fman Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Matty Yes the healing brush is a good tool. I also like the clone stamp tool to do the same job. Good for removing "red-eye". Cheers, Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Gidday Frank, Could I impose on you one afternoon to take some shots of some of my fish and set-ups as my camera is really cheap and nasty. I would be interested to see what an experienced photographer with the right gear can do I'm sure I can rustle up some rock or more tubes for you Andrea PS> I always liked this shot but it could do with some finishing...anyone want to improve it for me? cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fman Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Andrea I'd be happy to oblige. The only experience I have with fish is with slow-moving and inquisitive acaras. (I'm still learning, and getting advice off the forums). I guess if the fish move too fast, we could always cools the tanks down to around 10C. Did you know that's what the Attenborough team do when filming those little critters. They bung them in the fridge, then bring them out a short while later, plonk them on the set, and take a heap of snaps. Of course the frog or lizard is too cold to move! ps Andrea - PM me the original file you want enhanced. It's better to work with the image before it's been resized for the web. Cheers Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAZ Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Hey guys, Ok this is Colin - Waz' son, I've jumped on here quickly to add to this really useful thread. Here's my example of how useful photoshop can be to get the most out of your pics. Here's a photo I managed to salvage of dad's Nandopsis tetracanthus (Cuban Cichlid). When he took the photo he left the flash on and thuoght the photo was runied, until I played with it in photoshop. Here's the before shot: and after some editing.... Here's what I did: First I removed the "white ball" by using simply copy and paste tools. I looked at what was behind this mark (the blue background) and looked for as similar an area elsewhere in the photo. I then copied that area and pasted it (as a new layer) and moved it over the top of the flash mark. I then played around with a couple thigs to get it to look real - using the eraser tool to take off the edges of the selected area, first at 100%, then at 50% then at about 20% (you can adjust the pressure/opacity in the top toolbar under the Window and Help menus) I also found I had to add some blue 'streaks' across it to match the light reflection pattern in the original background (you might need to look at the pic again to see what i mean) I did this simply by using the eyedropper tool and clicking on one of the original blue streaks (to select the exact colour I wanted) then added these lines by simply using the airbrush tool. After fixing up the background area, the area around the fish's mouth looked too light, so I simply copied that area and pasted it (as another new layer) in it's original place. I then adjusted the brightness/contrast of this small area to darken it down so it didn't stand out as much anymore. As most of you reading this will have worked out already, the reason I had to copy and paste this small area of the fishes mouth/face, was so that I could darken this small area ONLY and not the entire photo. OK hope I've not lost anyone too much there. Like most tips you will read on photoshop techniques, this may sound like a lot of work, but it really isn't. These are a couple very simple principles and you can have a fairly decent job done in about 5 or 10 mins I reckon, then if you want you can spend as much or as little time as you like trying to prefect it. If anyone has any questions about this photo or similar editing techniques I'll be happy to try to help. -Col (Son of Waz) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 PS> I always liked this shot but it could do with some finishing...anyone want to improve it for me? cheers! ← Here you go Andrea. This is my version of your duck. Although not much needs to be done to the picture in the first place. I just mucked around by blurring the background and altering the colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lepperfish Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Lol Matty that duck shot you edited makes my eyes hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 I normally use a much simplier program than Photoshop but here is my attempt at following Frank's instructions. More an educational shot rather than an artistic one I have tried to put a border around the edge but can't seem to work it out and I would also like to improve the look of the female. So any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Ged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fman Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Andrea I've had a go at the photo you posted....boy a real challenge! I adjusted the colour balance a bit, a bit of sharpening, and adjusted the lighting levels. It's quite a grainy image. If you have a higher resolution image, would work out better. Matty, your idea of blurring the background was good. This draws the focus to the duck. I tried using layers and radial blur, but I couldn't get it right. Anyone else had much success? Cheers, Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Nice work guys! Matty's one does make your eyes feel funny...is it the feeling that the water is moving?? Frank..the pic. was taken with a pre-digicam I will try to scan it with higher resolution to see if the graini-ness is lessened. I took a few rolls of film trying to catch that shot, but still didn't quite get it. It will be a challenge for you to photograph these Tropheus and some of the mbuna Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fman Posted November 28, 2005 Share Posted November 28, 2005 Andrea Do you still have the negatives? May be worth a go scanning from the negative. You've "captured the moment" well. We just need to translate it from film to digital. On the subject of photographing your Tropheus etc, I'm happy to give it a go. You can only take so many photos of Acara. I need new subject matter! It's all good practice. Cheers, Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormboy Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Hey all here is a slightly OT attempt submitted for another forum photoshop comp (which I didn't win ) I reckon I butchered it a bit and the colours aren't quite what I wanted, but hey, I gave it a go component images (resized) I think that the process included extracting, layering, burning, transparancies and colour balancing but it was a little while ago now and I cant remember. Also notice that the tail on my fish is actually not attached in the original photo, that was an add-on. Getting the finnage right was a bit of a pain but I ended up just cutting out the "pre-sand" fin areas, converting to monochrome and overlayed onto the base fish layer using a multiply function to bring out the rin ray texture over the sand texture. To bring it off the sand a feathered blackarea modelled on the fish shape was multiplied onto the plain sand. -Mat- Love the ducks Matty and Frank, and great photo to start with Andrea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fman Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Mat Photoshop can be so frustrating at times, but the results are worth the steep learning curve. Here are a couple of effects I did earlier this year - my kids sandboarding: Cheers, Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[RK] Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Before: 50/50 shot to show changes: http://www.dv8.com.au/rk/mods/RKvectra_sml01_midway.jpg After: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novafishy Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 That's pretty cool RK. How'd you do the transformation? ALL entirely done in PS?? if so, may I ask how you did that? looks amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fman Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 RK That's great! - How did you do it? Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[RK] Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Thanks guys. It was done entirely in PS yeah. It involved extracting various bits of the car and putting it in separate layers. In the end there were about 30 layers. The front bumper was re done from scratch, using colours from the rest of the car. The intercooler pic i got from google (just put an RK on it). Grille was against done from scratch. The guards were copied into new layer, then extended using 'free transform' and just smoothed in using the stamp tool and pixel brush. Wheels were likewise 'free transform'ed then tyres brushed in. Colour was done with Hue/Sat. The kit on the door, and sideskirts were again 'free transform'ed and brushed up. Most of it was just manually painting with brush, or stamp tool. And to make things smoother, I just motion blurred. Hard to write down a how to. But if you guys want to know how i did specific bits, jsut ask, and i can let ya know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fman Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Wow! 30 layers. My PC would clap out. How come the kids have got the rockets and I'm stuck with the oldest PC in the house? Anyway, I'll have a go at using the technique on something a little less intricate. I admire you patience, and thanks for the advice. Cheers, Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novafishy Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 30 layers isn't really that much. I was working on a PS file which had approx 250-300 layers. file size was 1.5gb!! took 20 minutes to open on my P4 and 30-40 minutes to save. A2 size 300dpi it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[RK] Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Man that would be hell!! At times like those, im glad i do web work (only 72dpi) and not print! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViS Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Well this is only one layer, but I finally tried using the burn tool. Pretty nifty thing. This took about 2 minutes. I can see it being really helpful for aquarium photos, especially if you make the tool small and take your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fman Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Andy Good stuff. Can I suggest adjusting the levels a bit too. The highlights are a bit washed out. Go to Image>adjustments>levels. The settings have a lot to do with how your monitor is set up for brightness and contrast. I got a bit more detail by moving the lest slider to 11 and the middle slider to 0.6. Have a play with it and see what suits your display. Here's my effort: Cheers, Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Wow guys, some nice work here. Seeing all that could be done, I just gave it a quick go with a demo of Photoshop CS2 v9.0 & came up with these... Before After Used the burn tool & also cloned out a few algae spots on the glass. Next one, Before After A lot of time with the clone tool to remove all the scratches in the glass, reflection, plus colour correction. Hows those for first attempts? Where's the cheapest place to get photoshop? Cheers Ash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fman Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 Ash Also consider "Photoshop Elements". It hasn't got as many bells and whistles as Photoshop, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper. I got a version of Elements for free, bundled with a Canon scanner I bought a couple of years ago. Also look at alternatives. Sometimes you can get the full version of photoediting programs free on cover discs of PC magazines. Most of the effects you've seen on this site are possible using one of these smaller (and cheaper) programs. Cheers, Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViS Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Here's a pic I just did using the healing brush, burn tool, and some cut and paste to cover the undesired imp in the background. I made it B&W first which made it much easier (and was the look I was after anyway). Took about 30 minutes, and half of that was going back to fix up stuff I should have done right the first time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ged Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Fantastic use of Photo Shop on a beautiful subject. I can't get over how Ellie has grown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.