What I did today

This evening I've been fiddling around in photoshop. I'm getting a pretty good handle on some of the functions, though I'm by no means an expert on any of them. I am, however, starting to gain some level of confidence. Kind of like how I feel about Microsoft Word. I can get around and mostly do what I want, even if I'm not using the program to near its full potential.

So here's what I did, in steps:

Step 1 - pick an image that I'd want to photoshop

Easier said than done. Some images are beyond photoshopping, and others I wouldn't know what to do with in photoshop, I like them so much as they are. So here's the image I settled on:

It's not a bad picture, apart from how the little girl is too dark for the background. The two don't really fit together. Now, if we were really thinking, and if we had known how to use it at the time, we'd have pulled out our fancy flash. We'd use it as fill-flash, which is basically where you fill in the missing light on her face, instead of using the flash as the main source of light. But alas, no fancy fill-flash, so I'm left photoshopping it, one year later.

Step 2 - Lasso that girl!

Photoshop has this cool tool called the magnetic lasso. I clicked on that, and then went around the outside of the girl. All you do is run the cursor around what you want to select (or "lasso.") The tool looks for what lines you seem to be following, and assumes the shape you need, although sometimes you have to correct the tool, like when it tried to cut off her thumb.

Here's what she looks like lassoed:

Click on the picture to see it better.

You might be wondering why I needed to lasso her at all. See, if I made the adjustments on the whole picture, then when I tried to brighten it, I'd brighten EVERYthing, but seeing as I just have the girl lassoed, then whatever I need to do next will only apply to what I have selected.

Step 3 - Make an adjustment layer

So next I went to Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Levels... and hit okay. Then I pulled the little gray arrow over towards the left-hand side, which brightens it. Actually, if you want a bit more of an explanation than that, if you pull the white towards the black arrow, then each colour above the white arrow in the spectrum is made white, instead of a shade close to white. Likewise, if you use the black arrow, then each colour beneath the black arrow, but not quite black, is made black instead. It's a good way to get some more contrast in your photo.

I used the grey one, however, and I'm not 100% sure how to explain what it does. All I know is that it lightens it without making the actual pixels white. Maybe they make them grey? I don't know. But it works! So here's the girl made brighter:


Better already, huh? But I'm not done yet.

Step 4 - Saturate the colours a little more

First I hit Select -> Reselect (proof that I'm new at this. There's a quick function that I just discovered while typing this post, which is Shift+Ctrl+D. Who knew?) so that the girl is selected again. Then I went back to Layer -> New Adjustment Layer, except this time I chose "Hue/Saturation..." instead. Then I saturated it a little bit, to make the pinks more pink and that red hat a little more red. Because I'm fake like that, and am not picky as to what the original hat actually looked like. I'm definitely NOT a photo-naturalist. Just so you know!

Here's the screen-shot of the Hue/Saturation layer:


Step 5 - Brighten it up just a touch more, for the fun of it

Okay, so I didn't need to do this, I was just messing around (I'm a learner here, remember?) but I liked the way it looked, so I'm adding it here.

Same as before. Reselect the girl, Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Brightness/Contrast this time.

Aaaaand the screen shot:


So that pretty much does it! And the comparison? I know I'm no pro (if only!) but I think it looks a lot better than the original. This one is actually printable!

Before:

After:

And I could stop there, but there is one more optional step that I'll add below.

Step 6 - Crop it tighter

How you crop your photos is your own choice, but what I learned in my Advanced Photography class is that, usually, the closer you crop comething the better. Just don't (DON'T!!!) cut off someone's limb at the joint. It looks weird to have an entire leg, ankle and all, and no foot. It'd be much better in that case to crop at the calf or thigh.

So, the photo. I cropped it vertically using the rectangular marquee tool with the fixed ratio style. That way I could say, "hey, make this photo 6" high and 4" wide!" and then when I print it it won't get cropped further. So here is the cropped version:


And you know what? While we're at it, let's try something different for the cropping. Amateur photographers always try to centre everything. I know I still do! It takes mental effort to try to make something look artistic, and to force myself away from the middle. Thank goodness for post-production cropping! Here is the other way I cropped the photo, and it looks much more compelling and...and...photographer-y:

Isn't there something magical about an off-centered picture? There's more I could say about cropping it like this, like "rule of thirds", or why it's important that she's on the right side of the photo and not the left, but I'll save it for another day.

But anyway, I think that if that were my little girl, I wouldn't mind that photo on my dresser or in her album. And that thought gives me warm fuzzies inside!

So that's pretty much the extent of what I know how to do in photoshop, apart from using actions (which, I've got to admit, are PRETTY fun! Here's a before and after of one of the actions I like to use:

vs.

(btw, that's me in the middle. 'Cause I don't have a profile photo yet.))

but I feel like I'm really coming along. Everything I know how to do I learned in a few hours from the tutorial that is inside of the program's help menu. I'm hoping that I'll have a head start, and then when I take the photoshop course I want to take in September, then I'll be ahead, and be solidifying my skills. Especially because the class calls for Photoshop Elements, and I'm using CS2.

That's all for now. Until next time!