In this video, we take a couple of good friends of the studio – Chris and Ben – who are both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) Fighters and create some images for their new YouTube channel. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to show: How I work with, pose and frame two subjects for an image that will fit a wide aspect ratio (for a video channel). How to light dark-toned clothes so that they stand out on a dark background. JOIN NOW to …
Walkthrough: Black Dog, Black Background
Some of our members are creating beautiful images of dogs on black backgrounds and so I thought I’d post up some of the techniques we use here to make the process both effective and efficient. It’s about half an hour long and takes us through the process from the original rough image through to the finished PSD and covers: Prepping the file and the importance of the blacks The lighting patterns used The Photoshop techniques to clean it up including …
Photoshop Shorts: How To Create An Action
A short video explaining how to create an action and assign a hotkey to it. Actions are a very useful function in Photoshop, enabling repetitive tasks to be performed quickly and simply. Put simply, they are one of things most retouchers rely on day to day. I use the example of a simple ‘Content Aware Fill’ action that is perfect for removing blemishes, stray hairs and dust spots. JOIN NOW to view this and hundreds of articles, videos, critiques and …
Walkthrough: Creating High Key Images Of White Dogs
In response to a question on the Forum, this walkthrough covers a method for creating high key images of white dogs (i.e. white dogs on white backgrounds.) The video is just me sitting and doing what I normally do: figuring out what each image will finish up looking like as I go. Although I usually have a pretty good idea of the steps I’m going to take and the finish of the ultimate image, JOIN NOW to view this and …
Walkthrough: Retouching A Black And White Portrait Of An Elderly Man
There is nothing quite like a beautiful black and white portrait. In this video, we walk through how to use Photoshop and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 to add that magic to a portrait of Bob, a senior citizen, who came into the studio. The walkthrough mentions the following: Using ‘Content Aware’ fill as a more effective way of retouching skin and removing hairs Using the Camera Raw filter to remove dust spots Using a lasso and an Exposure adjustment …
Walkthrough: Retouching A Black And White Portrait Of A Young Woman
Bright sunshine and a beautiful subject, glorious greens and satin soft shadows. Ah, I have drifted into a romantic phase! This walkthrough takes a summer portrait of Megan and shows the basic steps from colour correction in Lightroom, retouching in Photoshop, conversion to a beautiful monochrome using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 and the ultimate cropping back in Lightroom. The walkthrough mentions the following: Using Adobe Lightroom to colour correct Using ‘Content Aware’ fill as a more effective way of …
Walkthrough: Removing Reflections From Your Client’s Glasses
This walkthrough is in response to a question on our forum. Rob Dunse (who kindly provided the photograph that I use in this walkthrough) asked if there’s a way of removing those nasty, purple reflections you sometimes get when photographing someone who is wearing glasses. It occurs when you can’t find the relationship between your subject and the lighting where you completely eliminate the problem at the moment you hit that button. While of course it’s much better to avoid …