Curves Adjustments Layer | Texas Photoshop Guy | Robin Weerts Photography | North Texas

Probably one of the most valuable tools in photoshop is the curves adjustment layer.  For the longest time I didn’t know how to use it and everytime I did use it I didn’t like the results.  Over time, especially with the amount of printing we do, I found it to be invaluable.  This tutorial I found does a good job of explaining how it works and what it does.  My favoite part of using the curves adjustment is bringing back details to the midtones.  It brightens without destroying the image.  I always give all images a little boost in this area.  Play with it and you’ll see what I mean.  Here is the link… http://mgreerphoto.blogspot.com/2006/12/photoshop-adjustment-layer-curves.html.  Enjoy!  Below is a personal example from our photography to show the difference.  This image is also part of our Stockyards Collection which can be seen at Double Shots Coffee Roasters beginning September 1st.

Having fun with Photoshop | Texas Photoshop Guy | Robin Weerts Photography | Dallas-Fort Worth

Sometimes I like to find something really unusal and play with it.  I found this tutorial on how to create dynamic distortion effects.  It look like a lot of fun.  I have found that when you start playing around with images in photoshop, you tend to learn a lot about how it really works.  Here is the link…give it a try… http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/2d__and__photoshop/create_dynamic_distortion_effects

Layers In Photoshop | Texas Photoshop Guy | Robin Weerts Photography

When I first started using photoshop I was really overwhelmed by all the choices there are when editing images.  Honestly, it made me a little nervous and I was afraid to try some things for fear I would wreck the original image.  Over time as I listened to different people talk about the benefits of using layers and started learning more about them, the fear subsided.  Layers are absolutely amazing…there is so much you can do with them and they actually protect the raw image you have open in photoshop.  If you don’t like something you’ve done you can trash it and start a new layer.  The possibilities are endless.  Here is a tutorial about using layers.  They explain it from begining to end in a basic way and show you an example.  It’s well worth reading if you want to improve your skills as a photoshop person.  Here is the link… http://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/layers/layers-panel/

Enjoy!

The Fort Worth Collection | Robin Weerts Photography

Don’t miss the lastest post from the Fort Worth collection on the Facebook of Robin Weerts Photography.

Blending | A Doc & A Shark | Texas Photoshop Guy | Dallas-Fort Worth

Robin is friends with a doctor who had this underwater picture taken while on vacation.  He wanted me to see if I could do something with it.   I thought it needed a shark, so I went and found one that I added to the image.  When I first added it I thought it looked fake because it didn’t really blend with the rest of the picture.  The water seemed different and there were a lot of edge issues.  First I converted the image to a black and white.  Next I used the cloning and patch tools to begin the blending process to make the two images one.  After cleaning up the edges and flattening the image it was ready to print.  It actually looks as if the shark was actually in the image.  I like the vintage look of the black and white too!  Pretty cool!

The Fort Worth Collection | Robin Weerts Photography | Commercial Photography | Dallas-Fort Worth

Robin & I have been working on a project for a local surgery center taking images of Fort Worth landmarks and preparing them as fine art prints to be hung in their lobby.  This first image Robin took on a very cold day in the stockyards…virtually void of people.  This particular image has four layers.  The first being a grunge overlay with a border.  The second layer was a grunge overlay also, but I chose to use the color layer style at a lower opacity.  The third layer was a grunge texture to give it that old feel and finally, the fourth layer created the torn border.  To see this image up close is stunning.  We will be hanging this image in a local coffee shop within the next few days…World Blend on Basswood and Park Vista in north Fort Worth.  Like I said, you have to see this up close.  We are making our Fort Worth collection available to the public for purchase.  Contact Robin Weerts Photography for more information.

Photo Restoration | Robin Weerts Photography | Texas Photoshop Guy

Here are a couple of positive film images I practiced my restoration techniques on.  When restoring an image, color is probably the greatest challenge as over time images fade.  The first photo took several layers of curves and brightness to help bring the image back to something that was more easily viewed.  There were a couple of places where the image needed to be recreated also using the cloning and patch tools.  The second image was much easier with some slight color correction and brightening added.

Here is an image I received from a client that had faded, was bent and torn.  The original image came from a photobooth so quality was not very high.  The image had been in the family for years and they wanted some 5×7 prints.  The greatest challenge with this photo were the areas that were covered at some point with tape.  After erasing the tape lines, I had to recreate the shirt wrinkles and texture.  On the top of the image where the tape had blended the background with the hairline, I had to create separation.  In the end, the client was very happy with the way the image turned out.  I think the important thing to remember with restoration is that you will never recreate the original, but you can have an image that is very close.  I would love to hear your comments or have you share your restoration images.

Photoshop – Image Restoration

Photoshop – Image Restoration.  I thought this was nicely done.  The only change I might make is to liquify the new arm a little to make it more proportional with the other, but this is so much better than the destroyed photo.

Luminosity | Texas Photoshop Guy | Robin Weerts Photography (formerly Artisan Photography

Here is an image I took from the Sam Moon parking lot in North Fort Worth.  I used an overlay texture I found and changed it to luminosity creating a piece of abstract art.  I followed it with a curves adjustment to open the midtones and that was it.  Pretty cool.

The Texas Photoshop Guy | Robin Weerts Photography | Just The Beginning

Hi!  I would like to welcome you to the newest offering from Robin Weerts Photography…tips on photoshop and creating exciting imagery.  My wife, Robin is the creative eye behind the camera with our portrait and wedding photography.  Every once in a while I am behind the camera too, but most of my time is spent retouching her images and creating art pieces.  Sometimes I just like to experiment and see what new things I can create in photoshop.  This blog is a place to share some of those things – whether successful or not – and get your feedback.  It has been said, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”  Whether it is Robin behind the camera or me (Dale) in Photoshop; our goal is to create imagery that is unique and stands out as something different from everyone else.

When that is the goal, it means that sometimes the experiment will fail.  However, if we don’t experiment we will never be able to improve.  When his assitant asked him why he kept trying to create the light build because all his efforts had failed, Thomas Edison responded that he hadn’t failed, but instead had found 10,000 ways it didn’t work.  Many great inventions were apart of those failures, but he eventually met his goal.  Photography is very much the same way.  We see something in our mind and work tirelessly to create it.  Along the way there are failures, but once the goal is realized we find our how much we learned along the way.

Through this blog I would like to share with you my experiments and things I am learning in hopes to learn even more.  I would love to have interaction with those who follow this blog and also hear about your experiments.  Maybe through all our efforts we will find something we didn’t even know we were looking for and create something special.  So, welcome to my blog.

The Texas Photoshop Guy