Hello and welcome
to another Terrific Tuesday!
I have been
using Photoshop now for several years, and it was not until recently that I decided
to experiment with the blending modes.
One of the ones that I particularly like is the soft glow effect that
you can create with it. To me the glow
simulates some of the effects that can be created with filter lenses on the
cameras, however, my collection of lenses is not that big so I decided to
practice with the software.
If you have
never done it, don’t be afraid there are a lot of tutorials out there that can
help you get started with the wonderful world of blending modes in Photoshop. Look at some of the images and you will see
that it is something that would enhance the way they look, and it might be
something that you might want to explore with more detail.
both images: www.photoshopessentials.com
For the
images that I changed, the procedure was simple, of course it could be adjusted
to fit your needs or the aesthetic value you might want to create with your own
images. My six steps were as follow:
1. Once you open the image in Photoshop,
duplicate the background layer and apply a Gaussian blur, (I used about 15% of
the longest pixel side).
2. Set this duplicate you created to
multiply blend (from the layer style) mode and lower the opacity (I lowered
mine to about 35%).
3. Duplicate the altered layer.
4. Desaturate the new duplicated layer and
then set it to screen blend mode at 70% opacity.
5. Include a hue/saturation adjustment
layer to the Multiply layer to increase saturation (this is not the desaturated
layer!).
6. Adjust for shadow detail in the
Screen Layer.
I have found
out that if you use images with natural light, they seemed to be working better
for me than the ones where I used strobes or hot shoe flash, let me know how it
works for you.
Here is a
tutorial of how to add a soft glow:
Adding a
Soft Glow with Photoshop: http://www.tipsquirrel.com/adding-a-soft-glow-with-photoshop/
There are
plenty of books and literature out there that can also help you with this
topic, the one that I used when I started to practice with the blend
modes is at the bottom of the page.
Drop me a line and let me know how
your experimentation is going, are you having fun with blend modes?
Of course you are!!!
Until later, this is your Tuesday
Ambassador wishing you all a great and happy, pixeled full day!
Valentine, Scott. The Hidden Power of Blend Modes in Adobe
Photoshop. 2013. Print.
Peachpit. California.
