What are Smart Objects in Photoshop? Well, glad you asked. In the simplest terms, they are an entire file format unto themselves, which may not sound very simple. You’ve heard of RAW files and JPEGs, right? Well, Smart Objects are identified in Photoshop in much the same way.
Masks are one of the most powerful functions in Photoshop, giving you the perfect combination of accuracy, flexibility and creativity. Take advantage of these tips to help you make masks a key part of your Photoshop workflow.
The point is, different people have varying aesthetics when it comes to retouching. But at the end of the day, my goal is to celebrate my subject’s individual skin tones and textures, which brings me to my retouching process.
With Adobe’s hidden secret in Camera Raw we are given the ability to create Custom Profiles. Get started by opening an image in Photoshop, and apply adjustment layers or a few actions.
Compositing is a problem-solving tool and an extension to my photography vision. It adds layers to the idea and helps me be more creative. There are different reasons why you might want to use compositing in your work. Here are some of the reasons why I create composites.
Let me begin with the premise that no fine art ideas — whether surreal, conceptual photography, or from a personal place of exploration — begin with editing. Like all art pieces or even pure photographs, editing is only as good as the original image and concept, as long as it is shot correctly with the proper forethought and attention to detail.
Sal said it best and it is the mantra that I have tried to live my young photography life by: “Innovate or die.” Innovation can always come from seeking education from others in our industry, but it must begin with you. Ask yourself a simple question: “What am I consistently struggling with?” Focus on that until you have a grasp on it.
I’m not a patient, nurturing person by nature, so being at home with a 2.5-year-old and a 5-month-old is literally taking up 120% of my effort, patience, and mental capacity. I couldn’t help but feel like the moment I’d put one toy away, another one had exploded all over the floor. How is this happening?! She’s only one kid! My head was spinning from her boundless energy and short attention span. So that’s where the idea for this image was born. Composites don’t have to be hard and daunting, and you don’t need to be a Photoshop guru to create them either. If you keep a few important concepts in mind, you’ll be shocked at how easy it is. In this article I’ll walk you through the step by step process for creating this image.
When it comes to portraits of children, we all struggle to balance capturing their energy and personality while getting in-focus images. Not to mention ones with kids with eyes open, looking and smiling at the camera. Of course, the parents are going to love almost every image, and this makes the photographer’s job easy, right? Well, you need to get the safe image they expect with their kids somewhat facing the camera, eyes open, and smiling. That moment isn’t easy to capture in one shot, so what we are going to create is the perfect portrait by swapping heads in Photoshop. Doing a bit of Photoshop does not mean you aren’t a good photographer. We can only control so much and are still required to deliver a somewhat perfect portrait.
As photographers, you should focus on making your client look their best, but do not transform them into someone they won’t recognize. The rule of thumb with retouching is to be subtle enough that it’s not even noticeable that you did it. For this level of editing, I find myself starting in Lightroom or another RAW processing program, then retouching in Photoshop. In my opinion, there is no other comparable tool, and with actions, using a tablet for pressure sensitivity, and using a non-destructive post-production workflow, I can run through multiple images with ease. So if you need to dust off your editing skills, these are the five steps to brush up on retouching in Photoshop.
