Recently, one of the most well-known photographers in history was caught in a Photoshop scandal. Naturally, this begs the question: where is the line between truth and manufactured reality in photography?
There is no wrong or right way of naming the folders on your computer. It is really just a matter of preference and what works best in your workflow. Having been doing this for a number of years though I have experimented with quite a few different ways and this is by far the one I like best. Here's a quick video, less than 2 minutes long, that shares with you how I name my folders and why I chose to do it that way.
Adobe is hosting a special event on June 18 to show the world what's new in their Creative Cloud set of applications, but today they released a short video highlighting one of the features they're working on in Photoshop: a new way to make automatic selections based on pixels in focus against those out of focus.
I have already written two articles about focus stacking here. The first article dealt with how I use automatic focus bracketing in the field, and in the second article, I shared my focus stacking workflow in Helicon Focus. To provide you with even more tools, I now show you how I combine focus stacking with exposure blending.
When learning about retouching, selections and masks should be on top of the list along with curves and brushes. But each of these tools have so many options, and it is hard to know the in and out of each of them. In this article, I will guide you through different ways to create precise and refined luminosity masks to help you improve your retouching skills.
The hottest trend nowadays is Photoshop presets. Presets to mimic the look of films past, to add a bit of editorial edge to those mundane studio shots, or to just expedite the editing process. Many companies have come out with pre-packaged presets, treatments, and plugins to help users reach a new level of creativity.
For my latest photoshoot I decided to use harsh light to photograph my buddy Bart in two different ways. If you've wanted to learn how to get that vintage movie style look, you'll enjoy this full tutorial.
Michael Woloszynowicz is a great photographer and retoucher. Not only that, but he is a great instructor. His videos always provide clear and detailed instructions on techniques many of us want to know. Recently, Michael released this video regarding the issue of color casts on models. Although Photoshop offers many tools to get close, this method is a truly a brilliant way of thinking.
When Adobe Lightroom separated into two clients, there was a lot of confusion over which was the right one for each person. In this video, we get some insight into the differences between the two.
I must confess, I don't use Adobe Lightroom to anywhere near its full potential. In this video, Nigel Danson walks through a lesser-known tool that is now a staple in his landscape photography.
So it goes without saying that there are a ton of different ways to match skin tones across your subject or between images in Photoshop so it's often just a matter of picking the option that is most convenient or intuitive. Despite the wide array of choices, I seldom see people use the selective color adjustment layer for this task. The beauty of selective color is that it allows us to go off the numbers rather than intuition and achieve an accurate result in little time.
Use your next five minutes effectively and learn how to create faded, filmic photo edits with nothing more than a few tweaks in Lightroom.
Have you ever been to a spectacularly picturesque location and envisioned a perfect image in your head, only to never commit and follow it through? I’m far too guilty of that, but this time, I was determined to get the shot I wanted, no matter how many ridiculously hilarious mistakes it took along the way. Here’s how I did it.
It's amazing how adding just a little bit of shadows can drastically improve the depth of your photographs. Contouring faces is a little trick that can take a few minutes to do, but ultimately increases the overall image quality. I'm going to show you how to use the adjustment brush tool in Lightroom to act similar to the dodging tool in Photoshop, and then the key areas to brush for properly contouring a face.
You know you've "made it" when your brand/product becomes a verb. With 25 years of history Photoshop has done exactly that and has become the undisputed champion of the photo manipulation/editing/post production game. I've been using Photoshop since version 1.0 back in 1990 (first as a tinkerer, then as a design QCM and finally as a photographer/retoucher) but despite my long relationship with Photoshop I still don't consider myself as having mastered it.
For most things retouching, Adobe Photoshop sets the pace and has been the industry standard for decades. However, as alternative software improves and innovates, there are some features that Photoshop doesn't have that would improve it.
Golden hour or overcast skies usually offer the best conditions for capturing models while avoiding harsh shadows, but sometimes time and weather are against us and that’s when Lightroom can come to our rescue. Photographer Julia Trotti gives a quick lesson on how to balance your highlights and shadows.
Adobe Photoshop has had most of its recent major updates centered around its AI editing tools. In this video, find out how to make the colors of an image more punchy by using a filter you might not think to.
Color plays a large role in the way we view an image. It can convey emotion, evoke a response, and set the mood. Understanding the basics behind how to use color in your images will assist in creating your signature look. Color can play a role in all the senses making sure your viewers feel the story behind the capture.
I've written about Glyn Dewis before on Fstoppers. He's a fellow Photoshop World Instructor, UK-based photographer, and has an amazing blog and youtube channel filled with great image post-production tips. In this tutorial, Glyn teaches how to add nice detail and grit to your portraits, as he did with his boxer portrait series featured here. Click to see the entire post to watch another tutorial video on this shoot.
Editing software gets more efficient every day. While competitors like Luminar continue challenging the supremacy of Adobe, there are also free options available. I was surprised that Darktable was ahead of LIghtroom in some features.
In this series of articles, I'll be comparing Capture One to Lightroom to see which one is the better choice. The articles will focus predominantly on color; however, other points such as contrast and dynamic range will also be covered too.
Sometimes your favorite shot out of a series would be perfect if only one little thing was fixed. For me, that is often shadows obscuring details I really wish were more visible. PHLEARN has released an extensive tutorial on how to get those shadows to reveal details in a way that doesn't look super fake, which an issue I have with other methods I have seen.
As you've learned in a previous article, a great time to photograph cities is during blue hour. But the blue hour often lacks dimension and depth in the sky. If you're lucky, you'll have some clouds that provide structure. But if you have a clear blue sky, it'll often appear flat. In this article, I show you a trick you can use to make such a sky more interesting and improve your blue hour photos.
I wanted to explore if freeware can perform better than the most common software subscription for photographers. Find out where Darktable, the free alternative for Lightroom, is ahead — and where it falls behind.
Do you ever feel like you're not hanging around enough celebrities? Maybe you wish you were court-side at a Laker's game sharing an emotional moment with Kobe, or maybe you'd rather be wrapped around Kim Kardashian like couch upholstery? If any of these things are true, you might be Peeje T - a pretty creative guy with a pretty good sense of humor and a knack for photoshopping himself into pictures with the likes of Jay Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, Alisha Keys and Kobe Bryant, among others.
Current cameras' sensors are getting better year after year. Unfortunately, they cannot create noise-free images at high ISO just yet. I am sure the day will come soon, but in the meantime, there is a very simple technique using Adobe Photoshop or Affinity Photo to create the illusion of a clean file.
What is Capture One Express? Simply put, it’s a totally free and simplified version of the Capture One editing software that still offers the same superior raw handling ability as the Pro version.
Panning photography has a few uses, but it's most commonly seen in motorsport. It's a tricky technique to get the most out of and on occasion, it's not even possible. In those situations, perhaps you can fake it instead.
Our histogram shows 256 shades of gray. Besides pure black and pure white Ansel Adams used only nine shades to manipulate the contrast in his famous landscape photos. His zone-system can still be used for our modern digital photography.
The general idea of Photoshop is to help make someone look flawless, while still maintaining their unique and human qualities. It's a tactful technique that requires a keen eye and a good understanding of the human face’s shape. This basic concept was completely destroyed for the cover of Harper’s Bazaar China cover featuring actress Sarah Jessica Parker.
The ideal situation is to take a photo that requires no editing whatsoever. But those shots are few and far between. In most cases, it's important to edit photos in order to develop them properly, but how long is too long when it comes to image editing? I'll be taking a look using Lightroom.
Have you ever looked through someone's Instagram account and noticed that all of their images seemed to have a consistent color palette or style about them? If you've ever wondered how that is possible, give this video a watch. Sean Tucker dives into the details of how and why some creatives choose to present a consistent style, and then he goes on to process a small set of photos to show how it can be done.
In the growing wake of low-budget, special effect action minis whose audience has become larger and larger on YouTube, Sam and Niko's "Real GTA" steps the game up once more with a perfect assimilation of the popular "Grand Theft Auto" video game into real, Los Angeles life. Complete with sound effects recreated as similarly as possible within the actual game, the same Los Angeles street scenes, and smashing special effects (like the famous wads of cash exploding out of recently killed bystanders), "Real GTA" reminds us both how ridiculous and subsequently fun it is.
Stop thieves from stealing your photographic work or simply put your name on shots so others can look you up by adding your own signature or logo to photographs using this technique in Lightroom that should take less than a minute.
My biggest post-processing challenge in photography is image noise. Unlike studio photographers who can precisely control every aspect of lighting, I've been photographing most of my campaigns handheld in natural light for more than 15 years.
Many people think that Adobe Camera Raw is simply Lightroom's Develop Module inside Photoshop. It is, but it also has its own exclusive features. Have a look at this great new update added to Adobe Camera Raw recently that adds a whole different dimension to selections.
It's easy to overlook just how powerful the RAW processing engine can be. It's also pretty easy just throw an image into Photoshop and deal with it there, but RAW is where all the information is - and a dynamic RAW file is the most important aspect of developing your image. You will never have more information to work with than what is in your RAW, so it is important to draw every bit of tone out of it that you can - especially when it comes to maximizing the tonal range in the shadows and the highlights.
As you build up your clientele, you will undoubtedly encounter a host of requests that can blindside you. Many photographers will learn quickly how being a good salesmen is just as vital to their business as the quality of their photographs. Below I have compiled a list of the most common customer concerns, and how to best overcome them while building value in yourself and in your brand.
Photoshop is an amazing tool that most photographers find themselves using on a daily basis. It has countless features, and with the new Photoshop CC, more are added with each update. As a beginner to the program, it can get a little overwhelming on where to start learning all of the complex elements. In this, video you will see 10 of the features you need to know.
I've always heard that Adobe Photoshop will not allow you to import pictures of U.S. currency because you could potentially be using the software to "copy money." Today I ran across a video that also claims that all current copy machines will not copy currency due to a hidden pattern on the bills. I decided to put this to the test.
Well, Adobe has gone and done it. Sky replacement is now a featured part of the just-released Photoshop 2021. For about a year, Skylum has been the leader in sky replacement with Luminar 4, but the story isn't that simple anymore.
Readers have enjoyed my past blogs on editing from home, making a better demo reel, and other video-editing articles, so now I’m sharing with you my favorite editing tricks that I find make for better cuts and ultimately make videos easier to watch.
Last year we teamed up with Mike Kelley to produce the 7+ hour tutorial: How To Photograph Real Estate, Architecture and Interiors. We were fearful that Mike's fancy equipment would be discouraging to new photographers so we asked Mike if he could create a signature image with much cheaper gear. Mike shot an incredible, world class image with the original Canon Rebel and kit lens and only a few accessories.
This is Part 1 in what will be an 8 part series for a dramatic beauty portrait. In the series of tutorials, we will go through everything from the gear used, to the lighting setups, and all the way through the complete retouching process. In Part 1, I will breakdown my gear list used for the shoot and I will thoroughly go through my lighting setup. In this video tutorial not only will you see the gear and setup, but also a behind the scenes look as me and my team go through hair, makeup, and shooting. The complete series of videos will be available here on Fstoppers and on my YouTube Channel.
Many professional photographers are certain to have images that were taken on outdated cameras or taken on low-resolution sensors. But what happens if you want to print these images large or bring them up to current camera technology standards? Well, Luminar Neo might just be the answer for you.
If you want to learn how to quickly create realistic-looking shadows for your subjects in Photoshop, you need to check this out.
If photography is an art, so is retouching. While there are school teaching photography classes, fewer offer retouching programs. Many photographers starting out seem to be looking at the same tutorials over and over again, without ever actually getting anything out of it. Frequency separation, dodging and burning, or curves will only get you so far before you hit a wall. In past the two years, I’ve been looking at other crafts to step up my retouching work. Here are five things I have spent time on that you should look into and why.
Blair Bunting is a good friend of mine, and by far one of the best commercial portrait photographers out there today. He just published a blog post regarding the highly lauded (while simultaneously seriously attacked) new MacBook pro with retina display. While the display is absolutely breathtaking, it has a serious disadvantage. Is the display too good?
If you're somebody who hates heavy-handed post-production, you might want to keep scrolling. For those of you who are happy to do whatever they can to get the image they want, here is an example of Adobe Photoshop's new beta Neural Filters in which the background of an image can be blurred.
