Experimenting with Photoshop Elements 9

If you haven't as yet, have a look at www.deviantart.com.  There are some fantastic photos available for download.  I downloaded a photo by yuvi 2: http://yuvi2.deviantart.com/art/Moon-Lit-Capitan-324810448

Then, using layers and a photo of the Moon that I took, I created a new background as well as a partial "Blue Moon".  This was actually my second try as the first photomanipulation didn't quite work out.

The dog watermark is just to prevent anyone from copying the photo.  You are welcome to download yuiv2's file and go from there.  If requested, I will put up a quick tutorial on how I did this.

I used Photoshop Elements 9.

Info on IR Photography using PS

I recently posted about Infrared Photography. I came across a tutorial that uses PS to mimic the effect but it requires Channel Mixer which PSE9 does not have.

I'm busy searching for alternatives but in the meantime have a look at this site:

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/post-processing/creating-an-infrared-effect-to-photos-using-photoshop/

People agree that the PS way doesn't correctly simulate true IR because PS can't easily see what light is reflected where and how.

But still, even if it's just for a bit of fun take a look.

Topaz Labs Bundles

While going through http://farbspiel-photo.com/, the HDR Cookbook the author mentions using Topaz quite a bit. I looked at http://www.topazlabs.com/bundle/ where you can download trials and see how it works for you.

Keep in mind that the files are large so first check the size if bandwidth is a worry for you.

A special ran on St Patrick's Day and it was a pretty big saving for me. I bought the bundle, didn't include Star Effects, which I will get later, but for the price I was happy with my purchase.

The site seems to run specials on a regular basis so keep checking. My favourite is Simplify. It gives a very artistic look to a photo, almost as if the photo was drawn.

Another great tool is the Vignette in Topaz Adjust. I worked through a tutorial, which I will post a link to (trust me these are great tuts) where I needed to use a distort filter that PSE9 didn't have. Now I have a similar tool with Topaz Adjust.

So far I'm impressed with Topaz Labs. Because PSE9 is a watered down version of Photoshop CS5, Topaz Labs has provided that extra bit of flexibility to PSE9. Yes I know, why haven't I upgraded to PSE10?

No real interest since there isn't much of an upgrade in the program worth spending more money on. They apparently fixed the issue with laptops where they failed in PSE9 to tell consumers about the restriction in monitor size. Basically, some options on menus were not available if your monitor size was incorrect (as said they didn't let consumers know this before hand).

Anyway, when it's worthwhile upgrading I'll bother but not right now.

Infrared Photography IR

Has anyone worked with Infrared Photography also known as IR Photography? It's a new technique I would love to learn but filters are very expensive and I only have one DSLR that I would never alter just for IR Photography.

I've been asking around and haven't had much of a response but is there another way to achieve this affect? Maybe via Photoshop Elements? I don't have Photoshop CS5, but PSE9 works pretty well for me considering I also now have Topaz Labs.

If you are interested heck out this link on IR Photography:

http://mansurovs.com/introduction-to-infrared-photography

Notice the ethereal almost spooky colour. Photoshop is used here to achieve the final result but I don't know if all of the result can be achieved in Photoshop alone.

Working with the Healing Brush Tutorial

A great site for info on tutorials and products.

http://www.ormsconnect.co.za/2012/03/tutorial-working-with-healing-brushes/

The healing brush is a tool I rely on for removing unwanted objects/subjects and in retouching of photos. Pay attention to the instructions as there is a difference in the actions required to use either the Spot Healing Brush and the Healing Brush. Yes, both are different :-D.

Photoshop Elements 9

Restoring photos, remembering the past

I've recently taken up restoring photos. The first photo is nearly 100 years old and using Photoshop Elements 9 I was able to bring out great colour and remove scratches and marks. Who knows, maybe I made the subject look younger lol. You should give it a try, research touch up techniques using your current software. I don't know how good GIMP is but if you don't want to spend money give GIMP a try. The second image shows a photo with missing pieces. Had to use my imagination here as I didn't have the pieces.