RAIN DROPS

I was experimenting with some of the more advanced features of the Layer Styles dialog box and discovered some very handy techniques that can be used when you are creating transparent effects. The sequence for this “water” effect is done entirely in a single Layer Style. So once it has been created it can be saved and applied to any layer that has hard-edged opacity against a field of transparency. This also means you can paint on the styled layer and the effect will render “live”, so it’s pretty to watch.

SMOKE

It’s used in sacred ceremonies. It’s used to cleanse. It’s linked to the spirit world. It makes breath visible. It’s a sign of danger. Fire precedes it. It’s pollution. It stops breath. Smoke is a powerful symbol.

Compositionally, smoke is extraordinarily flexible. It can be thick or thin, heavy or diffuse, contained or scattered, simple or complex. You can draw a line in any direction, linking two objects or creating a new focus of attention. You can literally draw the eye to any point in an image along any path.

LOOKING THROUGH A GLASS

Here is a technique for digitally adding a glass object in front of a scene and making it look like it was part of the original scene. The trick is to carefully photograph the glass, paying attention to the shine and shadows. Then, make the glass transparent and distort the scene that you see through the glass. The result is convincing, if not optically correct.

LIGHTBLAST !

Looking for a way to give some extra “life” to a logo or type treatment? The two most common techniques to help a logo standout are a glowing edge or a drop shadow. This is based on the principle of type on pattern, which says that a contrasting edge makes it far easier to see something when it is positioned over a busy or moving background. But why be ordinary? By backlighting an image, we can dramatically offset it from its background. This technique works with almost any logo or type treatment.

F-STOP CORRECTION

Here is a simple way to adjust exposure in the f-stop increments that is second nature to photographers. The key to this technique is that the Screen and Multiply layer blending modes, at an opacity of 38%, produce an effect very similar to lightening or darkening by one full f-stop. (For half-stop adjustments, use 19% opacity, for one-third stop use 13%, and  so on.) In this example, we’ll darken the image by one stop.

DIGITAL LIGHT PAINTING

Digital light painting is a powerful Photoshop technique that can be used to turn lifeless images into works of art. In fact it is the digital equivalent of a photographic lighting technique called painting with light. Painting with light needs to be executed in relative darkness so that a small handheld light source can be used to paint light energy over a subject during a long exposure. This painterly lighting effect works well on subjects that are stationary but falls short on animated subjects such as people. Light painting people usually renders static looking results. Digital light painting has major advantages over painting with light. It is not a “blind one way” process—the painting effect is visible as you create it, you can modify it at any time, and you do not have to work in darkness. This technique works best with flat lighting so frontal lighting is most favorable—all highlight and shadow will be created in Adobe Photoshop.

CREATING THE MAGICAL MIRROR EFFECT

“It’s all done with mirrors” is a popular saying among professional magicians.

Well, these days, digital photography artists are using mirrors, of sorts, to create magical effects on their computer monitors. Basically, a mirror image is one in which one side of a frame is perfectly mirrored (reflected) on the opposite side of the frame—side to side or top to bottom. In Photoshop, we use Canvas Size, Copy and Paste to create the effect. It’s that easy!

CREATING METALLIC TYPE

The effect in this exercise is as widely used as the drop shadow. Metallic type can be found in car ads, CD covers, and movie logos. A glance through any magazine will produce a myriad of examples. There will be many intermediate steps to this exercise. Keep in mind that the end result is not really what is important here but rather the steps. These steps with a minor alteration—as the use of a different color—will provide the solution to many other situations.