Drawing from a Photograph in Photoshop or Elements

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Drawing from photo in Photoshop or Elements

After making a photograph look like a painting, the next best project for your art is to tweak it into a drawing. They're a myriad ways that you can do this in Photoshop and Elements. The following procedure is only one way and a pretty good one at that:

Open an image

Make that image into a normal layer that is not locked. Layer>New>Layer from Background (you can also double click on the Background Layer in the Layers palette).

Now, duplicate the layer so you have a copy of the original in case if you're tweaking gets out of hand.  Layer>Duplicate Layer...  Name the layer "Original"

Select the top-most layer in the Layers palette by clicking on it.

At the top of the Layers palette, click on the Blending mode. On the drop down menu bar click on Color Dodge.

Click on Image>Invert

Click on Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur

Change Radius to reflect detail in the Gaussian Blur dialog box. Choose any value you want according to how much blur you want. Click OK

In the Layers palette, click on Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer (the black and white circle) and then click on Hue/Saturation bringing the Saturation down to zero with slider that appears.

 

To darken, click on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer again, this time choosing levels.

Adjust the Levels as you see fit.

HDR Doesn't Have to Look Overprocessed

Learning to shoot three or more images of different exposures and combining them using software such as Photoshop CS 5/6 HDR Pro (part of Photoshop CS 5) or Photomatix is not all that difficult. In my book Beginning HDR Photography,  you can learn the workflow (steps) to make a variety of HDR photographs, which add detail to all parts of the photograph with options such as the Grunge to Painterly styles for maximum enhancement.

Don't underestimate the value of HDR, as it can make a big difference in your photography, especially on cloudy days (to show details in the cloud layers). To be sure, some say that the medium is overprocessed and others don't say it's not photography at all, but digital art. No matter what your opinion is about the craft, it's the only real way you can get more detail into your shadows and highlights without clipping (blown colors) from the processing.

When you learn how to shoot images at different exposures and combine them in postprocessing with Photomatix Pro 4 (the best for HDR processing), you'll understand the process better, being able to tweak the photographs with more precision and know when you can and can't do additional processing in Adobe Camera Raw (Photoshop's companion software that tweaks with little damage to the photo)

Contrary to being an art with which you need a tripod to produce, HDR can be shot simply with and without a tripod by adjusting the camera setting known as AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) to shoot several shots at a time at different exposures.

You can also shoot HDR photo sets (landscape, street or indoor ) by adjusting the Shutter Speed settings. HDR photographs give you the choice of making a product that's ranges from natural looking ones to those that appear surreal or painterly.

Samsung S4--Smart Phone that's a Point-and-Shoot Camera

Hot on the heels of the iPhone 5 is the Samsung Galaxy 4, heading toward a number one finish in the sales numbers. The Samsung S4 camera reviews are pouring in.

Why? It's the camera! At 16 MP with a 10X zoom lens, which makes the device look like a point-and-shoot, it usurps Apple's iPhone 5 camera, crushing it to a proverbial number 2.

If you've shot with an iPhone and struggled to get a close-up of a a far-away object  you know that the iPhone is a poor performer, leaving that object as a spec in the frame.

Don't let the numbers fool you though, as the one-third inch sensor size is pale in comparison with that of the least expensive dSLR. What that means is that when you look at your photo at 100 percent resolution on your computer, you'll find the edges falling apart, making it unsuitable for many practical applications such as printing a photo taken with the camera for your living room wall.

Okay, Apple. Get your groove back. Where's your zoom lens and more powerful sensor? Are you going to be the first company to squeeze a decent-sized sensor into a smart phone?

Hope so. 

Islamic District in Cairo--A Must-See

People in Cairo's Islamic District

While Cairo's Islamic District is filled with beautiful mosques and restaurants, it's the people that make this place. For a Westerner it's like being on another planet. All impressions you may have had about the place turn into chimeras.

The Islamic District is about a twenty minute cab ride from Tahrir Square, is a must-see destination when you go to Cairo. Everything about the place--the architecture, the shopping (the market in the district is huge), the mosques and the people seemingly take you to another time and another place.

Look closely at the people's faces in the shot above the two men at the far right are pondering deep thoughts, a barefoot guy with his legs crossed sits next to them on the left, head down in slumber . On the right you see many traditional garments from head scarves to kaftans.

To be sure, in order to get a photo like this, you have to take a wider picture of a scene, so as not to get all of the people staring at the camera (and the photographer), annoyed at breaking a traditional Islamic code of conduct--the Hadith--a set of laws that sometimes prohibit images of any living thing.  A good 35 mm sensor will catch people sharply, even if you have to crop the image to see them.

Finally, the expressions on the human faces seem to be pensive, possibly thinking about their revolution and what it means to life in their city and pondering the passing people as reflections of Allah.

Focus and The Art Photographer

If you photograph architecture stick with it until your an expert

Catch yourself hanging out a cafe sipping a double non-fat latte? Wearing black? Maybe you don't yourself, but find someone who does. Definitely take the opportunity to photograph him/her or take a self-portrait if you do.

Most important of all, don't judge yourself as a non-creative person just because you don't fit the stereotypical mode. Moreover, if you do, might as well camp it up. I mean you only live once.

If you do have an interest in being the real thing, consider what you like, not what someone else does. As an art photographer be assured that you can like whatever you want, photograph anything you like and carry yourself anyway you please.

If colors turn you on, photograph them in every which way--muted, sparkling, brilliant, subdued. Shapes and forms got your goat? Take them in in all of their splendor from gnarled trees to inch worms up-close.

Whether you're a street photographer or work in a studio, keep in mind that what separates you from the classical masters of any era from Stieglitz to Evans and Model to Adams is your practice, motivation and talent. Yes, in that order.

If you pick up a camera once a week, your photographs are bound to be mediocre no matter how good what camera you use. Practice every day with enthusiasm and a dash of talent and you'll be on your way to a successful career.

Add to this, extensive knowledge of your subject and you'll pass those who are generalists because you'll be devoted to a focused genre, be it landscapes or architecture.

Google Tasks for Photographers

 
Google the vast behemoth does indeed rule. All photographers-- amateur and professional--are dependent upon the multitude of features it offers. Whether you're a photographer who has a business of his own or an amateur who wants portfolio exposure, everything you do on the Internet affects your exposure on Google.

The primary rankings for photographers are dependent upon both the images they upload to their website, blog, social networking site, microstock, fine art selling website appears in search results. Where they appear is dependent upon many factors from what you upload, how you name it, how substantive the information is, how frequently you post information on blogs/websites and, more recently, how you set up Google Plus.

The most recent development in the search engine--a must for photographers to initiate--is Google Plus and the associated Authorship program. Deciphering the information to get a higher search engine ranking for your platform is at best challenging. The number of ideas you need to succeed in Google's placement of your portfolio and associated contents runs in the mulitple digit range.
 
Here are the tasks that you should do to keep up with Google SEO:

One-Time Tasks  Setting up Google Plus, Getting the right domain name, Setting up a  blog using Blogger as a resource to increase your rankings, Google Authorship information/set-up, YouTube Account Set-up

Yearly Tasks  Everything you Wanted to Know about Duplicate Content but were Afraid to Report--Searching for copyright violation/duplicate content/images on all websites.
Reporting violations to Google TOS regarding your content.

Monthly Tasks  Updating Platform on all Google listings, including Facebook, Website Directories (Technorati, for example), YouTube...

Daily Tasks  Naming your images, image sizes,  blog posts, SEO basics, Survivial HTML, watermarks

What tasks have I missed?

Retro Car and the Rule of Thirds

Holiday 88 front end

Composing part of a vintage auto is a fairly straight-forward task. If you study the above photo almost all of the important parts of the it--the whitewall tire, the word "Holiday," the headlight all follow the Rule of Thirds.

The composition of a photograph should follow this rule, a rule which not only applies to photography, but also to video on almost every device. Placing objects one-third from the left side of the frame is just the beginning of this rule. The rule of thirds allows objects to be placed in four places in the frame:

1. one-third from the bottom
2. one-third from the top
3. one-third from the left side
4. one-third from the right side

Which third you are going to place your subject/object is up to you. Most of the time your aesthetic sense will tell you.

There are a few exceptions to the Rule of Thirds, one being a frame that includes a symmetrical scene such a train track placed in the middle of the frame and sliding into a sliver at the horizon. 

Canon T5i's Top Ten Features not much Different from the T4i

Canon Rebel T5i with open viewfinder screen

Last month, Canon introduced the EOS Rebel T5i , a camera that's likely to become one of the most popular around.

Despite it's size (it's a dSLR, so it's much bigger than a point-and-shoot), the images it can capture with APS-C 18 MP sensor are nothing less than stunning.

Here's what the camera has to offer:

1. APS-C sensor, which is big by point-and-shoot standards, a huge factor in producing acceptable   images for microstock and/or POD websites at 100 percent resolution.

2. Shoots at 5 fps, making catching thrilling action shots much easier.

3. ISO to 12,800 (though I wouldn't set it greater than 3600 because the noise elimination in post-processing is almost impossible with an ISO that's any higher).

4. HD movie mode for video buffs.

5. Touch-screen is 3 inches and, as you can see in image, pulls out so that you can easily display your images without having to turn your camera around.

6. Some in-camera post-processing, which permits you to tweak with a choice of 7 filters.

7. Reduces noise by permitting you to merge 4 shots in-camera.

8. Contains 9 auto-focus points for a sharper image at small apertures.

9. Gives images finer details with 14-bit A/D conversion. 

10. New updated kit 18-55 mm kit lens, now with image stabilization for sharper subjects/objects. 

Many are saying that the Canon Rebel T5i isn't much different from its predecessor the Rebel T4i, which is absolutely true.

Photo Sets--What Type of Photography Does a Hotel Buy?

Building reflections are a popular hotel photography theme

Building reflections with squares and lights

Building with beautiful clouds reflecting on it

Building reflection with compelling clouds

Reflection of classic building on a modern building

Reflection of brown building on glass building

Reflection of one modern building on another

Photo sets are more important than ever. With photography being so hot these days, hotels are slapping it on walls all over the world. It's simple and chic, characteristics of the hotels wanting to sell themselves as hipster boutique. So, what type of photography does a hotel buy?

Two requirements for the photography you want to sell to hotels and/or restaurants:

1. A set of photographs with a related theme.

Photos have to be similar to one another in a number of ways. The more focused the theme, the better the set. 

2.  Photos need to be sharp at 100 percent resolution with no noise or sensor spots.

Cleaning up your photos in Photoshop is an absolute must! Any spot seen by the buyer is a deal that's bound to be broken. 

Last month, I traveled to a hotel where the theme was building reflections. When I saw the photos, I realized I could do the same set just as good as the ones I saw, if not better.

I posted the building reflections that I've shot around the world on Facebook and am now writing about them on this blog.

Lesson to be Learned: Check out the hotels to see what's up on the walls. You might have a similar set of images with a related theme. If you do, you're all set to put your work out there after a little postprocessing.

Overprocessed HDR

Overprocessed HDR occurs most often when you opt for the Grunge mode

HDR photography ranges from very realistic photos where the shadows and highlights keep more of their detail thorough subtle juxtapositions of a number of photos, each taken at different exposures.

When HDR photos are merged automatically with a few mouse clicks in Photoshop or Photomatix, it can look like a miracle has been created--bountiful color, multiple-dimensions and stark contrast seemingly sparkle within the frame. But some feel that the resulting photo is overprocessed, no matter how good it looks.

Many photographers and others in the business feel that HDR is simply overprocessing photographs, costing the medium its integrity, producing fake-looking images that are to a traditional photograph as a plastic cup is to a wine glass.

Now it's time for you to decide by casting a vote below:

Does HDR processing compromise the stature of photography as art?
	Yes
	No
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