Create a blue sky with your infrared image...

Shooting in infrared can transform a scene into something magical and otherworldly! A creative way to alter the look of an infrared image is to create the blue sky effect by "channel swapping" colors. This is very easy to do with the Channel Mixer in Photoshop. Images created with converted cameras using the enhanced (665nm) or super color (590nm) infrared filters work beautifully for this technique. Certain standard R72 type infrared images such as the one above work too. Here's how you do it..

Step 1: Choose the Channel Mixer from the Adjustment Panel.

Step 2: Adjust the source channels, moving the red channel slider from 100% to 0, and increase the blue channel slider from 0 to 100%. (You can type in the values).

Step 3: Change the output channel to blue, and increase the red source channel to 100%.

Step 4: Change the blue source channel to from 100% to 0% to exchange the blue channel for the red.

Save this as a preset so you never have to go through these steps again! Click on the small preset options box next to the preset drop down menu "Save Channel Mixer Preset" (at the top of the channel mixer). I saved my settings as “Blue Sky" for easy reference and a one click adjustment.

You can use a Hue Saturation adjustment layer to enhance the color of your blue sky. Choose the Blue or Cyan Channel and adjust the Hue slider to the desired shade of blue.  Make great pictures! ~ Deb

Try out Textures with an Image using Mini Bridge...

Using Mini Bridge in Photoshop CS5 is a great way to try out textures! I'm a big fan of Flypaper Textures, plus I have a collection of my own that I like to use. Mini Bridge allows you to easily try out any texture from your texture folders (jpeg or tiff) to see how it works with your image. 

This sailboat was photographed on a clear sunny afternoon, knowing that the empty sky and neutral background would work well with a texture layer. I selected the folder Flypaper Textures Summer Painterly from Mini Bridge, and chose Sariel Leather, a beautiful golden toned texture, and dragged it over the sailboat image. The next step is to choose a blend mode (I chose Overlay). You can experiment with a texture, blend mode and opacity, pressing the Escape key to remove the texture, or Enter key to choose it. The texture can easily be resized by pulling out the corners to fit your background image. This allows you to try out textures - easy and fast!

Here are a few dot points to make it even easier...

• Navigate to your texture folders in Mini Bridge.
• Find a texture that suits your image from your texture folder.
• Drag the texture from Mini Bridge over your photograph (texture layer is a Smart Object).
• Choose a Blend Mode, you can change this later, you can try Overlay to start with.
• If you like the result, press the Enter key. If you want to remove it, press the Escape key.
• Resize the texture to fit your image (dragging the corners out to fit as shown above).
• You can choose a variety of texture and blend modes this way!

The idea of this tutorial is to make it easier to experiment with textures! My friend Anna Cary gave me this tip about Mini Bridge to share - thanks so much, Anna! I cover more about textures in my online BetterPhoto.com courses. Hope to see you there! ~ Deb

Lorikeet fun! Artistic touches with Topaz Labs Simplify...

These colorful lorikeets are so much fun, and amazing to watch! They have brush tongues that sip nectar, and they are the most outgoing of parrots. They're not afraid of anything, and will land on you if they think they'll get a nectar treat. I love their colors, and personalities! To create a painterly look, I used Topaz Labs Simplify to remove some of the detail, making the image more artistic. Thanks those who already signed up for my Friday fun webinar on Topaz Labs Simplify! See you there!

PS... I'll be giving a presentation/demo on "Artistic Imagery" for the Orlando Camera Club on July 25th, covering my favorite tips and techniques for creative fun in Photoshop!

Create a colorful sketch effect with your photos...

Want to create a fast and easy colorful sketch effect without breaking out the Prismacolor pencils? You can use Topaz Labs Simplify for an artistic rendition of your original image. Mouse over, or hover the stylus over the image above to see the before and after images.  To vary the look of the sketch effect, duplicate the filter layer, change the blend mode, and adjust the opacity to suit your image. I used a blend mode of Overlay with the photo above, or you can leave the image as is for a more pastel look. I'll show you how to do this in my upcoming webinar on March 25, I hope you can join the fun, follow this link to register! ~ Deb

#South Beach Lifeguard Stands with artistic textures and borders...

This started as a singular long exposure before sunrise on beautiful South Beach in Miami, FL. There are quite a few of these lifeguard stands that are manned during the daytime hours to protect beach goers. Before the sun actually rose, the sky was violet with a pink hue and I wanted to work with this idea a bit in Photoshop to create a fun and painterly look.

I used several layers of texture to create the look in this image. I started with Lavender Skies and a blend mode of Overlay, and used a second texture, Brushed Rose with a blend mode of Hard Light. A Hue/Saturation adjustment layer was added to sway the colors in the texture to a more violet and purple hue, very easy to do from the Adjustment Panel in Photoshop.

The textures were brought out with the various blend modes and complemented the life guard stand nicely. From the Layers Palette, you can scroll through the various blend modes to see the effect each has on your image by making sure the Move tool is active, and holding down the Shift and the plus or minus key. The textures used here are from Flypaper and they are truly one of my favorites of textures to work with. Try them and see why! Click here to visit Flypaper Textures.

This was a lot of fun to create, and the finishing touches work out beautifully by using a canvas looking edge treatment by Jack Davis from OnOne PhotoFrame. This filter set has every edge treatment, border, frame, embellishment, and overlay available, to make the perfect picture.  OnOne PhotoFrame... you can use coupon code DEBSANDIDGE. Interested to know more about enhancing your images? Join me in class next month at BetterPhoto.com  - I hope to see you there!

Creating Beautiful Texture and Borders with OnOne Software...

Textures are a wonderful way to enhance a photograph, creating more depth, drama and interest throughout the composition. Texture can create a very subtle artistic look that draws in the viewer. An image overlay composite was applied to the architecture through OnOne PhotoTools 2.6, a stand alone application and plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture. Within the PhotoTools interface, the overlay opacity was reduced, and the effect was brushed away from the sky. Very quick and easy! 

For the finishing touch, an artistic edge treatment was applied with OnOne PhotoFrame 4.6. I chose one of the  Guru edges from Jack Davis. This worked perfectly to tie everything together. A quick tip, increase the size of the canvas by 110% before adding the border or edge treatment. From Photoshop's Menu, choose Image>Canvas Size, change pixels to percent, and change the width and height values to 110%  This gives you more space around your photo before adding your frame. I chose white for the extension color, you can choose black or any color you wish. 

Want to learn more about textures and fun stuff in Photoshop? Join me in one of my upcoming courses at BetterPhoto.com, starting in December! Check the sidebar for more info and links.

OnOne Software is offering Perfect Photo Suite, a collection of five software titles including PhotoTools 2.6, PhotoFrame 4.6, and the latest Perfect Resize 7 (formerly Genuine Fractals) at $100 off through December 4th. You can use coupon code DEB6 for your discount. Click here to visit the OnOne website.   Make great pictures! ~ Deb

Create a cool tilt-shift look with Alien Skin Bokeh 2...

I would love an ultra wide 24mm perspective control tilt shift lens. It's on my Christmas list! Until Santa finds out, I'll be creating a toy model tilt shift look with Alien Skin Bokeh 2. This is such a creative tool for Photoshop, very easy to work with and a favorite of students in my Enhancing Images course at BetterPhoto.com.

This scene was photographed from the window of my hotel during PhotoPlus in New York City. You can create the same effect with any image that was taken from up high or far away. The trick (and technique) is to fool the eye by creating selective focus from an all in focus image, which Bokeh 2 does easily. You can also simulate creative aperture shapes for interest and texture (try stars for the holidays). For a "realistic faux" finishing touch, add saturation and contrast  Make great pictures! ~ Deb

Starry Night, Photoshop CS5 Style...

Here's a quick and easy way to create star trails in Photoshop CS5! Click on the fly-out menu in the Actions palette and load the action - Star Trails Rotation. Choose a photo of stars that you'd like to rotate to make star trails. Start the action, and watch the magic happen!

I used a single photo of stars that I shot on Florida's east coast for the star trail rotation action. For the foreground, I chose a castle that I photographed in Europe, and toned it blue. To tone your image, use a Hue Saturation adjustment layer and check Colorize. Move the hue and saturation sliders to create the look you like. Composited together, the two images tell a dramatic and interesting story. Have fun in Photoshop!

A little romance...

Window dressings in antique stores provide wonderful photographic opportunities. Lace, flowers, and a vintage dress, a romantic find! I liked the vintage look inside the window and thought it would be fun to create a photo that looked like it was taken long ago. To create a nostalgic look, I added several layers of texture and used a "film" preset in Alien Skin Exposure 3 called Autochrome. The grain, texture and slightly faded look adds a little more depth to the digital image making it appear antique.

For street photography, including "window shopping" I use a mid range zoom on my camera and have it out and ready to shoot. Auto ISO comes in very handy for shooting in various light conditions. I also enable Active D Lighting enabled (Nikon) which boosts the mid tones and evens out the contrast in the highlight and shadow areas, creating a better balanced exposure. Aperture priority mode gives me choices on how I want to interpret my subject. Focusing on the subject with a wide aperture allows the  background to fall into a soft blur which helps define the dress. Make great pictures!

Taming Dragons in Photoshop...

You can easily create a new look for an image by using a little creativity in Photoshop! The colors of this urban art dragon were inverted in Photoshop (Control/Command I) and then softened with Topaz Adjust Portrait Smooth for a painterly look. The image below shows the original dragon colors. 

If you really want to have fun with color, alter the Hue by making a Hue Saturation adjustment layer! For the purple dragon below, I inverted the original and adjusted Hue to create a new look. An adjustment in Hue gives you control over colors, and can make a very different interpretation of the original image. 

We do this, and more in my four week online course, Photoshop - Enhancing Images and Creating Works of Art at Betterphoto.com. Classes start in July! I hope to see you there!

Beacon of Light...

The Old Point Loma lighthouse in San Diego, CA makes a wonderful subject for photography and creativity. The clear blue sky provided a great opportunity for a little artistry in Photoshop! The entire image took me just a few minutes from start to finish. I used two plug-ins from OnOne Software: PhotoTools for the unique filigree and scrollwork vintage effect, and Photoframe for the perfect finishing touch, a nautical edge treatment. Have fun and make great pictures!

PS - There is still time to sign up for my online classes at BetterPhoto.com! Join the fun!

Have a seat...

Happy Monday! Have a seat! This colorful corner wall mural offers a great opportunity for a cool shot. The artist did amazing work with the tropical motif and cute penguins! To create an HDR look, I used Topaz Adjust and Topaz Clean 2. The combination brightened up dark areas, and enhanced the colors and detail in the image. Today is the last day to take advantage of the Topaz promotion (20%), coupon code newadjust for the latest version of Adjust 4, or adjustup for the bundle. Topaz Adjust 4 is one of the absolute "must-have" plug-ins for Photoshop. I wouldn't have near the fun without it! ~ Deb

Topaz Adjust 4... New!

Check out the new Topaz Adjust 4! This is the latest version of everyone's favorite Photoshop plug-in. If you haven't tried it, now is your chance to take advantage of a fantastic photo editing tool. This is the effect you might have noticed in beautiful photos and wondered just how it was accomplished. To make your photos "pop"- it's the plug-in that will make a big difference in your photography.

If you already have Topaz Adjust 3, the upgrade is free for you! If you want to purchase it, now's the time and here's your coupon code - newadjust. (You'll save $15) and have fun with the new presets included.This code is only effective March 1 - 15 however. If you would like to get the Topaz Bundle, use this code - adjustup. You'll save $30 towards the this excellent set of tools, including Adjust, Simplify, Clean, DeNoise, Remask, Detail, and DeJPEG.

Take a look at the new user interface, very clear and easy to use... Here,  I chose Photo Pop to subtly enhance the color and detail in my image. Do try Spicify, it's another one of my favorites! See below.

You can create a variety of effects by using Topaz Adjust 4. I use and recommend everything Topaz!   Clean 2 creates wonderful effects (browse through my past blog posts to get an idea. Have fun working with everything Topaz! Please send me your photos, I'd love to see what you are creating!

I use Topaz Adjust in a variety of ways as part of my work flow with both color and infrared photography. Want to work a little more with this idea? Join me for one of my online BetterPhoto.com courses starting March 10... Photoshop - Enhancing Images and Creating Works of Art, or Digital Infrared Photography. Hope to see you there!
~ Deb