Procrastination… taken to a whole new level!

Well... I admit that I'm a procrastinator and you can tell from the time in between my posts.

I almost procrastinate about everything even when adding my watermark.

When adding my watermark on to my photos.. I don't know if you guys fell the same, but... I hate it when I have to type in my nickname over and over again or everytime I finish post processing a photo.

Therefore, I made my watermark a brush! yup a brush... now adding my watermark is only a click away. =)

So fellow procrastinators, all you have to do now is stop procrastinating for a minute and learn how to make your watermark a brush all in three simple steps ;) then you'll have your watermark handy.

P.S. of course you can make a brush out of any design or words you like, it doesn't have to be a watermark. But, because I use my watermark often, I made it a brush to make things easier for me.

Now follow my baby steps   =*>

First

 start a new background (File -> new OR Ctrl+N) and set the "Background Contents" to "Transparent" and set the size to whatever you like.

A new window will appear with a transparent background.

                            

Second

1- Create a new layer
2- Set the color to black (it has to be BLACK!)
3- Then type your watermark or whatever in the box by clicking on the "T" icon on the tool box

Third

Once you finish:
1- Go to "Edit" on the main menu bar then "Define Brush Preset..."
a small window will pop up asking you to name the brush... name it whatever =P (I named mine eyePhotograph)

That it! now you're done.

Now if you want to use it...:
1- Click on the brush icon on the tool box

2- ... and do the following (click on the small arrow to open the brushes box then click on the small arrow on the top right hand side to open your brush sets on your brushes box)

You'll find your brush there just click on it and use it on a new white background... and you can change the colors of your brush ofcourse..

Hope you found this useful  ;)

Refreshed

That's how I feel after I returned from Malaysia =).

My sister and brother decided to go there for a week to take a break from daily routine, and as you know I just graduated so I don't have classes this semester to attend =P, so I went. This trip is all I needed to start a new chapter in my life, practical life. It was hot, rainy, and fun!. There were many places to visit and take pictures of. The country is very multi-cultural. Malay, Indian, Chinese, and people from other nationals as well live together harmoniously, it really amazed me =). But, the couples and honeymooners were all over the place! =/ kinda made me think why did I come with my siblings lol. Yeah, I was kind of envious.

Well I took pictures there but all of them were only snapshots because they (bro and sis) didn't wait for me to take a decent one =/ so some of them might look shaky, however, I think they are good enough to share them with you guys =P.

And of course full viewing pictures is the best, so click to enlarge. =)

   

Black, White, and Color!

Well yes! you can combine colors with black and white and I'll show you how ;P

As usual I was messing around with Photoshop and found this easy way to create a colored undertone to black and white images.

So... Let's get started! =D

First

This is the original image:

1- The first step is to duplicate the background layer and that's by going to "Layer" => "Duplicate Layer..."=> "Ok"... or by simply draging the layer to the small button next to the trash button on the buttom right side.

P.S. you can change the layer's name if you wish =)

Second

2- Desaturate the second layer or the "background copy" layer to make it black and white.

...and the image will look like this after that.

Third (Optional)

In this step I change the curves alittle to add a slight contrast to the image. However, if you're happy with your current image without adding contrast then you can skip this step.

But if you would like to do it then the first thing to do is to..

3- duplicate the "background copy" layer or the desaturated layer.

Then go to "image" => "adjustments" => "curves..."

       

Fourth

This is the step where we add the color we want to the image.

4- we add a fill layer

 

... and in the next window we pick the undertone color we want.

 

 

Then change the "opacity" to a relatively low percentage. Here, I chose 12%

 

Next, change the color blend mode to "overlay"

 

And the end result will turn out like this...

 

That's one way to create a colored undertone to your black and white images. Try this tutorial by using different colors to your image like I did. =)

Here I used pink.

 

... and green

 

I hope you guys liked it =)

P.S. I got an A on my capstone project *woot* =P. I'm graduating!

Back! ... and brb!

Hi all, or at least those who still read my blog. *ashamed*

It has been around two months since my last post. I know I mentioned on the " I was in... " post that I'll be away for a couple of months in order to work on my graduation project or thesis, but I thought I might be able to come back earlier but that took all my time =( .

However, I have good news! =D I'm DONE with that project *woot*. Oh my god! the day I turned it in, I felt like... like... that that was the biggest achievement I did in my whole life! lol XD. I had so many sleepless nights working alone on it since I wasn't working with a group, and that's what added to my achievement feeling that I did everything on my own. Well, I can't be that ungrateful and say everything =\, my professor helped me a great deal, so... thank you professor. =)

Bad news =\! hmmm where do I start?! lol. Well, the charger of my laptop where I keep all my photos in has burnt so I can't charge and start up my laptop unless I order one which is bad because all my photos that I took recently are hostages now in that laptop =\. Second, I did turn it my graduation project, but I still have almost two weeks to finish my last course.

So, Good news again! lol XD. January 7th will be my official last day in University, then I'll graduate *woot woot*.

Anyway, I shall be back soon, and because I missed photography for a while now I created a DeviantArt account to share my photos because Flickr is banned in my country =|. Once I get done with univeristy stuff I shall be back with more tutorials ;).

"yda" I feel like disappointing you because you asked me not to stop giving tips and tutorials here, however I did stop for a while... sorry... but as I said I'll be back. =)

Bokeh it up!

I'm back again with an easy and simple tutorial on how to add bokeh to your photography. =) I had to take a break from my studies anyway. ;P

So, bokeh is a Japanese word that means "blur". You can read more about it here.

Many photographers like to take bokeh pictures and make bokeh stocks that other photographers would like to add to their photos as well as amateurs would like to. ;)

Therefore, I'm teaching you how to apply them on your photos... it's really easy =D and I see that it adds glamour and sometimes cuteness to the photos.

First

- Download some bokeh stocks that you prefer.

I can help you with that ;) here are some links for some bokeh stocks I liked from devianart

[1]  / [2]  / [3]  / [4]  / [5]

Second

- Open the photo that you would like to add the bokeh to...
I'll use this one for example

Third

- Open the bokeh picture that you would like to add and place it on your photo

I used this one from deviantart member "regularjane"

[Optional] to have a control over where you want the spots to be on your photo try to resize, tilt, flip, rotate the bokeh picture till you think it's perfect (go to  Edit > Transform > "and you'll have many options that will help you position the picture correctly")

Fourth

- Change the blending mode to "Screen"

and the photo will come out like this

 

Fifth

- Change the Opacity
because sometimes the bokeh has a very strong effect on the photo therefore you can decrease it alittle bit.

THAT'S IT =D !

Try adding bokeh to your photographs I'm sure you'll like it =)

and if you did, please link me up so I would see your work =D

Have Fun!