Make Light Real

Neil April 9th, 2009

Does this image look useful to you?  

Well I included it in the Verities Vignette texture set in the hopes of inspiring your creativity, this is how I used it tonight – Before:

After:

There you’ll see the edged dodged down in a nicely organic way…control the darkness and control the perception of the image!

• Comments(0)
• Photoshop Retouching , Real-light Overlays , Textures

Neil January 16th, 2009

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

BibleGateway.com – Matthew 6:22-23

Today is Free Light Friday, and all the facebook fan’s have a $19 free download coupon code good through the 17th!

• Comments(2)
• Inspiration , Mind Like Water , Quotes

Neil December 4th, 2008

Following in the footsteps of my retouching tutorials:

• Understanding the suggestive power of darkness
• Eye of the muse : photoshop retouching deconstructed

I know these are written to a more abstract level and so today I’d like to provide a more hands-on experience and so I have posted this L*A*B* colorspace photoshop file for you to download.  There are eleven layers in this file, from the starting image, on up through the finished look.

Let’s dig in

• Comments(6)
• Creativity , Hear the Shadows , How To: , Inspiration , ONE Action , Photoshop Retouching , Real-light Overlays , Self Assignment , Technical , Textures , Tutorials

Neil November 21st, 2008

If you shot this image – would you find something in it?

Photo Courtesy of Shane Snyder photojournalist

• Comments(1)
• Creativity , Curves Power , Hear the Shadows , How To: , Mind Like Water , Photoshop Retouching , Real-light Overlays , Textures , Tutorials , contrast

Neil October 29th, 2008

Here’s our starter image for this discussion:

here’s our finished image for this discussion:

Now you’re right that’s not the EXACT same image, but there’s just a moment’s difference – I couldn’t find the un-retouched version.

I did find a smaller resolution version – again the point of contention is the vanishing point in the composition.  You may compose this while you’re shooting – and it may be proper as you’re composing the environmental elements in your image – but what is the compelling ‘moment’ of the image?

His EYES!

• Comments(1)
• Color Theory , Hear the Shadows , How To: , Inspiration , ONE Action , Photoshop Retouching , Real-light Overlays , Textures , Tutorials , contrast

Neil September 3rd, 2008

Photoshop Insider » Getting That Cool Gritty Look Right in Camera Raw and Photoshop or Lightroom

Read the above full explanation, and start with these settings:

• Fill Light = 100%
• Blacks = Test this one to taste: 10-100%
• Contrast = 50-100%
• Clarity = 100%
• Vibrance = 50-100%
• Recovery = 0-100%
• Saturation = -81% rely on your vibrance to color the image and desaturate to get the metallic look.

Download the Photoshop Lightroom Grunge Preset download

Before image on the left.  Below, Dark Descent lighting overlays applied to the effect.

Have fun with the preset!

• Comments(3)
• Free stuff , How To: , Lightroom , Photoshop Retouching , Tutorials