Editing 3 – Flexible Edits

Silhouette (Original)   Silhouette

“Silhouette”; January 21, 2012, 10:38pm; BYU-Idaho Greenhouses, Rexburg, ID; f/5.6; 0.3; Canon T3i; No flash

For this one, I used a combination of smart filters and adjustment layers. To start, I applied the “smart sharpen” filter on the image. The radius was about 5 pixels because it really made the water tubes stand out. Then I masked out the sharpen filter completely at the bottom, and about 60% at the top, so that the middle would stand out even more. However, I thought it still needed something else, so I applied the black and white adjustment layer to the image, and masked it out in the middle, where the red light was diffusing on the greenhouse wall. I used a very soft feather to mask it out.

The Tree's Closeup (Original)   The Tree's Closeup

“The Tree’s Closeup”; January 21, 2012, 10:46pm; BYU-Idaho Greenhouse, Rexburg, ID; f/5.6; 1/60; Canon T3i; Flash fired

This edit was much more simple. I simply used two adjustment layers. The first was levels, just to adjust the contrast of the image. Then I used the hue/saturation one. With that one, I did masking so that the effect was most prominent on the parts that were closest to the lens and in focus most. Then I used less as the branches got further back.

Editing 2 – Blends & Type

Love in Abstract Original

Light Heart; January 16, 2012, 8:34am; Rexburg, ID; f/4.5; 1/60; Canon T3i; automatic adjustments made in Photoshop camera raw

Love in Abstract

“Love in Abstract”

This one wasn’t really hard to make. I morphed a copy of the background and the type layer together, added some bevel and a drop shadow to the type, and then took one of the colors from the center of the light heart and blended that color in a little bit to the type layer. It’s a subtle effect, but I didn’t want to go overboard on this; I think the image mostly speaks for itself.

Volleyball Court Original

Volleyball Court; January 16, 2012, 8:19am; Rexburg, ID; f/4.0; 1/40; Canon T3i; slight white balance adjustment and lens distortion adjustments in camera raw

Wall Texture

Wall Texture; January 15, 2012, 5:19pm; Rexburg, ID; f/4.5; 1/60; Canon T3i

Leaf Texture

Leaf Texture; January 16, 2012, 8:20am; Rexburg, ID; f/5.6; 1/100; Canon T3i

Visions of a Volleyball Court

“Visions of a Volleyball Court”

This blend is a composite of all three of the above images. The main image is, of course, at full opacity. The others are both around 20-30%. Then I used masks to lighten some parts even further, particularly in the sky and on the court. I really wanted to use the leaf texture because it was actually taken on the volleyball court. But I also really like the texture and the coloring that the wall texture added. I think it made the image seem less sterile.

Editing 1 – Cutouts

Original Image for "The Apartment Your Apartment Could Smell Like"   "The Apartment Your Apartment Could Smell Like" Cutout

“The Apartment Your Apartment Could Smell Like”; January 8, 2012 3:26pm; Indoors, Rexburg, ID; f/5.0; 1/30; Canon T3i; No flash, ceiling light slightly behind camera

Original Image of "A Bachelor Desk"   "A Bachelor Desk"

“A Bachelor Desk”; January 8, 2012 7:24pm; Indoors, Rexburg, ID; f/4.5; 1/60; Canon T3i; Flash fired, room light on

 

Both cutouts were done with a similar method. First I used selection tools, primarily the quick selection tool, to select the object to cut out. Then I used Photoshop’s “refine edge” tool to smooth and feather the edges, and to add a little contrast. For both images, I copied the selection to a new layer, and then added a white background to the layer directly underneath the new layer with the selected objects. For the first image, the white background is on the entire background layer. For the second one, the white background is on only part of the background layer, allowing the original image to show through.

On the first image I also rotated the object a little bit in the edited photo to compensate for a slight tilt in my original image. I shot it handheld, so there was a slight tilt I didn’t want.