photoshop tips Archives - Keeping With The Times

I had to have a little wreath play in Photoshop and thought I’d share it with you.

These days I’m taking advantage of every single bit of floral inspiration I see when I look out my window.

It’s a blessing to be able to stay in Arizona until the weather in Alberta turns lovely … not just spring in the technical sense, but warm, sunny, and green … sigh … I know it’s happening and I’m so looking forward to returning home … it’s starting to heat up here in Arizona—big time. I’m not complaining … just sayin’ …

Now, on to my wreath …

or is it two wreaths … you tell me …

I’m guessing you sense there’s a bit of trickery going on here since “Photoshop” is part of my blog title. OK … here’s the scoop.

I created a wreath on a piece of white foam core and took a few shots in Auto mode … er … yes … I used Auto (and why not?) it gave me the sharpest image.

In Lightroom:

I adjusted exposure using Auto Tone, then did a bit more tweaking to get the colours brighter, whiter, and sharper.

With the Tone Curve tool I clicked and dragged in the white part of the photo to whiten the background as much as I could without blowing out any of the whites in the flowers or the wire frame.

I exported the image to Photoshop and dragged it onto a new 12in x 12in, 300ppi document. I duplicated it and moved the duplicate into the upper right corner … looks weird right?

Here’s the magic, change the blend mode of the top image to Multiply:

How fun is that?! When using the Multiply blend mode in Photoshop, areas on a layer that are pure white completely disappear from view!

I did have to tweak the white backgrounds again in both images, and used a bit of layer masking to hide edges but really the initial effect is pretty good.

When I posted it on Instagram I suddenly lost my mind and went off the rails … and created a kaleidoscope (not once but twice). I’m not sure how much it was appreciated, but I had fun!

I hope you enjoyed my little Photoshop tip today!

Late last year I was asked by Cheryl from Cheryl McCain Photography if I would be willing to write a guest post for her new “Frugal Still Life Photography” class.

I must say I was quite honoured that she would ask me! I decided to just be myself, to keep it simple, and this is the image I came up with. I wrote a bit about my process; how I set up, photographed and then edited the photo. Poppy Seed Heads Still Life

There’s nothing like writing something down to make things clear in your own mind and I believe I learned a thing or two as well!

I’m studying the dials and settings on my camera all over again. I was pretty proud of myself for always shooting in manual, but truth be told I still had/have a lot to learn; settings I never use (but should be) and little tricks and tips that hopefully will improve my photography. So thank you, Cheryl, for the boost!

Today I want to share a tip about how to pick a color off the internet and use it in Photoshop. I mentioned in My Holiday Tablescape post that I had sampled a color from the Tiny Prints site to use on the menus I was creating. One of my readers (hi Viv!) asked me how I did it, so here it is!

In Photoshop or Photoshop Elements:

Click on the Restore Down icon in the upper right corner and make sure you can see both Photoshop and the site where you want to grab the sample.
Get the Eyedropper tool and in the Options Bar set the Sample Size to 3×3 Average. Click anywhere on an open document.
Hold down the mouse and drag it over to the internet site and drag around. Watch the color chips in Photoshop and let go of the mouse when you see the one you want. That’s it!

Hope you enjoyed this little tip, and have a wonderful week everyone!

Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen dot com

For my image today, I added a layer of kk_3003 on Soft Light.

Wreath Play in Photoshop

Learning by Teaching and a Photoshop Tip