fbpx

DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

Submit A Story

This PSD Shows What Every Single Adjustment Layer Does Using Curves Only

by 2 Comments

In many Photoshop 101 lessons they say that any adjustment to a photo can actually be achieved via a manipulation on the curves tool. While this may seem true, it is not really trivial to understand how each of the adjustment layers changes the curves. In fact some of the adjustment layers (like photo filters) don’t seem to be curves related at all.

Edmon Amiraghyan shared a very interesting PSD file with retouching academy that interactively deconstructs any adjustment applied to a file into its curves manipulation twin brother.

[Read More…]

Photoshop Power Tip – Using Screen Blending To Spice Up A Portrait

by 3 Comments

Here’s a quick, yet powerful, tip on how to move a portrait from great to awesome fairly quickly. While this method is quick the results can be very impressive if done right. You would need a fire on black pattern like the Fire Pack from the texture store (either the commercial package, or the CC-BY license, but then you have to link every image to the store) , a copy of photoshop and of course, a portrait, preferably on black.

[Read More…]

The quick 5 minute composite

by 4 Comments

So I rarely do composite type images preferring to do as much in camera as I can. However sometimes it can’t be helped. Do do hate spending forever trying to draw paths or make complex masks though, so whenever possible I like to utilise this quick and easy composite trick.

It really is incredibly simple and uses the layer blending modes to create the composite. Ok, so first of we do need to plan ahead a little. As the composite relies on various blending modes, the tone of the images we aim to composite is vital. For example, if we take an image shot against a simple white backdrop, we need to use an image of a similar tonal value to achieve the best blending results. In the following example the subject is shot against a plain white wall.

The first thing to notice if we were to try to cut or mask the subject out, is the difficulty with the hair but also the shadow area. The image I choose for replacing the backdrop was this stock background image of a distressed textured wall. Notice that as it is mostly light coloured the tonal range is similar to the original images backdrop. (if you are looking for more textures or backplate, this is a great resource)

[Read More…]

THinnerBeauty Photoshops Plus-Sized Celebrities Trying To Shame Them To Lose Weight

by 42 Comments

UPDATE: The article title has been corrected and an explanatory paragraph was added, thanks for everyone who pointed are eyes into it.

We have shared how Photoshop is used once and again to thin out already gorgeous looking models and to hide any hint of cellulite. (we’ve also seen the opposite, but I digress).

What I have yet to see is Photoshopping people to look like a thinner version of themselves without being asked in an effort to encourage them to lose weight. Facebook group ThInner Beauty (a pun on The Inner Beauty), does just that. They photoshop famous people to “… show how much more beautiful people could be if they made the difficult, lifelong commitment to a regimen of personal fitness”

[Read More…]

Skin-Retouching Techniques: Compared

by 6 Comments

In general, there are four “famous” skin-retouching techniques on the photography and retouching market to achieve a smooth skin:

  • Gaussian blur (for me not a skin-retouching technique, but I see it a lot)
  • Inverted high-pass
  • Frequency Separation
  • Dodge & Burn

(Yes, there are more, but these are the “biggest” ones “inside” Photoshop)

This article will compare these skin-retouching techniques to show the pros and cons for each of them. However, this article will not show you how to do them, but what the “good and bad” sides are about these techniques – they might be not “black or white” but can be both (like grey-shades).

[Read More…]

How Good (And Bad) Retouching Impacts Your Objective Age

by 2 Comments

A few days ago it started – suddenly these portraits sprouted everywhere like mushrooms after the rain, with pictures of people and a postit note on their forehead which states their age.

Behind this fed is a new “service” called how-Old, which claims to give an accurate guesstimate of your age based on a single photo. As a retoucher I often encounter this problem; a model still has a few more years to “steal” or actually to “give” to the industry. I had to test how many years I can take of a model with retouching and while this is a lighthearted post, the results were quite interesting.

[Read More…]

Timelapse Showing High End Retouching using Affinity Photo

by 4 Comments

Ever since Affinity Photo was announced we were wondering how it will match up to Photoshop. Dracorubio took it for a round and was ok with it, though not overly impressed. Now photographer Felix Barjou gave it a spin for a full retouch session.

The retouch is sped up to about two and half minutes and for me it was not trivial to see any major differences in the workflow vs. the predominant Photoshop alternative. Can you?

Felix tells us that “This software is pretty cool. The corrector tool is more powerful than Photoshop, but some small things are missing, like invert a layer mask, keyboard shortcuts for wacom users and such, but it is still a beta version”

As a PSA, Affinity Photo is still available as a free Beta, though we aren’t sure what ill happen to all the beta users once the software is completed.

Students Help To Restore Fire Damaged Photos For Parents Grieving The Loss Of 3 Children & Grandmother

by Leave a Comment


After a house fire swept through an Ohio home on December 26th, Ricky and Traci Harris were faced with the devastating loss of their three young boys and Ricky Harris’ mother. The boys, Kenyon, Broderick, and Braylon were sleeping over at their grandmother’s home so the 60 year old woman, Terry Harris, wouldn’t have to spend the night alone. At 4 am in the morning, the fire broke out, consuming the house. Along with the lives the tragic fire claimed, much of the house and personal belongings were also left destroyed.[Read More…]

College Humor Takes A Poke At Photoshop Timelapsing, Result Is…. Pizza

by 4 Comments

Here at DIYP we are not big advocates of using software to extremely enhancify body figure. College humor took a poke at the trend of showing extreme photoshop makeover timelapses and shows what it looks like to have the same beautifying timelapse, only shown in reverse.

[Photoshop Has Gone Too Far | College Humor][Read More…]

Unphotoshop – Barbie Model Photoshopped into Santa Claus

by 5 Comments

A few weeks back we shared an inconvenient clip showing how Photoshop is used to turn a beautiful looking model into a plastic barbie that is the current demand by advertisers. The movie has gone viral, receiving ricochets from all over the net.

Well, each coin has a flip side – ad agency Victors & Spoils took that video and flipped it over. V&S took the barbie looking model from the end of the video and used the very same tools to turn her into an charming, chubby Santa Claus.[Read More…]

Recent Posts