PSE Tip – The Clone Tool And Apologies

This is Sandra who sings like an angel. An absolute angel. I know this is not the most flattering picture of her. It’s a good thing she doesn’t read my blog. I looked for another photo that may illustrate the cloning tool, but this one is the best I can find…sorry Sandra, oh right, you don’t read this blog.

So here’s Sandra again. Lets play I Spy. What’s the difference between the two pictures? Do you see it?

Right! Sandra’s pin is gone in the second picture. I used the cloning tool in Photoshop Elements (PSE) to make it disappear.

You can find the cloning in the tools section. It looks like a little stamp.

And here’s the fun part, hold down the ALT key and put the cursor somewhere that you want to “clone”. I put it somewhere on her scarf because I want to clone the scarf over the pin. Get it? Sort of? When you hold the ALT key down, it will change the cursor to that little cross target thing.

Then select a brush tool, select the width so that it’s manageable. Not too big, not too small.

Then click over what you wan to go away. In this case, it’s the mice. Keep clicking until the mice disappears. You may have to redo (Edit>Revert) a couple times to practice but it’s fun.

And you really do sing beautifully Sandra.

Before And After – Blue Ice

This little piece of ice has had my attention for a long time. I spent a couple of hours playing with the original image in order to make it look like this.

Here’s what it looked like before…this is the SOOC. It’s pretty but has no umph. I placed my camera on the icy ground to capture this small, innocuous piece of frozen H2O because I saw its potential.

I opened it up in Photoshop and I ran TRA2’s “Punch Out!!!” action on it.

It was getting there…but not quite enough of a punch for me. So I ran it again.

Now it’s getting there…now it’s looking cold. I was running out of time, so I ran PW’s “Sharpen and Define” action on it. When you are shooting ice, it should be as sharp as possible so you can get all the details that God puts there.

There it is, I then posted it, and called it a day.

But…I couldn’t help myself and revisited it again…during the second half of the Super Bowl.

I opened it up in Photoshop Elements just to see what would happen…just because.

I increased the contrast because you can’t have enough contrast with ice…it’s supposed to be cold.

Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Brightness/Contrast…It will open the above window. I just increased the brightness and contrast until it looked good to me. Every picture is different so use your eye.

Now I thought a little bit more color might help so Enhance>Adjust Color>Adjust Color Curves…That will open the window above.

I adjusted what looks like little volume control buttons to me. When I move the buttons left and right, it moves the point on the graph up or down. I made a little gentle S-curve until it satisfied my eye. You’ll see the picture deepen with color.

So there you go…it’s one way I amuse myself…

Before…

After…very cool, or rather very cold…

PSE Tip – Creative Kaitlin And Quick Edge Burn

Kaitlin is my good friend Lisa’s little girl. She’s also – like – this really creative chick. She is going to be a famous and successful artist, I have absolutely no doubt. She represents to me a promise of what could have been. I wish I studied something artistic in school, instead, I decided to get a degree in physics. Yes, physics. In any case, the blue hair is cool too.

I am working on a project for a friend and was creatively stuck…so while I was at my hometown last month and visiting Kaitlin’s mom and dad, I asked her to make me a header for my project. I saw her passion and her talent and I just knew…it was going to be WAAAAY better than what I could do. This is what she gave me, awesome. I changed it a little bit, to better represent what the project is about. Kaitlin knows this, I told her. Trust me, the original is great.

Kaitlin, in the “real” world when you are not working for yourself, your vision sometimes has to be amended for a client or boss. I hope you’ll like what I did to your original. I’ll show you at the end of this post.

I’m going to take Kaitlin and change her a little too, give her a little bit of a burn around the edges. I had to dissect some actions to figure out how…and it’s not the simpliest thing to do in PSE but it can really make put a punch in a photo.

First choose the rectangular marquee tool and select a portion of the photograph about an inch from the sides of the edges.

Notice that I hit control J to make a duplicate layer…just to keep the original image in case I mess up.

I then right click on the photo and that little box shows up. I didn’t zoom in again! A real graphic artist would have, I’m just a physics major. Anyway, choose “Select Inverse”. You’ll see that the outside of the image becomes selected.

Right click on the image again and select “Layer Via Copy”. You see another layer pop up with just the selected outer edge.

Under the layer drop down box, choose “Linear Burn”. I zoomed in! The angels are singing.

You’ll see the outer edge of your image turn darker. It’s kind of cool.

Now go to Filter>Distort>Spherize.

It will put the oval over the image. Don’t panic, it just looks funny, it’s ok.

Then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.

Move the radius all the way to the right to 250.0 pixels.

There’s Kaitlin with an edge burn on her. It just sets off her blue hair so well.

You know Kaitlin, when your mom and I were in high school, I used to worry about your mom’s taste in music. When we were all listening to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, she was listening to Metallica or some other really hard rock band. But now, I’m the abnormal one and she’s the one saving lives every day as a nurse. I love your parents…I know you will make them proud.

And here’s what I did to your original piece of art. As you can see, it still is representative of your original. It’s a little blurry because I had the resolution wrong when I shrunk it for the web. Like I said, a real graphic artist would have done it correctly. I hope you approve.

Here’s a Kaitlin-girl original. This piece has won her acclaim and she is advancing to the Northeastern Pennsylvania Scholastic Competition. She’s won the right to take it to the national level as well. Way to go Kaitlin-girl! Make your momma proud.

PSE Tip – Little Victoria And Soft Light For Faces

Ok, the game’s well into the second quarter, Philadelphia 16, Minnesota 14. The husband thinks I’m hyper active. Some people knit and watch football, some people drink beer and watch football, I play with Photoshop Elements and watch football.

This is Victoria, my cute little niece.

This is the SOOC and she’s adorable here too, but I can’t help playing with the image, no matter how adorable she is.

I did a little trick that I think can be used for most portraits. It’s super easy, I promise.

I opened the image up in PSE and I made a duplicate layer. Then I made another and to “save” the original layer, I clicked on the eye to hide the original layer. I don’t know if it’s necessary but I do it.

With the top layer selected or highlighted, I click on the select menu box over the layers palette. I think it’s called Blending Mode. I’m not really sure. Anyway, when the options show up, I select “Soft Light”.

You will see an immediate change, the picture will have much more contrast and that very annoying haze over your picture will go away. Unless of course, you are a better photographer than I am, in which case you won’t have a haze. In most cases this looks very harsh so selectively set the Opacity. I put it down to 50% for Victoria here, but each photo is different. Choose the best opacity for your photo.

That’s it. I think this photo is closer to how adorable she really is in real life. She’s quiet around strangers but quite the ham around the camera, much like the girl. That makes me even more drawn to her, I can relate.

This technique works with turtles too.

I think Philadelphia is going to win…just because they always rally around Donovan McNabb in a pinch. That makes him a true leader, which is not good for the Giants if they have to meet him in the play-offs. You know next year, all this will mean absolutely nothing.

Tomorrow the kids have school. Christmas break (I’ll continue to call it that) is over. I hope I can get them up for school! I also have a pile of work waiting for me next week. I wish I could photoshop all day and night!..it was fun while it lasted!

Until next time…

PSE Tip – The Philadelphia Eagles And Eye Glasses Reflection Fix

OK, the Ravens are advancing in the playoffs, they just beat the Dolphins. I was rooting for the Dolphins because I think they are the weaker team and would not have been effective again my team, the Giants. But the Ravens won anyway and they are just up the street so I’m kind of happy, I guess.

Now Philadelphia is playing the Vikings. I have mixed feelings about Philadelphia, I can’t decide whether to not like them or to really not like them. Kidding you Eagles fans…I have  an affinity for Philadelphia because they are just up the street too, just a stones throw from Baltimore…but they are a dangerous team, unpredictable, and I don’t know how the Giants are going to do against them if they have to face them…

Speaking of the Philadelphia Eagles, these are my parents Nanna and Poppop. They live in Pennsylvania and Poppop is an Eagles fan. Other than that, he’s a good guy.

I took this picture at homecoming in my home town last October. I liked the picture but I didn’t like some of the aspects of the SOOC.

It really bothered me that their glasses had so much reflection and glare on them.

I looked and looked and looked for a solution on the web…because that’s the way I am. And I found one – sort of. Let me explain…

Peachpit.com had a good solution for overall glare on glasses. So I followed along to fix Poppop’s glasses.

First, I make a duplicate layer (Ctrl J) because it’s my safety net, I feel better when I do.

I blew Poppop up really big and centered his eyes and eye glasses (Ctrl +). I clicked the quick selection tool, or you can find it by hitting A.

I traced around Poppop’s left eye. Now I did just the eye, not the entire perimeter of the glasses, I figured if I sharpened the eye only, the glare wouldn’t be so noticeable. And well…I was right, he he.

Then I clicked on the little circle that is half black and half right on the layers palette. You can see it above the layers, to the left of the garbage can. It’s called the Create Adjustment Layer icon. When you click on it, choose Levels. Move the little black arrow on the bottom on the left to the right (that’s on the left to the right) and move the little white arrow in the middle to the right until you think it looks right. It’s very technical, I know.

Do the same for the other eye.

Now it did make Poppop’s eyes look better but Nanna still had a huge reflection on her right eye. This technique will not work for her, she still looks really lopsided.

So I had an idea. Lets just darken her glasses and reduce the reflection that way.

So I blew up Nanna really big.

But wait, I have to flatten the layers because I don’t want to get messed up. I want to leave the original layer so I don’t choose Flatten Image, I select all of the layers I want to flatten and choose Merge Layers, leaving the original layer.

I then choose a color that won’t make her look too weird. I’ll have to tell you how to choose a color another time.

Then I choose the brush tool. I take the brush size to a manageable size, I think I chose 25 px.

I make another layer by clicking Ctrl J again.

Vikings just scored, now it’s 6 to 6.

I start painting her left eye. Eeekkkk.

I paint her other eye, double eeeekkkk.

Vikings kicked the extra point, it’s 6 to 7, Vikings.

OK, now this is really important, with the top layer selected, reduce the opacity. I have it reduced to about 84% I believe. Leaving it at 100% will make it look really bad, really bad.

Then I decided I didn’t like the hoodlum sitting next to them. He looked like trouble. So I just cropped him out. Done.

The before…

The after…

Poppop’s eyes pop (he he) a little more so the glare on his glasses isn’t as noticeable. Nanna’s glasses are darker so the reflection that was on her right eye is not as noticeable making her look more symmetrical to us (me).

Even though I liked the SOOC of this picture, I just couldn’t get past some of the things I felt were “wrong” with it. This picture isn’t perfect but it doesn’t bother me anymore.

I may just add this picture to the calendar I’m going to make for them next year.

The Eagles just scored again on an interception. Shoot. I wonder how many more tutorials I can crank out before the game ends…

PSE Tip – Dead Basil And Auto Is Everything

I love playing with my camera. I will frankly take a picture of just about anything. I took a picture of the dead basil in my mother’s garden.

This is what it looked like when it came straight out of the camera. It has this filmy hazy look to it, and it’s not at all sharp. A lot of my SOOC pictures look like this. Wish I was a better photographer. But I like the picture anyway…what to do, what to do.

I opened it up in Photoshop Elements and as always, I make another layer by hitting Ctrl J. I just do. I click the eye to hide the background layer.

Then I click Enhance>Auto Levels…

Then Enhance>Auto Contrast…

Then Enhance>Auto Color Correction…

And I get this, much much better.

It was so easy too, wish I can click Auto Laundry, Auto Dinner, and Auto Mop The Floor.

It’s still playoff weekend, the score? Ravens 13, Miami 3.

Photoshop Elements – It’s Da Bomb

I have been using Photoshop for a while and it’s the most powerful tool for photographers – bar none. I use it for some graphic design as well. I taught myself and I’m embarrassed to say that I know about 5% of it’s features. I have far far far to go before I sleep. It’s not the most intuitive program to use (sorry Adobe) purely because it’s so powerful, you have to have a lot of tenacity and pure will to learn all of its features on your own. It is however, the greatest invention since the telephone, just not as easy to learn to use…

And lets face it. Not many amateurs (or just regular people) can afford to just go out and buy a copy of Photoshop. According to the Adobe website, it’s $699. If you are a student or a non-profit organization, you can purchase it for a little less. But for regular folk, it’s pretty darn expensive. With the economy and all…I am using the one that I use for work, so essentially, I was forced to learn it which sometimes is the best way to learn something, under great pressure. Because it makes diamonds, so I’ve heard.

So what’s a regular gal to do? We take photos too, us regular gals, and we want our photos to look just like the pros. There’s got to be a better way out there. Well, there is. It’s called Photoshop Elements. Although it’s not free, it’s a ton more affordable at $139.99. As a matter of fact, some companies give you the option of getting it on a brand new computer. I just ordered an HP desktop for my step-father and I snuck in a copy, just in case I’m ever visiting and need it in a pinch.

It has many of the features of the full up Photoshop application. I’m not sure what all the differences are between the two, but I have used Elements for many projects and I think it’s worth the investment, worth your time, and worth it. Period. I’m so glad the folks at Adobe took pity on us. Thank you.

Many of the actions (actions…a tutorial for another time) you can find online for Photoshop can be duplicated in Photoshop Elements. The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond (she’s awesome) has actions for Photoshop and many of them can be done in Elements.

Here are some examples of before and afters from little ‘ole me using Photoshop Elements (I’m going to have to abbreviate this to PSE).

Before and after – using Auto Levels in PSE, one click is all it took.

Before and after – lightening and sharpening in PSE. Subtle I know, but the Equestrian Moms love my photos.

Before and after – easy peasy but look what a difference.

Or for some, you may just be creative but have a lot of self-doubt, if you do, you’re not alone. You are looking at (reading) the epitome of self-doubt. But I’m also just a little bit reckless too. I also know that some of you are closet photographers (Neighbor Suzanne). So I’m urging you, pleading with you, post your photos! Lets all see what you’ve been up to!

I promise you I’ll show you how the best I can.