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Remedy for Over-sharpening

Monday, 04 June 2012 12:08 Rohinton Mehta

Digital imaging offers us some amazing facilities which we did not have in the film era. We often get carried away using these new ‘toys’, and then, we tend to over-use them or use them in an inappropriate manner.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 June 2012 10:54 ) Read more...

Don’t Be Put off By Gray Skies!

Tuesday, 27 September 2011 15:00 Rohinton Mehta

With the rainy season ‘on’, dull gray or nearly white skies are common. This shouldn’t put you off your photography spree because it is very easy to add colour on to dull gray/white skies. You can use a good sky from another photo, or select an appropriate tone for the sky from within the original photo.

If you wish to copy the sky from another photo:
1. Open both the photos in Photoshop. Activate the good sky photo and using the Eyedropper tool (with Sample Size 3 x 3), click the area of the blue sky that you would like transposed on to the gray sky picture. The Foreground color square at the lower end of the Toolbox will take on that colour.

2. Now activate the other picture (the one with the dull gray sky) and select the sky using the Magic Wand tool.

3. Add a blank new layer by clicking on the ‘Create a new layer’ icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

4. Now go to Edit > Fill and in the Use box, select Foreground colour and click OK. The dull gray sky will take on the blue colour. If you feel that the color is a bit too strong, lower the Opacity from the Layers palette (as shown in Printscreen 5).

5. Ctrl + D to deselect. Save your picture using the Save As command.

If you wish to select an appropriate tone from within the original photo:
In this case, using the Eyedropper tool (Sample Size 3 x 3), click an area within your original picture that you think would be suitable for the sky. It is of course not necessary that the new sky be blue. It could be a shade of gray!

Steps 2 to 5 will remain unchanged.
Rohinton Mehta

Select blue area of the sky

Printscreen 1

Printscreen 2

Printscreen 3

Printscreen 4

Printscreen 5

Final Image

Printscreen 1

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 September 2011 17:21 )

Nature Photography

Thursday, 25 August 2011 16:19 Rohinton Mehta

The term ‘nature’ refers to anything that is not made by human beings, or, in other words, whatever is created by that unfathomable force we call ‘God’ or ‘Almighty’.

Last Updated ( Friday, 26 August 2011 15:24 ) Read more...

Creating Exhibition Prints

Thursday, 16 June 2011 15:45 administrator

Smart Photography July Issue

Creating Exhibition Quality Prints

Description – This is the DNG file (_DSC 5585) referenced in July issue.

Please note the link - https://www.yousendit.com/download/UnlBZHltcWZ5UkUwTVE9PQ

Last Updated ( Friday, 17 June 2011 19:43 )

Silhouettes

Monday, 13 June 2011 13:50 Rohinton Mehta

A silhouette is a shape without detail. Silhouettes are often very effective against an inspiring sky. The trouble is, whilst we can often get interesting silhouettes, we don’t necessarily get them against the sky of our choice. In such cases, using Photoshop, we can combine a silhouette with a sky of our choice.

1. Open both the images – the silhouette as well as the sky – side by side in Photoshop. Ensure that both the images are of the same size and resolution*, and in the same color space. If the Layers palette is not open, press the F7 key to open it. If the silhouette isn’t a perfect silhouette (meaning that you can see details in it), use Levels or Curves to increase the contrast till all detail is lost.

* If the images are not the same size and resolution, it’s easy to enlarge the smaller image using Ctrl + T (Free Transform). But to keep it simple, for this article we’ll take both the images of the same size and resolution.

Note: If your silhouette image has some color/tonality in the sky, it will cause a color shift/ghost image when you blend in the other image. If that be the case, select the sky using whatever method you are comfortable with, and press Delete on the keyboard. You may have to refine the selection edges.

2. Activate the silhouette image and with the Move Tool (V), drag it on to the sky image. After you have started dragging, press and hold the Shift key to center the image if required.

Go to the Blending mode option in the Layers palette (click the tiny arrow where it says Normal) and select Multiply.

The two images should merge well. If further editing is required (controlling contrast, saturation, sharpness etc.), you can do the same.
Rohinton Mehta