Welcome to the 40th issue of the Digital Darkroom

Hi

What an exciting month at BetterPhoto! Our Summer 8-week online courses and 4-Week Short Courses are just getting under way. Sign up now, and we'll send you the first lesson pronto. Not sure which class to take? Then try out our very new, very cool Course Calculator, designed to help you find the online course that's right for you.

Incidentally, we have a number of awesome new courses for Summer, including:

• Raw Workflow for Wedding Photographers
• Photoshop Tips, Tricks and Filter Magic.
• Advanced Adobe Photoshop Elements
• Leveraging Layers: Photoshop's Most Powerful Tool .
• Paint Shop Pro

To read the online version of the Digital Darkroom at our Web site, visit http://www.betterphoto.com/digitalpics/

Have a great month!
Jim Miotke
http://www.betterphoto.com/MG.asp?ID=124

In This Issue: Friday, July 07, 2006

• Featured Photo: ...
• Featured Article: Fight Harsh Contrast with Photoshop Layer Mask ... by Jim Zuckerman
• Digital Before and After
• New Photo Discussion 1: off ii
• New Photo Discussion 2: F r a m e s
• New Photo Discussion 3: Frosted Roses
• New Photo Discussion 4: Look, Ma! I'm Pop Art!
• New Photo Discussion 5: Blue Reflections
• New Photo Discussion 6: Meditation
• New Photo Discussion 7: The Dancer
• The Next Step: Where to Go From Here

Featured Photo: ...

... 2 photos, recolored, PS brushes, filters and painting. Wings were made by using an outline base from a PS brush set by BrokenOphelia. Thanks :) © LJ Corliss Miscellaneous Does...

Featured Article: Fight Harsh Contrast with Photoshop Layer Mask ... by Jim Zuckerman
One way to battle harsh, midday sunlight is by combining two shots in Photoshop using a layer mask. So says master photographer Jim Zuckerman in a new article (adapted from one of his BetterBlogs). Jim, by the way, teaches many excellent courses here at BetterPhoto, such as: Creative Techniques in Photoshop, Photoshop II: Advanced Creative Techniques, and Perfect Digital Exposure
Read more...
 

Digital Before and After

Romance Painted in Painter IX from a photograph. Entered into Digital Darkroom

Original for Romance Taken outdoors, handheld. I painted this in Painter IX because, as a photo, it was not anything special.

Online Photography School: Focus on Photoshop Courses

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New Photo Discussions

New Photo Discussion 1: off ii off ii Amazingly enough (to me) the painted effect in this shot was done using only the raw converter! Entered in Digital Darkroom. © Sipho Eish Nikon D70S Digital... As I mentioned in the description, I managed to achieve this painted look using only the raw converter. - Sipho Eish Response 1:Yikes - a cherub gone bad! Neat in both setup and processing, Sipho. The anti-angelic look is from the highlight on your cheek, I think. Whatever you intended as an effect, it's definitely dramatic! - Kay Beausoleil See Kay's Premium BetterPholio™ Visit KayBeausoleilPhotography.com - Kay's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 2:Thanks, Kay. I really didn't intend any effect. I was just messing with new raw conversion software and got this and really liked it. - Sipho Eish Response 3:Not bad, I need to play with the raw converter more. - Manuel Barrera See Manuel's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 2: F r a m e s f r a m e s © George Owens Canon EOS 20D Digi... Very nice photo, George. Would you share how you did it please. - Pat Worster See Pat's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Hello, thanks for the comment. I took 3 separate portraits, and in 2 of them, I had Kenzie hold the white picture frame. In Photoshop, I reduced the size of the framed photos and tilted them to fit the orientation of the frame. I actually framed the final photo you see here in the white frame for her mother. It looks quite interesting hanging on the wall. - George Owens Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 3: Frosted Roses Frosted Roses © Pat Worster Olympus Camedia C-... Hi Pat..I was curious about how you achieved this awesome look? - Stacy L. Robertson Response 1:The frost part is actually my back door in the early morning after Jack Frost had visited last winter. I used the transparency tool to lighten it and then layered it over the roses. I also have some of the frosted ones with the sun shining in but I use this one the most. It makes a good digital backdrop when layered over holiday lights. Thanks for commenting. Pat - Pat Worster See Pat's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 4: Look, Ma! I'm Pop Art! Look, Ma! I'm Pop Art! Paying homage to Warhol is nothing new, but it never ceases to be fun! The major things I've done to the pics are obvious. Other than that, I painted fuller lips on myself (wishful thinking), eliminated some stray hairs flying into the background, and made the background a solid color without shadows, as it is originally my bright blue shower curtain. I also painted in my eyebrow a little, and washed out my face to get rid of some lines. All this on iphoto and Adobe Image Ready. © Marta Alvira-Hammond Fuji FinePix E550 ... Very nice. I remember looking at a tutorial online on how to do this in photoshop, but I never got around to trying it. Your Andy Warhol turned out well. Sam - S Britt See S's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Thanks, Sam! I'd never thought of doing this sort of thing before, but after discovering and playing with the hues and all the other little tools in Image Ready, it popped into my head. And it's very fun; you should definitely give it a try. - Marta Alvira-Hammond Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 5: Blue Reflections Blue Reflections © Vicki Day Olympus EVOLT E300... Hi Vicki! I love the colors in your photo! (It's a bonus that it's a water pic.) Do you mind if I ask you how you acheived the look and where the photo was taken? - Michelle Response 1:Hi Michelle, This image is taken on the shore of the Great Salt Lake just off Antelope Island at dusk. I changed out the color with color replace in Photoshop and adjusted the levels. I then ran it thru Neat Image. There are 2 versions. This is the softer version. - Vicki Day See Vicki's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 6: Meditation Meditation This started as a shot of ferns in the morning light, cropped square and any noise burned out ~ added polar co-ordinates ~ duplicated & reversed then joined together. I then saw what looked like an upside-down-figure so flipped vertically ~ LOL! © Susie Peek-Swint Olympus EVOLT E300... I'm first! Yeah! I totally LOVE this shot. The design is awesome, but I LOVE the color! - Laura Clay-Ballard See Laura 's Premium BetterPholio™ Visit lauraclayballard.com - Laura 's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 1:This is just so cool, Susie! Wonderful color, detail and effect Excellent! Bill - William C. Raco See William's Premium BetterPholio™ Visit williamracophotography.com - William's Deluxe BetterPholio™ Response 2:This is an incredible image to emerge from your darkroom, Susie! Thank you for sharing the fun you had creating it. - John Connolly See John's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

New Photo Discussion 7: The Dancer The Dancer Created lots of things with "The Dancer"...taking out the background and changing color using difuse glow and softening her. I am entering it into the June monthly contest theme of "MOTION" however that is a toss up considering there were special effects included using my Microsoft program. :) The picture was taken at an amazing place in Ft Lauderdal Florida called the RIVERWALK arts & entertainment district. I used the advanced modes on my camera without using the flash. :) © Alice Lero Canon EOS Digital ... This is striking the way you highlighted her and caught the hand movement. Lovely effects make this pop out. Excellent Alice - Emile Abbott See Emile's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 1:Thank you! You wouldn't believe all that was behind her...LOL! It was fun working with her and giving her an artist look and mood. Thanks again so much for your kind words and enouragement. - Alice Lero See Alice's Premium BetterPholio™ Response 2:I love ballet and floral portraits for the detail in them! This one has an elegant effect to it. I adore the colors in this, and the gracefullness that she portrays! Also, love the light green framing, nice accent to compliment the gray tones. Good job, Alice! - Chastity Abbott See Chastity's Premium BetterPholio™ Read this discussion online Respond to this discussion

The Next Step: Where to Go From Here

• Browse more photo discussions at BetterPhoto.com
• Start your own discussion on any photo in the Galleries
• Read archived issues of the Digital Darkroom