White Balance: what you need to know
Do you understand White Balance and know how to control it? Or are you afraid to venture past the Auto White Balance setting? Here are the essential facts.
Software
Photoshop Adjustment Layers for great black and white photos
If you know that your final toned image will be in black and white, you need a Photoshop black and white toning workflow that gives you the most power and flexibility to make this happen. Photoshop Adjustment Layers is the best way to accomplish this…
Adobe Creative Cloud, Lightroom and more for $9.99 a month: a deal?
Adobe has just announced a new deal that only runs through December 2: a monthly subscription to the latest version of Photoshop, plus their Lightroom editing product, 20 GB of online storage and a Behance website for $9.99 a month, at least for the first year…
Photoshop Basics: Dodge & Burn, Part II
This second, newer method is a way to burn and dodge that’s become available in the newer versions of Photoshop now on the market. It involves creating a layer to do the burning and dodging upon, thus leaving the original image information untouched…
Photoshop Basics: Two Ways to Dodge and Burn
Becoming proficient at dodging and burning ranks high on the list of basic Photoshop skills that all beginning PS users need to master. Today I’ll show you the time-honored ‘traditional’ method to dodge and burn in Photoshop…
Using HDR Technique in a ‘Traditional’ Photograph
I don’t have a problem with those who love making HDR fantasy photographs; it’s just not what drives me or my shooting. But I do love what the technology has made possible: truly extending the dynamic range of information that can be captured in an image…
Developing a Photoshop Workflow
Do you have a Photoshop workflow? A set processing approach that you always start out with? If you don’t, you need to develop one. Having a set starting approach–a workflow–for Photoshop can improve your overall consistency and results…
How to Use the Info Palette with Eyedropper to Tone Your Photos in Photoshop
The Info Palette and Eyedropper are your keys to great toning results in Photoshop. Here’s how to set and use these essential Photoshop production tools…
Photoshop Image Toning: A Journey, Not Just a Destination
I shot some images of a dying banana plant last week, posting one of them here on The Discerning Photographer the other day. I went back to that shoot yesterday, thinking there might be some other things worth toning and saving….
How to Automate a Batch of Photos in Photoshop
If you’re like me, there are some repetitive tasks that you do over and over with Photoshop. Lots of these tasks can be performed with Actions scripts. But what if you have a whole folder full of images that all need the same thing done to them? Then you want to ‘Automate a Batch….’
Photoshop RGB to Black & White: Which Images Should You Convert?
When should you convert your RGB images to Black and White? Here’s some of the thought process I went through when deciding about this series of images…
HDR Imaging: Is There a Point, Past Which, It’s Really No Longer a Photograph?
Here’s a question I’ve been thinking about lately: can a point be reached with HDR post processing when the thing ceases to be a photograph?
How to Correct Perspective in Photoshop
When shooting buildings with a wide angle lens, you may be confronted with lens foreshortening. This is distortion that occurs when you have to shoot from too-close with the lens pointing up: maybe you don’t have room to back up ( a common occurrence)…
Using Photoshop Adjustment Layers to Create an ‘Instant Polarizer’
Here’s a cool tip for those blue skies that could really use a polarizer—you know, you thought you had it in the camera bag, but didn’t. What to do? Here’s a way to fix it in Photoshop, using Adjustment Layers.
Using the Mask Feature in Photoshop Adjustment Layers
When you start toning with Adjustment Layers, you gain all kinds of new flexibility to your workflow, since it’s a truly nondestructive method of image toning. Today we’ll look at how to use the masking feature in Adjustment Layers to fine-tune the overall image we’re toning.
Photoshop Toning with Adjustment Layers
I’ve been a Photoshop user from the very early days, back when we were simply amazed that someone had figured out how to get a photograph onto a computer screen and even more amazing, give us some very basic tools for toning that photograph. But now Adjustment Layers toning is the new frontier….
Trust Your Image Histogram
Knowing how to take an image from the camera and turn it into a compelling photograph for output, whether for a digital print, the web or a 4-color printing press, is a fundamental skill that too few photographers have mastered. Due to the differences found between monitors, many photographers don’t know where to begin to tune their photos up for output….
Photoshop Alternatives, Part II
If you just can’t justify the expense of Photoshop right now, what should you use? Here we look at open-source Gimp and Photoshop Elements. Is one of these right for you?
Photoshop Alternatives, Part I
If you can’t afford full-blown Photoshop. what image editing software should you use? I review Picnik, Picasa, Gimp and Photoshop Elements in this two-part series.
Creating Your Own Photoshop Actions
How to create your own Photoshop Actions. This can save you tons of time as you process and tone photos. What follows are step-by-step instructions for setting up customized Actions for your workflow….
Photoshop Lab Lightness: The Key to Great Image Toning
There’s nothing more basic to your toning workflow than burning, dodging and sharpening….but how do you go about accomplishing these tasks? I’m here to let you in on an important Photoshop secret: HOW and WHERE to do your burning, dodging and sharpening! Read on…
Creating Great Panorama Photographs
Ever find that trying to shoot those grand vistas proves frustrating? Seeing that sweeping view in front of you, slapping on that super wide angle lens and looking through the viewfinder, only to see all of the fabulous detail of the shot recede into the background? You may want to try photo “stitching.” Read on…
Get an Image Browser
To improve your photography, you need to be able to quickly scan, assess and compare images from a shoot. You need to be able to open them up quickly, without having to wait for Photoshop, and you need to be able to annotate them, add captions and keywords on the fly, and possibly rename them. A good image browser will do all of these things and more! Read on….
Do You Need to Carry a Gray Card?
AWB-Auto White Balance-has gotten really good in the current generation of digital cameras. They do an excellent job of reading and deciphering most lighting situations that you’ll encounter. So does it make sense to carry a gray card to custom-adjust light balance?
Easy Sepia Toning in Photoshop
Here’s my tried-and-true method to create beautiful sepia-toned photographs in Photoshop from your digital images. Follow these straightforward steps to turn any of your color shots into vintage sepia versions…
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