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Home: Video University Forums: Digital Photography for Videographers:
Photoshop (enhancing your images)

Xray
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Feb 2, 2006, 12:39 AM

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Photoshop (enhancing your images)	Can't Post

This is probably a question for those of you that spend significant amount of time working with your images in PS. How did you learn about different techniques? Is there a good book I could start with? Are there any sets (actions) available that would handle most of it? I'm familiar with PS and can follow book examples pretty well (this sounded awkward, but as you know most of them are written for an intermediate users).

Marcin
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If it's sent by ship then it's a cargo, if it's sent by road then it's a shipment.

Mark C
User

Feb 2, 2006, 1:16 AM

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Re: [Xray] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

I picked up "The Photoshop CS Book for digital photographers" by Scott Kelby. It's been invaluable.
Mark C

Edmonton, Alberta
www.markitcreations.com

Storm Crow
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Feb 2, 2006, 8:58 AM

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Re: [Xray] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

One that I like to use is commonly called the $500 dollar photo effect.

Duplicate the layer

click on the new layer and select

filter, blur, gaussian

set the gaussian to about 3.0 pixels

then go to the layers tab (on mine its in the bottom right) and set this layer to overlay.

You can play with the different settings to get it right but this usually gets you close and looks great.
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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
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Pacman
User

Feb 2, 2006, 9:22 AM

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Re: [Mark C] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

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I picked up "The Photoshop CS Book for digital photographers" by Scott Kelby. It's been invaluable.

I have the same book and I second that recommendation. It's full of actual methods and what buttons to click to do them, not page after page of photography theory. I'm not saying that the rhyme and reason aren't just as important, it's just not in this book.

Get it used on Barnes and Nobel. I did and it looked new to me.

PAC

Xray
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Feb 2, 2006, 11:06 AM

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Re: [Xray] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

I actually have a $50 gift certificate to Barnes. Guess where I'm going this weekend. Smile

Thanks for the recommendation.

Marcin
_______________________________________________________________
If it's sent by ship then it's a cargo, if it's sent by road then it's a shipment.

Xray
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Feb 2, 2006, 11:10 AM

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Re: [Storm Crow] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks Storm!

I have to give it a try.
(By your description it sounds like it could be the "magic glow" effect)

Marcin
_______________________________________________________________
If it's sent by ship then it's a cargo, if it's sent by road then it's a shipment.

Storm Crow
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Feb 2, 2006, 11:41 AM

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Re: [Xray] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

No I don't think I would call it that. It's more like slightly over saturated colors with a little blow out but you see it all the time in high end magazines.

The look you are speaking of is different and my 16 year old daughter taught me that one. I'll post in a bit.
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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
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Xray
Veteran

Feb 2, 2006, 11:53 AM

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Re: [Storm Crow] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

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....my 16 year old daughter taught me that one. I'll post in a bit.

Marcin
_______________________________________________________________
If it's sent by ship then it's a cargo, if it's sent by road then it's a shipment.

dc9
Novice

Feb 2, 2006, 12:47 PM

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Re: [Xray] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

download the podcast from www.photoshop.tv featuring the photoshop guys (scot kelby is one of them)
it is a weekly video show where they show a lot of useful tips for photoshop users and is free.

jt53787
Novice

Feb 2, 2006, 1:22 PM

Post #10 of 15 (1955 views)
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Re: [dc9] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

From the start I would suggest that you concentrate on getting the image you want right out of the camera, minus some minor and QUICK effects changes.

I will usually give a B&G around 1000 shots. I shoot RAW entirely and process them in Bridge with Adobe Camera RAW and then I only open my top 50 or 100 images in photoshop. These are the only ones that I apply any effects to. The others come straight out of Camera RAW to JPEGs and are as I want them.

Too much photoshop work can really affect your efficiency. If you're not being efficient, then you're most likely not make enough money for your time.

mcguyver
User

Feb 9, 2006, 7:28 PM

Post #11 of 15 (1848 views)
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Re: [jt53787] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

I agree. It's real easy to get caught up in taking too much time doing too much Photoshop work (happens to me ALL THE TIME). The better you can make your images look straight out of the camera - the less time you'll need tweaking it in Photoshop.

www.photoshopuser.com is an excellent place to learn techniques. fredmiranda.com also has some great actions.

Just Google "Photoshop actions" and you'll find a ton of them - pick what works for you.

____________________________________________________
Trapped on an island in the middle of the Pacific without a Swiss Army Knife
Armed with a Sony HVR-Z1, Glen's Canon EOS 1DMkII and Glen's G5 (Dual 2Ghz/8GB RAM/Dual 250GB HD/External 250 GBSATA RAID/ATI Radeon X800 XT).

Xray
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Feb 10, 2006, 1:14 PM

Post #12 of 15 (1801 views)
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Re: [mcguyver] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks everyone for great tips. Scott Kelby's book arrived last night... I'll start exploring this weekend.

Thank you.

Marcin
_______________________________________________________________
If it's sent by ship then it's a cargo, if it's sent by road then it's a shipment.

(This post was edited by Xray on Feb 10, 2006, 1:14 PM)

GmElliott
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Feb 14, 2006, 1:07 PM

Post #13 of 15 (1699 views)
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Re: [Xray] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

Oh man...photoshop books are a mini-obsession of mine. I've owned/read over a dozen of them. At one point I'd pick up a new one practically every weekend when me and my gf would visit Barnes & Nobel. I just gave a handfull of them to a friend who is starting out in Photoshop (ver.6).

I like the books by Kelby, and his publication PhotoshopUser magazine. My aboslute favorite for advanced techniques is The Photoshop WOW Book.

Over time when you keep reading tips and tricks they rub off on you and you'll start tweaking them and using them in your own way. The best analogy I can think of is how a Kickboxing student learns. He'll spend plenty of time learning how to stand, how to throw punches and kicks, but it's only when he gets in the ring when he'll truly "learn" how to put it all together. I'm a huuuuge believer in photoshop book training. It's the one style of training I prefer book format over video.

Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com

Xray
Veteran

Feb 14, 2006, 1:38 PM

Post #14 of 15 (1692 views)
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Re: [GmElliott] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

Agree with you 100%. Until now my PS knowledge was mainly focused on graphic design but as I was taking my classes I remember people asking industry-specific questions which only proved how extensive this application is. I would be curious to learn how photographers approach PS since even the basics are not as intuitive as you would think (example. I always though that converting to B&W would be accomplished by simply dropping the saturation OR changing to Gray Scale; oh boy, was I wrong). Kelby's book seems to be pretty good thus far.

Thanks for chipping in.

Marcin
_______________________________________________________________
If it's sent by ship then it's a cargo, if it's sent by road then it's a shipment.

GmElliott
Veteran

Feb 14, 2006, 3:41 PM

Post #15 of 15 (1676 views)
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Re: [Xray] Photoshop (enhancing your images) [In reply to]	Can't Post

Channel mixer is may favorite method of converting to B&W. Best of all it can be applied as an adjustment layer.

Glen Elliott
http://www.GmElliottVideo.com