shot. This is what I ended up with:
I’ll bet you can guess what’s next. You got it — change the blending mode to ‘Overlay.’ Also cycle through those modes: soft light, hard light, vivid light, and linear light. I prefer overlay and vivid light with this effect.
#4 easy blur
This one nearly passed me by… it’s a wonderfully easy effect to soften a picture. Try it on portraits.
Duplicate your layer and apply a Gaussian Blur (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) so that the details start to go, but not too much.
Set the opacity of the layer to 50%. This is a great, super-simple way to soften a picture. It can give it almost a dreamy look. Play with opacities until you find something that works really well with your shot.
Tilt-Shift Photography
Tilt-shift photography refers to the use of camera movements on small- and medium-format cameras; it usually requires the use of special lenses.
“Tilt-shift” actually encompasses two different types of movements: rotation of the lens relative to the image plane, called tilt, and movement of the lens parallel to the image plane, called shift. Tilt is used to control the orientation of the plane of focus (PoF), and hence the part of an image that appears sharp; it makes use of the Scheimpflug principle. Shift is used to change the line of sight while avoiding the convergence of parallel lines, as when photographing tall buildings.
Another, less cost-intensive technique called “tilt-shift miniature faking” is a process in which a photograph of a life-sized location or object is manipulated so that it looks like a photograph of a miniature-scale model.
50 Beautiful Examples Of Tilt-Shift Photography
Tilt-Shift Photography Photoshop Tutorial
This tutorial was produced using Photoshop CS2 on a PC.
Receding Hairline
With very little effort, you can take existing photographs of everyday scenes and make them look like miniature models.
Adobe Photoshop : Simple Brighten, Contrast, and Warming Edits
Some of the most common edits that I make are brightening, contrast, and warming edits. For some reason my camera tends to photograph a little on the cool side of things so I warm them up to my taste in Photoshop. These edits are what I think are the simplest ways to do these edits, but by no means are they the only way to do this or the best way to do this. I myself have actions set up to make this go a lot faster, but I think it’s important to understand how to get there manually as well.
When I first started with Adobe Photoshop and at the same time photography, these are some of the first edits I figured out how to do. Since then, I found more powerful ways to do the same things, but understand that these are very powerful tools when you understand all the nuances and features of each of them. We will just be skimming the surface here.
Our goal with this tutorial is to brighten this image, increase the contrast, and then warm it up a bit to our taste. We are starting with a picture straight out of a Nikon D700.
1. Everything we will be doing will center around the layers box. Notice how the picture is a little too dark, not much contrast, and could use a little warmth.
2. You will need to create a second layer that is a duplicate of the background layer. There are two good ways to do this. You can drag your background layer onto the little paper icon pointed out in the picture below or you can go to the Layer drop down menu in the menu bar and select “Duplicate Layer” and select “OK” when the box pops up corresponding to that selection. Also, know that the little eyeballs next to each layer allow you to turn that layer off if you don’t want to use it. It’s also nice to use when you want to turn it on and off to see the changes you are making with that layer.
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