Before you apply any of these special effects, it can be useful to apply a masking on your photo to select which areas you want to change and which you want to keep unchanged. You can easily get a nice soft fade between the effect and no-effect areas. This is called masking and there's many ways of doing it. The one method I almost always use now (it took years before I discovered it) is the 'quick mask mode'. It is very easy to use and usually gives acceptable results.
Quick masking: In Adobe Photoshop find the button called 'edit in quick mask mode'. It's located near the bottom of the main tool bar and looks like a circle in a rectangle. There's also a short-cut key: Q. Once in quick mask mode, you can select and deselect areas simply by painting them with white and black respectively, using the standard brush tool. Zoom to 100 or 200 % for best accuracy. You might want to use a soft-edged brush to avoid hard edges. Alternatively, when you're done, exit the masking mode and go to 'Select - Feather' and set the feather radius to 5-10 pixels or so. A nice option is that you can set the opacity to anywhere between 0 and 100%, allowing you to apply the effect stronger or weaker in one part of the image that another.
Layer masking: Slightly more complicated, you can add a layer mask. This allows you to apply any effect gradually from any point in your photo. Follow these steps in Photoshop:
1. Select 'Windows - Layers'.
2. Right click on your layer and select 'Duplicate layer'.
3. In the bottom of the layer box, click on the little icon called 'Add layer mask'.
4. Choose the 'Gradient tool' on the main tool box.
5. Select a gradient style from the top 'Options' bar (linear, radial etc.).
6. Now click on your image on the point you don't want to change, then drag the mouse away to the point where you want the full effect to take place. The effect will be applied gradually more and more along this line you've now create.
7. Last, return to your original background layer and apply any effect you want. This will apply the effect in a soft, gradual way. Use opacity to turn the effect down to less than full strength if you want.
Lens-like effects: Using the layer masking described above, you can apply 'Gaussian blur' which will make the selected areas appear soft-focused, a bit like if you had used a large-aperture lens. With 'Curves' you can make your corners darker than the center, replicating the lens effect called vignetting. Technically, vignetting is considered a lens dysfunction, but subjectively it can add an extra feeling to your photo, a kind of frame that will have a 'sucking' effect, bringing more attention into the center of your photo. You can also just lower the contrast and/or color-saturation around your main subject, helping to separate it from the background clutter. There's many other options, be creative!
Soft glow effect: Great for creating a 'romantic' look for portraits. Follow these steps:
1. Duplicate layer.
2. Apply 'Gaussian blur' to the new (top) layer. Make it blurry, but leave a little detail.
3. Play around with the blend modes and opacity till you get what you want:
'Darken' or 'Multiply' blends darkens image details while also softening features and adding a halo. Good for soft, expressive shadows.
'Lighten' or 'Screen' blends: lightens the image. Nice for adding high key or highlight glows.
'Soft Light' and 'Overlay' adds contrast and saturation. Especially useful for landscapes and still life photos.
Black and-whitish: By setting the contrast high (curves) and color saturation low, you create a metallic black and whitish look many times seen in documentaries and subdues portraits. Do this through Photoshop's 'layers' to be able to most accurately adjust your setting in place.
Color grading: You know how some movies have a 'special look', golden brown, sick yellow-greenish, cool blue etc.? You can get the same effect in your photos if you want. The simple way is to go to 'Image - Adjustments - Hue/Saturation', click 'Colorize' and use the slide bars to select your preferred grading. If you are going for a well-defined color, it's better to use the 'Edit - Fill' function. Simply select the color you want and set the 'Blending mode' to 'Color'. Either way, it's good first to duplicate your layer before you start. This will allow you to preserve some of the original colors by turning the color grading down. Use the 'Opacity' slider in the layer box to do this. If you want a duo-tone image, simply make 2 duplicate layers and give them different color gradings. Mix them together, again with the 'Opacity' slider and the different 'Layer blending mode' options in the layer box.
One example: To give your image a cool green-blue color tone, first create two duplicate layers. Use 'Edit - Fill' to make the first one green and the second one blue. Set opacity to 30 and 60% respectively and select the 'Multiply' blending mode for the top (blue) layer. Adjust levels to get it exactly like you want. Also try adding a soft glow, as described above.
Micro contrast: To enhance your contrast and draw out texture details in your photos use this effect. You can even use it when your overall contrast is already maxed out, using all tonal ranges from pure black to pure white. The method is likened to the normal 'Unsharpen Mask', but with some special settings. Go to 'Filter - Sharpen - Unsharpen Mask' and set the 'Amount' to around 20-30%, the 'Radius' to 50-100 pixels and zero on the 'Threshold'. You will get a subtle contrast enhancement that, for some pictures at least, works really well. You can create stunning and unique photos with any of the above mentioned effects.
Using any of the above outline effects can enhance your photos and make them works of art. Knowing when to use them however, and when not to use them is just as important as learning how to use them. When to use special effects in your photos is a matter of personal taste and opinion. Many times less is best, so just make sure not to over-do what you do.
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