DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

Submit A Story

How to use vanishing point perspective in Photoshop to add graphics to a surface

by Leave a Comment

The actual title for the latest video tutorial by Phlearn is “How to create a Packaging Design Mockup in Photoshop”, but it’s so much more than that. There is no doubt that the ability to create product packaging mockups is valuable. Maybe we’re doing it for ourselves, or maybe it’s for a client. But it’s something many photographers and designers have done at some point or another.

But, the techniques shown in the video go far beyond simply adding logos to a brown box. It can be used to replace signs in streets, for example, or to switch out logos on the side of a vehicle. Perhaps you’re presenting room interior makeover mockups to a client. You can use this technique to hang art on the walls. Or. you can even use it to patch holes in surfaces like potholes in roads.

[Read More…]

Use Lightroom’s Virtual Copies to save storage space

by 5 Comments

We’ve all had a situation where we think we’ve created the perfect image, but we want to try something. Perhaps it’s to test an idea, sometimes it’s just to see how it looks or play with a preset. Whatever the reason, the last thing we want to do is undo all the work that came before it.

“Undo” is great, but it’s easy to forget exactly where you were, especially with small changes. Making your own presets is also an option. Then you can easily revert to it after you’ve messed around with it. Virtual Copies are a much easier solution, and in this video from Phlearn, Aaron Nace shows you exactly how they work and how to use them.

[Read More…]

Tutorial: How to save overexposed highlights in Lightroom

by Leave a Comment

With storage being less of an issue than ever before and cameras becoming more powerful with each new iteration, RAW images have gone from something only the pros use to something that can now be captured in smartphones.

What is the advantage of a RAW photo though? Information. A RAW image, specifically a 16-bit image, captures and retains far more information from a photograph than an equivalent JPEG would.

It’s this extra information that allows RAW photos, often referred to as digital negatives, to be far more lenient in the editing process. Here to show just how critical shooting in RAW can be, Aaron Nace of Phlearn has shared a helpful video that shows how you can save overexposed highlights in an image by tweaking a RAW photo inside Lightroom.[Read More…]

How to create custom keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop

by Leave a Comment

Photoshop is an extremely powerful tool for editing images. In fact, it’s so rich in features that many of the most used features are oftentimes behind a handful of clicks and adjustments.

One solution to streamlining your workflow is to create keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop so that you can easily apply your most used actions with only a tap of the keyboard. Here to show us how to do that is the ever-helpful Aaron Nace of Phlearn.[Read More…]

Expertly Mask Objects and People in Photoshop Using Color Channels

by 2 Comments

Before delving into the mysterious world of photography, I started my visual arts career in graphic design and marketing, both freelance and on-staff.  One request I became accustomed to was extracting all kinds of objects and people from all kinds of backgrounds and surroundings.  Apart from “Make it look awesome,” this seemed to be people’s favorite.

There are many ways to mask and extract objects, and there’s really no “right” way to do it, so long as you find your method of choice effective.  However, Aaron Nace of Phlearn (yes, we do seem to love Aaron) gives us an excellent tutorial on making a perfect selection in Photoshop using color channels, magic wand be damned.

[Read More…]

Turn On the High Beams: Add head lights to a vehicle in Photoshop


If there’s one thing that all of us have encountered at one point or another it is going through the frames from a shoot and realizing that we forgot something important or could have done things a little differently.

When I first read the title of this video my mind automatically went in a completely different direction (my mind has a mind of its own, don’t judge me). In this tutorial, Photoshop guru and rocker of the man bun Aaron Nace gives us step-by-step instructions for bringing on the “high beams” of a vehicle after the image has already been taken.

[Read More…]

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts