Tutorial - Photo montage

Here is an interesting montage that I have created for a book cover on feminine spirituality. The original sculpture is a large item in a stately home in England and I photographed it using the natural, available light coming into the gallery. I also tried to position myself not only to get a decent composition of the sculpture, but also to try and get a plain background - in this case a stone wall - instead of a background cluttered by other sculptures or windows.

Once I had downloaded it onto the computer, I then opened the image in Photoshop and used the rectangular marquee tool to draw a rectangle around the whole image. I then went into Edit/Copy. Then I went into File/New and the menu that opens then has the correct dimensions for a the new file canvas that I am going to create. At the bottom of this menu I selected the 'Clear background' option, opened the new file and then opened Edit/Paste to put this image of the sculpture onto a clear background. I then used the eraser tool to rub away all the backround, getting in very close with a small diameter eraser so that I could get into all the little corners and angles. I am then left with an image of the statue on a clear background. I then selected another image of a dramatic sky, making sure that the image of the sky was more than big enough to create a background to the sculpture image and that both files had the same resolution - in this case 72 d.p.i.  These settings could be altered and matched using the Image/Image size menu. I chose the largest sky image that I could because if the image was quite small, even though I could enlarge it to a decent size, the image quality would be poor, looking 'grainy' or having a coarse texture.

I opened the sky image, and then, using the marqee tool, I drew a rectangle around the sculpture image, copied it as before and pasted it onto the sky image by clicking on the sky image window to activate it and then going into Edit/Paste. The sculture then sits against a dramatic sky. Using the 'Move' tool, I could move the sculture image around over the sky to get the best position. I wanted the lightning to appear to be related to the vase/beaker that she is holding aloft. Once I was happy with the positioning and also happy that there were no remanants of the original background wall in front of the sky, I cropped the image and then saved it as a jpeg by going into File/Save As and selecting jpeg as the file type.

In it's original form, this image is made up of two layers -  the background sky (base layer) with a clear film (Layer 1) laid over it on which is printed the sculture image. However, once I save this as a jpeg, these layers are merged together and I will no longer have the opportunity to move the sculpture into a new position over the background. If I want to keep the option of being able to move the sculpture to a new position against the sky, I will also have to save the image as a Photoshop file rather than a jpeg.

Tutorial - Exposure compensation - Frigiliana, Costa del Sol, Spain

I think that these Mediterranean whitewashed villages present great opportunities for photographer. The blue sky compliments the white wall perfectly and the buildings and alleyways form a maze of lines and shapes creating interesting perspectives. I took a couple of pictures from this viewpoint, one of them with exposure compensation where the aperture was opened up by about 1 f stop. This of course is the opposite of what what you might think, but what happens is that the light is so bright that the camera is fooled into making the image a little darker than normal. The same thing happens with bright sunshine on snow or on a white sandy beach. So this can be compensated for by either opening the aperture up by 1 f stop, or by using the exposure compensation control, or by activating the bracketing feature on the camera, which then takes about three images: on standard and one opened up and one closed down by one f stop. Alternatively, a dark photo may be rescued by using Photoshop and going into Image/Auto Contrast or by using Images/Curves.

Tutorial - Photomontage - Elements and layers

The last few years have been a very arid period for my photography and creativity generally. It just seems to happen sometimes that I do not feel able to get motivated and inspired in my photography. Still, a few ideas have been buzzing around and they have all centred around photomontage work. Here is one example that I have done recently. This image is concerned with spirituality and unity. Androgynous forms have been used in a number of mystical circles to portray unity and the transcendence of gender and differences between existents.

This montage is made up of a number of images garnered from the web which are then placed on top of one another using layers in photoshop. The first layer in the background, with subsequent layers moving to the foreground. The order here is: stars, earth, moon, wings, nude and goats head. To make it easier, the planetary background and the figure were initially created separately. In this case, to create the earth element, the image file of earth was opened. Click on the dotted box in the tools pallette and draw a rectangle around the whole file. Then click on Edit/copy. Then, click on file/new and open a new file making sure that the box next to 'transparent' at the bottom, is checked. A blank file with a checkboard pattern opens to the same size as your earth file. Make this file active by clicking on it and then click on 'Edit/Paste'. Your earth image is pasted into this new file. Using the erase tool in the tool pallette erase everything bit the image of the earth and save as a Photoshop file. Open your starfield file. Click on your earth image file and as before, using the tool indicated in the tool pallette by a dotted rectangle, drag a box around this file. Click Edit/Copy. Make your starfield file active by clicking on it, and then click 'Edit/Paste'. Because the image of the earth is on a transparent base, the earth image now sits on top of your starfield file. You can move this earth image around by using the move tool next to the dotted rectangle on the tool pallette. You can continue to add elements in this way. Always save these files as Photoshop files or you will lose the layers. Only when you are happy with the final image can you save it as a jpeg file. All layers then merge into one single layer and elements can no longer be moved.

Poppies - Photoshop tutorial - Variations

poppy, originally uploaded by foto-art.

This photoart image is one of a series of poppy art pictures that I have done. Originally, this was a more formal composition involving a fuller view including the china vase in which the poppies are standing. However, a more minimalist approach seemed more effective and so the image was considerably cropped to produce this simpler, but I think, more effective image. The loss of resolution and definition by such severe cropping does not adversely affect an art effect picture, and indeed may enhance it by increasing the art effect. Warmth is essential to this image and the original weas a little cold in colour, so the whole image was 'warmed up' in photoshop in Images/Adjust/Variations. More yellow and red were added to create the necessary summer warmth.

English Civil War re-enactment at Nantwich. Historical action tutorial

English Civil War re-enactment at Nantwich, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Sealed Knot at Nantwich, Cheshire.

This re-enactment of an English Civil War battle takes place every January in Nantwich, Cheshire. members of the sealed Knot and other similar organisations dress up in Roundhead and Royalist clothing and act out the battle that took place in the 1640's. I am usually working on a Saturday, but this year, I happened to have the day off so I went to see what pictures I could get. If you have one of those cameras that takes multiple shots, you know, it automatically takes a few shots per second, then that mode is ideal for this kind of subject, because it is impossible to anticipate facial expressions and precise positions of people. There is a moderately strong element of chance and luck with regard to that, so this kind of shoot needs high volume or quantity, and you expect lots of rejects and failures. The other thing with this kind of historical re-enactment, is that you must really be aware of the background. A lampost, telegraph pole or car in the background tends to ruin the effect, so you have to choose your vantage point well and get in close using a telephoto lens, cropping out as much incongruent background as you can. being january in England, the light was poor, though we were lucky in that it was not raining and overly dull. Lucky also that the sun was not shining, because that would have restricted vantage points from which to take photos in a number of ways. The overcast day meant loss of colour brightness but softer shadows.

Little Moreton Hall bw 1 - Polarising Filter tutorial

Little Moreton Hall bw 1, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Little Moreton Hall, South Cheshire, England. I took a number of shots of this hall both in colour and black and white. This shot was taken using a combination of red and polarising filters in black and white mode. I liked the way the sun was being reflected in the upper windows. The red filter serves to darken the sky and increase contrast creating a more dramatic effect. The polarising filter also darkens the sky by cutting out light travelling in a certain direction. The filter has to be rotated in front of the camera and at a certain angle, the sky darkens. However, the camera has to be pretty much at right angles to the sun for this to take effect, so the polarising filter is only useful for side lit subjects. however, the polarising filter works for both colour and black and white images. This filter can also be used to reduce the effects of haze.

Shutlingsloe - Print size and megapixel tutorial

Shutlingsloe, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Classic Peak District National Park scenery. I don't often do this kind of shot, but the light was just right here. The sun was quite low in the sky and so the texture and curves of the hills are picked out nicely. I increased the colour saturation slightly on Photoshop using the slider in Image/Adjust/HueSaturation menu. This kind of image is of a very conventional composition to me, with the farm and path leading the eye up the hill to the trees and summit. To be seen at its best, this kind of image needs a big enlargement and high quality, so the more megapixels the better. This would need to be a 16X20 inch print at the minimum to bring out the detail and to intimate the size of such a vista. The advantage of the more minimalist shots that are more common on this blog, is that they do not require such enlargements: the shapes and elements are bold and simple.

Dune trees - Rotate image tutorial

Dune trees, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Trees near the beach at Formby Point. This little group of trees stood a little in isolation from surrounding trees and they stood out to me. I like the contrast between the softness of the grass and the hardness of the trees, and the complimentary colours of the grass against the sky. if I was going to do anything else to this, I would increase the colour saturation to make that contrast of colour more effective using Photoshop in Image/Adjust/HueSaturation. What is important in this shot is that the trees are vertical. The slope of the grass bank tends to make us compensate when taking a picture like this so that the trees end up at an angle. If this happens, it can be corrected in Photoshop using Image/Adjust/Rotate canvas/Arbitary. A value can be added here of say 2 or 3 degrees and the image can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise to get the trees vertical. The image then has to cropped using the crop tool to restore a full image without angled backgound tone.

MOORLAND POSTS Black and white tutorial

POSTS, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Posts on Peak District moorland, near the Cat and Fiddle Inn, near Buxton, Derbyshire.

Well we had our first fine weather here in England last week: sharp crisp, frosty days with clear blue skies and bright sunshine, so it was my first real chance to get out this year and do a little photography. My first trip out was to the Peak District National Park near to the spa town of Buxton, walking near the Cat and Fiddle Inn which I understand is the highest pub in England. Of course, at this time of the year, there are no leaves on the trees: it will be a couple of months before spring arrives here, so the landscapes are still a little bare and bleak. last year I took a few sand dune photos and decided that I should really have taken some in black and white. Of course, you can convert colour images into black and white ones on photoshop, and that is explained in another post under the label 'colour to black and white'. However, you don't get quite the same result as taking the image in black and white on your camera. So for this image, I set the camera mode to black and white instead of colour. The advantage of this was that I could use contrast filters to make the image more dramatic. For this image I used a primary red filter (Wratten 25). This tends to darken the sky, making it more dramatic, and creates more contrast in the vegetation leading to a more dramatic picture. My new Ricoh camera has a 28mm equivalent wide angle lens, and this too gives a sense of space and drama, enabling me to get close to the fence posts and a low down vantage point, so that the posts stand out more dramatically against the sky, giving a stronger composition. notice again the rule of thirds, with the posts and horizon situated at approximately one third divisions in the frame.

Manor class steam locomotive at night Night shot tutorial

night gwr, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Art effect treatment of a GWR Manor Class Steam locomotive in the sidings at Cheddleton on the Churnet valley railway. This photo was taken using a digital camera. The night mode was used and the flash setting turned to off. Flas usually only works to a range of about 15 ft or about 5 metres so for this kind of shot is a waste of time: not only is its range too short to reach the subject, it also may play havoc with the light meter reading and give a poor exposure. In addition, any flash from the camera is coming from a 'false' direction and would light the subject inappropriately. This means that the photographer has to rely on available light and fortunately for this shot, there were a number of floodlights lighting up the scene. A tripod is pretty essential for this kind of shot as the shutter speed is so slow: any movement will blur the image. Failure to have a tripod means having to rely on any handy flat surfaces such as fences, walls, litter bins...anything to rest the camera on. Unfortunately, this severely restricts your ability to choose a good viewpoint. After the shot was taken, it was given an art treatment effect. (See tutorials elsewhere). This kind of subject lends itself very well to the art effect treatment as steam locomotives are quite difficult to paint. This kind of image captures the sheer weight of these locomotives: they are in excess of fifty tons weight!

New York - Times Square

new york - times square, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Times Square, New York. A spur-of-the-moment shot whilst on holiday in New York. The camera was set to night mode and it is essential that one uses a tripod or some sort of ad-hoc camera rest for this kind of shot, else it will simply suffer from motion blurring due to camera shake. Such motion blurring can be quite effective....see the image 'Jazz' for example. But here I wanted a sharper image and had no tripod. In this case, any flat surface will do: a bollard, a bit of fencing, a rubbish bin, anything where the camera can be rested flat and still. This of course restricts vantage points and perspectives. Afterwards in Photoshop, converging verticals were corrected. (See tutorial on converging verticals)

Sepia misty trees

Sepia misty trees, originally uploaded by foto-art.

This was an opportunistic shot taken one misty morning in July on my way to work at about 6:30 in the morning...I ran around like an idiot taking about ten photos before I had to dash off to work. Misty images like this lend themselves to a sepia effect. This was originally a colour digital image. I went into Photoshop, opened the file and went into Image/Mode and clicked on Greyscale. This turned it into a black and white image. I probably then went into Image/Auto Contrast to see if this improved the image. I then went back into Image/Mode and clicked on RGB. This turned it back into a colour image though in appearance it remained black and white. I then went into Image/Adjust/Colour Balance. You can get a number of sepia effects by moving the sliders. Try 0 -50 -79. Or try +31 -34 -79. This is just one way of producing a sepia effect in Photoshop, and a quick one. Once I was happy with the effect, I clicked on File/Save As and gave the file a new name and saved it as a JPEG. This means that I still had the original file to play with.

Tutorial - Creating a painting from your digital photos - Trent and Mersey Canal, Stone, Staffordshire, England

Trent and Mersey canal, Stone, Staffordshire, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Art effect images like this can be created reasonably simply from your photos and digital images. Quite modest software can sometimes be used...you do not need high-end programs like Photoshop. One program that I like is ArcSoft PhotoImpression. It is image manipulation software that came free with my Epson scanner. I use ArcSoft PhotoImpression 3.0. If you have this software, try this:

Get Photo: Click on From File and click on Browse. A box will open with your folders so you can click on the approproate folder and image. When the image is selected, click on Open and your image will appear. (The images I use are 4mega pixel images. The higher the resolution, then the intensity of the effects need to be stronger). As a rule of thumb, I tend to pick a detail in the image that I do not want to lose if I create too strong an effect. Each picture varies in the strength of effects applied - the ones below are a rough guide.

In the side menu, click on Edit. In the menu at the bottom of the window, click on Effects. At the bottom you will see a series of images of an eye, illustrating the effects. Find the effect labeled Median, and then set the Intesity level to about 15. This will create an effect halfway between a painting and a photo. When you are happy with the intensity of the effect, Click on Apply. Hint: Do not use this effect with too strong an intensity - keep subtle! Then find the effect called Painting. Use the Intensity between 40-80. If you have a smooth blue sky, this will create a posterised-like stepped effect, which may or may not be desirable. When you are happy, Click on Apply. Then find the effect called Wrinkle. Set the Intensity between 10 and 20. When you are happy with the effect, Click on Apply.

On the side menu, Click on Save, then Save As. Select File type: JPEG, give the file a name and Save. This whole process took me about two minutes, and can create the sort of image you see above.

FISH WEATHER VANES - Converging verticals Photoshop tutorial

fishes, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Fish weather vanes at Southport, Lancashire, England, U.K.

When taking photographs of architecture, converging verticals can be an issue, as you can see from the original small photo at the top of this post. Sometimes, you want to take a picture of a building, but you cannot get any further away from it than accross the street. This means that you have to use a wide andle lens to get the whole building in the frame, and you also have to point the camera upwards a little to get the top of the building in the frame. This creates the effect of converging verticals: where vertical lines appear to slope inwards. In olden days, professional photographers used special lenses which had a bellows extension in the the middle, so that the front elements of the lens could be angled independently of the rear elements. This expensive type of lens corrected this problem. The same correction can be made in Photoshop. Open your image in Photoshop, and draw a Marquee around the whole image using the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Click on Edit and in the drop down menu, click on copy. Click on File and on the drop down menu click on New. In the box that appears, make sure that White is selected for the background and click on OK. In this new file window, click on Edit and in the drop down menu click on Paste. Your image will appear in this new file windo as a photoshop file. Click on View and in the drop down menu, click on Zoom Out. Click on Edit and in the drop down menu click on Transform, and in the new drop down menu, click on Distort. Little boxes will appear on the corners of your image and in the centre of the sides of the image. Place the cursor on the top right hand box, click and hold while dragging the mouse to the right. This will begin to distort the image so that converging vertical lines begin to become properly vertical. Repeat the procedure on the top left hand box and drag to the left. Repeat these two procedures until you are happy with the result. If the image appears too squat or flattened, click on the box in the centre of the top edge, and drag upwards. When you are fully happy with the image, double click on the image and photoshop will perform the transform. Then click on File/Save As and the file a new name and in the format box, click on the arrow and change the image from Photoshop to JPEG. Then click on Save. The effect can be seen in the above two photos. In addition, Auto contrast was used and colour saturation was increased in the final photo.

While you are in the Transform menu, you can see what the other effects do to your image such as Skew and Perspective.

DEAD TREE

Dead tree, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Dead tree near Buxton in the Peak District National Park.

I find that a wide angle lens is indespensible for this sort of shot. This was taken on 35mm film using a 24mm Wide Angle lens. Using this lens meant that I could stand very close to the tree (probably only about 15-20ft away) and still get the entire tree in the frame. The advantage of this is that the tree stands out clearly against the skyline. If I had stood much further away from the tree, which I would have had to have done if I was using a normal or telephoto lens, then the horizon of the distant hills would have cut right through the middle of the tree and the photo, dividing the photo in half and obscuring part of the tree. Wide angle lenses are very good then in helping to eliminate distracting backgrounds. I often find that I am also using a low viewpoint for such shots...lying on the ground or kneeling down. This also serves to lower the distracting horizon.