Photoshop

In just a few days, I'll be teaching on Creative Live! Watch me over the course of three days (June 26-28), as I will be teaching and presenting about the art and business of retouching. We'll start right from the beginning of a shoot all the way to the finishing touches! I have the pleasure of bringing in Felix Kunze to shoot the photography portion of the event.

Summer is here and chances are you're going to have to remove a few tan lines or sunburns from your photos this season. Luckily for you Aaron Nace is willing to walk you through all you need to know. I've posted tutorials by Aaron before but it wasn't until I had the opportunity to meet him over drinks in the Bahamas that I discovered how talented he really is. Because he is so talented and the summer sun so hot I think this is a great pick to share with you this Sunday.

Sarah Ann Loreth is a fine art photographer who creates thought provoking, eye catching images that are reflective of her innermost feelings. She strives to develop beautiful, emotive photographs that tell a story of whomever it is capturing...

When someone tells a photographer that “their camera must be really good,” chances are the photographer will respond with an eye roll. The debate surrounding gear verses skill in the photography world is a tired albeit consistent discussion. Let’s not kid ourselves, gear does in fact matter. However, does a photographer need top of the line equipment to produce mind-blowing images? Take a look at this collection and decide for yourself.

Alien Skin Exposure 6 was announced last month and previous versions are considered some of the best plugins available according to both myself and Lee Morris. Well, yesterday Exposure 6 was released and they were kind enough to give me a beta copy to use for the last few weeks, so I wanted to share with you my top 5 favorite features from the version of the highly functional software.

Aaron from Phlearn is back at it with this great tutorial. In it he shows you how to make freckles from scratch. This really unusual technique yields some pretty convincing results.

Adobe just announced the immediate availability of ACR 8.5 and DNG Converter 8.5 on Adobe Labs for Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CC. The update brings with it several refinements and enhanced compatibility with several new cameras including the Canon G1XII, Fuji S1, Nikon 1 series, Olympus OM-D E-M10, and Panasonic GH4.

According to his bio, Jesse Chen is a software engineer at Facebook and recent graduate of UC Berkeley. Jesse has a personal blog which we recently stumbled across that includes a blog post from 2012 that detailed how to go about stealing copyrighted images and removing watermarks.

This is the third part of The Ultimate Guide to the Dodge & Burn Technique. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 where we talked about the fundamentals and tools. Today we finally get to one of the actual setup variations for the Dodge & Burn technique in Photoshop. But before we begin, I'd like to share a few words of caution with you.

Form my teaching practice I have found that knowing the technique - the HOW-TO - never guarantees its successful implementation. In fact, when it's only the technique that a...

In beauty and portrait retouching, one of the most important goals is to retain skin texture and keep the image from looking soft. We often however face a situation where the existing texture is unflattering and harsh. While we could heal out each pore or patch manually, this often leads to sub-par results and takes a long time. In this video I'll show you a unique, precise and fast way to target a particular texture frequency and offset it in a largely automated way.

This is the second part of The Ultimate Guide to the Dodge & Burn Technique. Check out Part 1, where I covered the fundamentals of light and shadow rendering in painting.

So, now that we understand that the shadows and highlights are what makes our 2-dimensional pictures appear to have more volume and dimensions, let's move on to the technical side of the Dodge & Burn implementation in retouching.

Phlearn has debuted another really helpful and easy-to-follow tutorial about how to master motion blur in Photoshop. Early in my photography career, I would make the mistake of shooting motor sports with a high shutter speed. The cars would look sharp but they appeared to be parked on the race track. The technique shown in this video and the steps listed below would have helped add a more dynamic motion and story-telling elements to my otherwise static photographs. This is a great skill to master and can be applied in many scenarios.

Dodge & Burn (D&B) is a technique that came to us from the darkroom days when luminosity values in a photo could be only manipulated by the duration of the exposure of the light sensitive photographic paper. And while there’s so much that have already been published about it, I hope we can still shed some light on the aspects of it that are usually not mentioned in retouching tutorials.

Photography-related groups on Facebook are growing exponentially along with the exploding industry. As with many things in life, there are pros and cons when participating in these groups. One can experience valuable feedback, expertise and positive reinforcement from peers, while also experiencing nitpickers and people who pull you down. There are far more important elements often missed when discussing groups that could change the way you benefit from them... forever.

Photographer Sam Hurd is sharing yet another one of his artistic photography techniques with his followers. He mastered The Brenizer Method, he basically had all of Amazon on backorder for Prisming, he ripped the lens mount right off his 50mm for Freelensing, and then he did some convex Lens Chimping. This time around, Sam attached an old anamorphic movie lens to his 85mm in order to shoot a very cinematic wide field of view. Take a look at how it works!

There's something special about taking a picture on film. That said, film also lent itself to a lot of error: a botched exposure, missed focus and light leaks could all serve to ruin an otherwise lovely image. There are few things more frustrating then getting a roll back from the lab with an error note on the envelope. Occasionally the results were a novelty, perhaps adding interest to an otherwise boring image but all too often light leak was nothing but a bother. So why would anyone want to replicate it in Lightroom?

In an instant, one can feel as though they are in another world. As a landscape photographer you have the power to transport someone in the blink of an eye and send them on a journey into your photography to see the incredible world we live in. Creating amazing landscapes goes far beyond just snapping photos using the HDR setting on an iPhone. Landscape photography can seem daunting, but after reading these secrets to landscape photography, there will be no excuse to why you can’t take mesmerizing landscapes yourself!

Brandon Cawood, from Dalton GA, has taken appreciating first responders to the next level. What began as a personal project to photograph local EMS personnel, soon blew up and went viral. Cawood captures priceless moments in the daily lives of firefighters, police and other public safety personnel. He has a movie poster style and pulls it off in a flawless manner.

It's a common problem to have a variation of colors across the skin in any image. This may occur for many reasons, such as blood flow, skin quality and texture, or lighting changes. It's always been a hassle to fix this since it requires some guess work and tweaking. It's often not as precise as it could be either. Michael Woloszynowicz has come up with a brilliant way of color correcting skin in a way that I've never seen before!

A little bit over a week ago, I went to Los Angeles International Airport to make a photo. It was a clear day, and I didn't want to waste it sitting inside. Being an aviation fan myself, as well as an occasional pilot and aerial photographer, watching planes, to me, is hardly the worst way to pass the time. As it turns out, making this photo would lead to one of the craziest weeks of my entire life.

It's not the first time I'm sharing Michael Shainblums work and it won't be the last time. Timelapses are one of the most time consuming forms of photography and only a dedicated person with patience can produce quality results as often as Michael.

Aaron Nace recently made a video showing you a quick and easy way to make lens flare (in a blank layer) right in Photoshop. While it might not be quite as exciting as, say, removing a model's bra this is a really handy tip to add a little bit of interest to your images. This method lives the user more latitude when it comes to adjustment of color, intensity, rotation, blur, and scaling after the fact.

Getting it right in camera is one of the most important steps to achieving a great photograph, but color grading is what can really take your work to entirely new level. It has taken me nearly 2 years to find the right process and perfect combination to obtain the right look. And, over the course of my time writing for Fstoppers, I've been asked dozens of times about the coloring and process behind my imagery. Well, I've finally broken it all down in one quick tutorial.

Our friend Glyn Dewis has been sharing his straightforward and very helpful post-production tutorials with us for a long time. This time he shares about how to add dramatic sun beams to your photos in post-production. Something I've been trying to master for a long time! Read below to learn more about how Glyn created this cool elephant image from a safari park snapshot.

Merely two years ago, Stanislav picked up his first camera: a Lumix G3 for $600. From that point forward his inspirational journey began. The majority of his mind-blowing work was taken in his attic using friends as models. Now he is known as Sean Archer - a natural light photographer who specializes in female portraits. His work is proof that it’s not about gear. It’s about the photographer; it's about the vision of the artist.

I love aviation and I love photography. So the other day, inspiration struck and I ran to LAX to capture a photo that compresses eight hours of airport traffic at one of the biggest airports in the world into a single frame. Here's how I did it.

In recent years Photoshop has garnered more negative attention than any other platform that is utilized for image manipulation. Photoshop can be used to create unnatural product resulting in unrealistic expectations. As photographers and retouchers, we have the power to control what the media perceives as attractive.

With the multiple methods of sharpening in Photoshop, a big issue is that many of them are applied globally without any consideration to edges and areas with varying level of per-existing sharpness. The result of these techniques can enhance issues of fringing or inconsistent results across the image. This method by Michael Woloszynowicz is by far the most intelligent method I've seen so far.

Sharpening is a mystery to many, some do it well and others don't. There are quite a few methods to sharpen an image including the use of a High Pass Filter, Unsharp Mask, Smart Sharpen and Camera Shake Removal in Adobe Photoshop CC. However, it’s similar to hearing nails on a chalkboard when I see an image that is over sharpened. I'm no saint, I'm certainly guilty of cranking Unsharp Mask, I just never found the right solution. Until now.

Color banding is a problem we encounter when retouching many of our images or making them ready for print, but in many of the cases we just ignore it hoping no one will notice. In this long and detailed video, photographer / illustrator Lee Varis explains why banding appears in our photos, how we can recognize it, and shows the best methods we can use to fix it.

If you haven't spent any time on Phlearn.com then you are missing out on some amazing post production tutorials. Phlearn founder Aaron Nace has teamed up with Fstoppers for our first ever Fstoppers Workshops! During May 28 - June 1st, Aaron will be teaching a 2 day workshop in the Bahamas where you and 7 other students will plan and execute your "dream photoshoot".

Much to my dismay, I've recently discovered that many photographers are unaware of the power of selective coloring. With its versatility, I'm convinced it's one of the most powerful tools for photographers today. It sounds insane, but I've used selective coloring for the majority of my photos over the last few years, and have left largely everyone impressed with my techniques. And no, I'm not trolling you.

About 5 years ago, when I was still in my Photography college in Australia, our teachers would regularly introduce us to the new and noteworthy Australian photographers' and digital artists' work. Among others there was one artist, whose work really grabbed my attention and I have been watching her growth and success ever since.

When retouching in Photoshop, there are many different ways to achieve the same thing. Personally, I've always struggled to find the best method to remove shadows under the eyes. Like everything else in Photoshop, there are a slew of methods to correct this, but each of them had their weaknesses. Check out this simple - yet slightly hidden - method that you probably never knew existed.

This video was incredible! Ten By Fotolia brought two talents together and gave us an all access pass at their creation. Eric Paré is a Montreal based creative photographer who is a master at light painting. Mike Campau is a brilliant digital artist who is skilled in retouching, image design, and CGI. Together, they bring us a great video filled with lots of information that everyone can take away from.

The thought of removing stray hairs in Photoshop conjures up thoughts that are equivalent to torture. It's not uncommon to hear your fellow colleagues gripe about retouching hair. However,
Michael Woloszynowicz has come to the rescue. He is becoming one of our favorites here at Fstoppers when it comes to Photoshop tutorials. Check out this efficient way in tackling stray hairs!

The first time I saw a levitation shot, I stared at it for 15 minutes in astonishment. I could not conceive how the image was captured; I was captivated by the story it conveyed, it was surreal, magical and awe-inspiring. Conceptualizing the image and executing it can prove to be rather difficult and meticulous. Thankfully, photographers who have mastered the techniques involved in levitating have decided to share their secrets with us.

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.

Adobe Photoshop can be a really daunting program. Do you remember the first time you opened it up? Much like anything else, it takes time to get good at it. Even with what you know now, you still realize there is a lot left to learn. The Internet provides such a valuable resource in learning the program. Here is a list of the best resources to learn Photoshop!

It has happened to all of us a million times: After wrapping up a creative photo shoot and go through some of the images in post, we typically find a few photos in there that are "meh" at best and you most likely pass over or discard. Well, photographer and retoucher Glyn Dewis once again shares an awesome Photoshop / Lightroom tutorial on how he turned one of his throwaway photos into a killer shot. Check out the final image and information below.

As a retoucher, an issue I have to fix at times is light falloff that occurs in studio. This can happen when the light modifier used isn't ample in covering the model fully. Thankfully, there is an easy fix that allows you to correct this problem. Prior to, it was a little more difficult without being able to harness the power of the raw file to fix it naturally. Once you get used to the process, you can use this technique to correct other exposure issues as well.

The folks over at creativeLIVE are broadcasting an entire week of photoshop classes. Classes kicked off Monday, February 24 and will continue to stream LIVE for free until Friday, February 28th. This week covers a broad spectrum of things available to photographers in Lightroom and Photoshop such as workflow, digital file management, local and global adjustments, photo restoration, selections, and my personal favorite, advanced beauty retouching.

Chances are you have already learned what Frequency Separation (FS) technique is, as it became mainstream in the past few years. However, many FS technique users actually know very little theory behind it, thus have little control over its implementation. I've set out to research and collect all the important and useful information about it, so we can together learn how to become better at it.