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  ;)

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!

Photoshop Tutorials Giveaways!

I went through lots of post processing tutorials when I was just learning about it. Many were useful and would give you a pro kind of touch. However, I didn't like how long or sometimes complicated the process seems. I failed to remember the steps when I wanted to implement a certain tutorial later on. Therefore, I try here to give you the simplest, easiest, and shortest ways for post processing.

I found tutorials that I think are really easy and great, and short too ;). In these tutorials you'll get to learn many effects I'm SURE any amateur would want to learn and maybe implement to their photos.

Here are the links =)

But remember! you don't have to follow the exact same steps that any tutorial teaches you to do, even the ones I post here ;P. For example, if you felt that your photo looks just fine or you've achieved the result you want in step 3 or 4 or whatever of any tutorial you are trying to implement then it's OK to stop right there. Plus, you don't have to memorize the steps... just explore the application, try out its tools, and create your own style! =D

I'm still working on improving my post processing skills myself and trying to create different moods and use different colors too. Once I come up with a new easy and short tutorial or technique I'll make sure to share it here ;) ... you just remember to say "eyePhotograph" (^^,)

All roads lead to Rome

I don't know if you know this saying or not but it means that it doesn't matter what road you choose to drive through, a long road or a shortcut, as long as you know that it's going to take you to the destination you want, or there are many ways to arrive to your destination.

Same goes to Photoshop. There are many ways to adjust one element on the photo like lighting or contrast, for example. There's no right or wrong way when it comes to editing photos, what's most important is that you achieve the outcome your want.

Therefore, I came up with my own way of brightening photos. I'll show you the steps, but I will not give you figures of the degree of the change you need to make in each step as each photo is different and have been taken in different lighting conditions. So, I'll leave that up to you. You try and find what's best for your photograph. =)

So, here's an original photo I took... looks dark huh?

First:
1- Open your Photoshop application =P
2- Open the photo and duplicate it
3- Go to "image" from your main menu bar
4- Then "adjustments"
5- Then "Levels..."

As I said will not tell you how much you need to change because that depends on your photographs, however, I'll show you the tools on how to brighten them and the changes I have made to this photo.

So, the Levels window will look like this

Then I did this:

Then the photo came out like this:

Simple huh? =P I'll try to keep it that way =D

Second:
1- Again... "image" => "adjustments" => "Shadow/Highlight..."

Then that's how it will appear:

You do this:


The photo?:


Third:
1- "image" => "adjustments" => "Hue/Saturation..."

Change the Lightness:

Back to the photo:

Fourth:
1- "image" => "adjustments" => "Brightness/Contrast..."


Then:

Photo:


Fifth:
1- "image" => "adjustments" => "Hue/Saturation..."



Sixth:
1- Duplicate the "Background copy" layer
2- Overlay => decrease opacity


THERE! =D
Of course there easier ways to brighten your photo like:
1- Adjust Levels
2- Adjust Brightness from the "Brightness/Contrast..." window
3- Adjust the contrast

I tried that and that how the photo looked like (Left hand side)

I prefer the first way as the colors look more lively, tho I know it is kind of a long way to brighten your photo but as long as we're going to Rome, right? =P as long as we achieve the outcome we want, and that's how I wanted the photo to look like .

Here's another example using the first method