March 2016 Photoshop Magazine

T H E A D O B E® P H O T O S H O P

DYNAMIC RANGE

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“ H O W -T 0 ” M A G A Z I N E ›

Learn how to add depth and dimension to your portraits in Photoshop

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M a r c h

Order matters when it comes to adjustment layers and blend modes

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PROVING GROUND

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THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF

PHOTOSHOP WORLD 2016 THE CONFERENCE THAT WILL CARRY YOU AWAY TO NEW WORLDS OF CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, AND FUN

Visit our website at kelbyone.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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March 2016

FEATURE

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Photoshop World: The Conference Created for KelbyOne Members Every year as Photoshop World draws nearer, Scott Kelby gets more and more excited. In this feature article, he explains why he gets so excited and why attendees love this show so much that they keep coming back year after year. This 3-day educational conference is created for KelbyOne members, and if you’ve never attended one before, be sure to read Scott’s article to learn all the reasons why you shouldn’t miss it this year.

Kevin Newsome

Scott Kelby

Departments

How-To



From the Editor

006 020 DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS



Contributing Writers

009 028 DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

Light Bulb Brush Effect

Nesting Heads

About Photoshop User Magazine

010 048 BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP



KelbyOne Community

012 060 PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND



Exposed: Industry News

How to Smooth Skin Realistically

Layers, Part 2: Blend Modes & Adjustment Layers

016 064 PHOTOSHOP TIPS

Boost Your Productivity and Creativity

066 LIGHT IT

Film Noir: A Classic Style with a Modern Twist

104 FROM THE ADVICE DESK

Answers to Photoshop & gear-related questions

DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT Whenever you see this symbol at the end of an article, it means there are either downloadable practice files or additional content for KelbyOne members at http://kelbyone.com/magazine.

All lighting diagrams courtesy of Sylights

Click this symbol below to access the Table of Contents.

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KELBYONE.COM

Lightroom Magazine

075 LIGHTROOM WORKSHOP 080 UNDER THE LOUPE 086 MAXIMUM WORKFLOW 092 LIGHTROOM Q&A 094 LIGHTROOM TIPS & TRICKS Retouching Portraits

Fixing Family Photos in Lightroom

DYNAMIC RANGE

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Portraits with Depth & Dimension Manipulating the light, contrast, and sharpness in Photoshop can help you create portrait images with a three-dimensional look and feel, as if the subject is coming toward you from the canvas. Glyn Dewis shares all of his techniques for retouching portraits to achieve these incredible results. Glyn Dewis

Reviews

096 097 098 099 100

DSC Labs ChromaMatch Pro

Affordable Cyc Wall Systems Epson SureColor P400 Printer Phase One 100MP Digital Back VAIO Z Canvas Epson PictureMate PM-400 Personal Photo Lab Strata Design 3D CX 8.1 Photoshop Book Reviews

Scott Kelby

Imagenomic Portraiture

A FEW WORDS FROM

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SCOTT KELBY

From the Editor f rom photoshop world to member-only webcasts

It’s been about a month, so I wanted to update you on some of the cool stuff happening at KelbyOne, and in the magazine. Of course, the big news is that registration is now open for the 2016 Photoshop World Conference in Las Vegas, where you can meet and learn from the same KelbyOne online instructors. But, it’s different classes, it’s all live, and you’re right there in the middle of it. Thousands of KelbyOne members will come together for this event from all around the world. This conference was created for you, so you’ve gotta be there. More on that in a minute, because first I want to jump into some other cool stuff, starting with the KelbyOne app update. When we launched our new Web experience back in November, it created kind of an unexpected, well, I think “disaster” wouldn’t be too strong a word. While it didn’t affect all members, even if it affects two, that’s too many. The good news is the app’s completely fixed and running better and faster than ever, which is awesome (and long overdue). The next phase, updating the Android version, has already begun. In the meantime, we aired a live, members-only webcast to do two things: (1) teach people how to use the app (it’s incredibly easy), and (2) get direct member feedback on what they want to see in it, because now that it’s updated, we can start adding cool features again (you can see the webcast replay here). One thing we’re working on is including the magazine right in the app, making it really convenient to read. I’ll let you know when that feature goes live, so stay tuned. Also, I hope you’re enjoying the new platform we’re serving up the magazine in now. It’s a huge upgrade from what we were using. We can add all sorts of new and cool interactive features, like the interactive polls and quizzes you’ll find throughout this very issue. This is just the beginning, and an important step in making the digital version of Photoshop User magazine the very best it can be. My hat’s off to our Managing Editor, Chris Main, who worked tirelessly to find just the right fit of features, ease-of-use, and a platform that addressed what our members were asking for most (high-five, Chris!). I just alluded to another thing we’re focusing on this year, which are live, private members-only webcasts, where we bring you people and topics you won’t find anywhere else. We kicked this off with a special broadcast featuring two of Canon’s top tech gurus, Brent Ramsey and Rudy Winston, in a live Q&A about Canon’s just-released EOS-1DX Mark II. Brent and Rudy fielded questions on all sorts of topics, and they totally crushed it. We’re archiving these webcasts, so if you miss one, you can still catch the replay. I hope you’ll take advantage of them. One more thing I’m sure you’ll notice is some of the improvements we’ve made to the backend of our new site. In particular, I hope you’re digging the improved overall speed, where pages load faster, videos load faster and are smoother, and it’s just a much more enhanced experience overall. We’re working on lots of new things to make your membership more valuable and more useful, and to make you more productive and creative all without raising the cost. Not only are we glad you’re here with us, we’re working hard to make your experience even better, here in the magazine, and on the site. Lots of cool classes are coming up, as well as lots of great tutorials and articles here in the magazine, including our cover story on the

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2016 Photoshop World Conference in Las Vegas (starting on page 34). As a KelbyOne member, you get $100 off a full-conference pass.

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Plus, if you register now, you can save $100 on the early-bird special. So, you can get a full-conference pass, for the full three-days, for just $599 (if you’ve ever attended a three-day conference of any kind, in any industry, you know that’s an incredible steal)! We’ve also negotiated special room rates at Mandalay Bay (our host hotel, and where the conference is held). All the details are at Photoshopworld .com. So, come join us July 19–21. You’ll learn more in three days than you have in three years! All my best,

Scott Kelby KelbyOne President & CEO Editor & Publisher, Photoshop User

The official publication of KelbyOne MARCH 2016 • Volume 19 • Number 3

EDITORIAL:

Scott Kelby, Editor-in-Chief Chris Main, Managing Editor Kim Doty, Associate Editor

Contributing Writers

Ajna Adams • Steve Baczewski • Corey Barker • Peter Bauer Tom Bol • Pete Collins • Michael Corsentino • Glyn Dewis Seán Duggan • Daniel East • Sean McCormack • Colin Smith Lesa Snider • Rob Sylvan • Scott Valentine • Erik Vlietinck

GRAPHICS:

Jessica Maldonado, Art Director Margie Rosenstein, Senior Graphic Designer Angela Naymick, Graphic Designer

MARKETING:

Ajna Adams • Kleber Stephenson • Lindell Stover

WEB:

Brandon Nourse • Yojance Rabelo • Aaron Westgate

PUBLISHING:

Scott Kelby, Publisher Kalebra Kelby, Executive V.P. Jean A. Kendra, Business Manager

ADVERTISING:

Jeanne Jilleba, Advertising Coordinator 800-738-8513 ext. 152 Veronica (Ronni) O’Neil, Director of Circulation/Distribution 800-738-8513 ext. 235

HOW TO CONTACT KELBYONE:

U.S. Mail: 118 Douglas Road East • Oldsmar, FL 34677-2922 Voice: 813-433-5000 • Fax: 813-433-5015 Customer Service: [email protected] Letters to the Editor: [email protected] Letters to the Lightroom Editor: [email protected] Advice Desk: http://kelbyone.com/my-account/helpdesk

COLOPHON:

Photoshop User was produced using Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 and Adobe InDesign CC 2015. Roboto was used for headlines and subheads. Frutiger LT Std for text.

This seal indicates that all content provided herein is produced by KelbyOne, LLC and follows the most stringent standards for educational resources. KelbyOne is the premier source for instructional books, DVDs, online classes, and live seminars for creative professionals.

| fuel for creativity

All contents ©COPYRIGHT 2016 KelbyOne, LLC. All rights reserved. Any use of the contents of this publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Photoshop User is an independent journal, not affiliated in any way with Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, and Photoshop are registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners. Some of the views expressed by contributors may not be the representative views of the publisher. ISSN 2470-7031 (online)

PHOTOSHOP’S MOST WANTED

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Contributing Writers STEVE BACZEWSKI is a freelance writer, professional photographer, graphic designer, and con­sultant. He also teaches classes in traditional and digital fine arts photo­graphy. His company, Sore Tooth Productions, is based in Albany, California

COREY BARKER is an award-winning designer and illustrator. A featured instructor at the Photoshop World Conference and an Adobe MAX Master Instructor, he has produced numerous training titles for KelbyOne. Look for his upcoming The Photoshop for Designers Book.

PETER BAUER is an Adobe Certified Expert that does computer graphics consulting for a select group of corporate clients. His latest book is Photoshop CC for Dummies. He was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame in 2010.

TOM BOL is an editorial and commercial photographer specializing in adventure sports, portraits, and outdoor lifestyle photography. His images and stories are used worldwide. You can see more of his work at www.tombolphoto.com.

PETE COLLINS is an education and curriculum developer and website overseer for KelbyOne. He is one of the Photoshop Guys and co-hosts Photoshop User TV. With a fine arts background, Pete is well versed in photography, graphic design, and illustration.

MICHAEL CORSENTINO is an award-winning wedding and portrait photographer, Photoshop and Lightroom expert, author, columnist for Shutter Magazine and Resource Magazine, and speaker and international workshop leader. Learn more at www.michaelcorsentino.com.

GLYN DEWIS is a photographer, retoucher, trainer, and author based in Oxford, UK. His clients range from athletes to the BBC. An Adobe Influencer and Photoshop World Dream Team Instructor, he teaches around the world, including at his own series of workshops.

SEÁN DUGGAN

DANIEL EAST is an author, free­lance writer, presenter/trainer, and consultant with more than 20 years’ experience in photography, pro-audio, and marketing. Daniel is also founder and president of The Apple Groups Team support network for user groups.

SEAN McCORMACK is the author of Essential Development: 20 Great Techniques for Lightroom 5. Based in Galway, Ireland, he shoots subjects from musicians, models, and actors to landscapes and architecture. Learn more at http://lightroom-blog.com.

COLIN SMITH is an award-winning digital artist, photographer, and lecturer who has authored 18 books and has created a series of training videos. Colin is also the founder of the online resource PhotoshopCAFE.com and president of Software-Cinema.com.

LESA SNIDER is the author of Photoshop CC: The Missing Manual, Photos for Mac and iOS: The Missing Manual, several eBooks, and more than 40 video courses. She also writes a weekly column for Macworld. For more info, visit PhotoLesa.com.

ROB SYLVAN is the Lightroom Help Desk Specialist for KelbyOne, on staff at the Digital Photo Workshops, and the author of Lightroom 5: Streamlining Your Digital Photography Process. You can learn more at www.lightroomers.com.

SCOTT VALENTINE is an Adobe Community Professional and Photoshop author. His latest book is The Hidden Power of Adjustment Layers (Adobe Press). Keep up with him at scoxel.com.

ERIK VLIETINCK founded IT Enquirer in 1999 (http://it-enquirer.com). A J.D. by education, Erik has been a freelance technology editor for more than 20 years. He has written for Macworld, Computer Arts, Windows NT Magazine, and many others.

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is the co-author of Photoshop Masking & Compositing, Real World Digital Photography, and The Creative Digital Darkroom. He leads workshops on digital photography, Photoshop, and Lightroom (SeanDuggan.com).

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ABOUT PHOTOSHOP USER

Photo & Compositing: DomQuichotte; Stock Images: Fotolia

Photoshop User Magazine Photoshop User magazine is the official publication of KelbyOne. As a KelbyOne member, you automatically receive Photoshop User ten times a year. Each issue features in-depth Photoshop, Lightroom, and photo­ graphy tutorials written by the most talented designers, photographers, and leading authors in the industry. About the Cover: DomQuichotte won a Photoshop World 2014 Guru Award with this amazing image in the Photo Montage category.

About KelbyOne KELBYONE

is the world’s leading resource for Adobe® Photoshop®, Lightroom®, and photography training, news, and education. Founded in 1998 as the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), KelbyOne has evolved from NAPP and KelbyTraining to create a singular hub for creative people to learn, grow, and inspire. From photographers to graphic designers, beginners to professionals, KelbyOne is open to everyone. There’s no faster, easier, and more affordable way to get really good at Photoshop and photography. You can join for only $19.99 per month or $199 U.S. for a full year of training. To learn more, visit www.kelbyone.com.

Member Benefits PHOTOSHOP USER MAGAZINE

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Ten issues of the best Photoshop tutorial-based magazine in the industry.

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MEMBERS-ONLY WEBSITE

MEMBER DISCOUNTS

Save anywhere from 2–3 times your membership cost by using our many industry-related discounts.

TECH SUPPORT

Fast, friendly Photoshop, Lightroom, and photo gear help; equipment advice; and more from certified experts.

MEMBER COMMUNITY

KelbyOne members range from beginners to pros and love to lend each other a hand. Together, we have built the friendliest, most knowledgeable Photoshop and photography community on the Web.

NEWS & REVIEWS

Unbiased coverage on the latest equipment, plug-ins, and programs in the marketplace.

Our extensive website features time- and money-saving content.

ONLINE CLASSES & EDUCATION

Thousands of Photoshop and photography tutorials, full online classes, and quick-tip videos.

MONTLY E-NEWSLETTER

The KelbyOne Newsletter is your monthly connection to everything KelbyOne. It’s produced exclusively for members to keep you informed of everything new in the industry and at KelbyOne headquarters.

FIND KELBYONE MEMBERSHIP DETAILS AT kelbyone.com or call 800-201-7323 Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST.

KelbyOne Community › ›

Inspiration, information, and member musings to fuel your creative think tank By Ajna Adams

Peter Hurley in the House Ajna Adams

We were beyond thrilled when Peter Hurley, author of The Headshot, stopped by our headquarters on February 18 to guest-host our weekly photography show, The Grid, alongside Scott Kelby. Before The Grid aired, we took the opportunity to host a fun social-media contest with Peter as our judge. We asked our community to submit their favorite headshot or profile pics, and the engagement was spectacular! After receiving hundreds of submissions across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, we sat down with Peter and our Periscope community for a live judging session that was both fun and educational. While critiquing your submissions, Peter gave us some great tips on how to create amazing headshots. During our live broadcast of The Grid, Scott announced the winners, hand-selected by Peter himself, and each one received a signed copy of The Headshot. Congratulations to our winners: Mike Carrigan, Mads Peter Iversen, Travis Putman, Denis Lomme, and Jeff Rease! Check out some of their images on the next two pages, and then be sure to join us on The Grid each Wednesday, at 4 p.m. EST.

Make Your Magazine Even Better! Click on the Member Input logo (below) to vote on what topics you’d like to see covered in future issues of Photoshop User, plus take our quiz on page 101 to test what you learned in this issue!

Happy Birthday, Ansel!

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On February 20, we took to Facebook to honor legendary photographer Ansel Adams with a short-and-sweet happy birthday message that really resonated with our community. With more than 400 Shares and 1,300+ Likes later, all organic, we heard how important this iconic photographer is to the photography community as a whole and to you as individuals. We heard stories that both inspired and motivated us to keep doing what we love. “I was lucky enough to take his class on the zone method in Yosemite in ’73,” Michael Long shared. Paul Bardotz wrote, “When learning about photography, I read every book he had published. Love learning!”

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Jeremy Cowart’s I’m Possible Video Goes Viral with Nearly 2 Million Views He’s one of the most influential photographers in the world, and also one of our instructors! In a video posted to Facebook on February 16, Jeremy Cowart shares his story. “Here it is…my past, present and future,” he writes. “To every single human in the world who thinks they can’t do something…this one is for you.” “Growing up, I was never smart,” he says in the video.” I couldn’t pay attention for more than 3 minutes. I was a terrible listener, and I made bad grades. I was quiet, shy, and really just average. I remember always telling my mom and my dad, ‘I can’t do this.’ Everything I did ended with those words. That’s when my dad started reprogramming my brain….” Watch the video here and be sure to check out Jeremy’s KelbyOne courses!

KelbyOne Headshot Contest

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PHOTOGRAPHER: TRAVIS PUTMAN | MODEL: VINCENT ALFONZO JAMAL

KelbyOne Headshot Contest PHOTOGRAPHER: DENIS LOMME | MODEL: ISABELLE LOMME

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KelbyOne Headshot Contest PHOTOGRAPHER: JEFFREY RE ASE | MODEL: WANNETTA CORDER

KelbyOne Headshot Contest PHOTOGRAPHER: MADS PETER IVERSEN | MODEL: JESPER BRANDT

KelbyOne Community Who’s Who in the KelbyOne Community

How and when were you introduced to KelbyOne? I’ve been into photography since I was 14 and my parents got me a Nikon F40 for my birthday. Back in the day, it was difficult to practice because you never knew what had happened until the prints came back, and by then it was often too late to remember what you’d done right and wrong. With the evolution of the digital age I stepped up with a Sony a200 and was using Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography Books. In the UK, there isn’t much of a KelbyOne presence, but I stumbled on it a few years ago and it’s such a wealth of inspiration and information that I maintain its incredible worth and tell my photog friends about it all the time. How has KelbyOne helped you grow in your creative endeavors? My main focus in photography is travel, but I run Hybrid Photography in partnership with my best friend Peter Treadway (Hybrid Peter). Together, we’re always striving to up our portrait game, and KelbyOne is a massive source of knowledge in that respect. You’re literally learning from the best in the business—that makes it an invaluable resource. Tell us about a favorite course that you’ve watched recently. I’m a big fan of any of Scott’s courses. He has such an incredible bank of knowledge, but for its sheer fun factor I have to say

his bodybuilder classes, which translate to weddings. There are just too many to choose a favorite! What are you most proud of, personally and professionally? What an open question. I have to say that on a personal level, mostly because I’m such a klutz, I’m proud of keeping my photography business running for nearly 5 years now. Go me! (And Peter, obviously.) On a professional level, I’m lucky enough to have gotten through to the final round of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year and of the Times Travel Photographer of the Year recently. It’s no win, but it’s a win for me! I’m always game for a challenge, and this just sets a bar for me to go forward and beat myself and realize some dreams. So, you’re going to Photoshop World this year. What do you hope to gain from the conference? I’ve never been; it just kept being one of those things on the bucket list, until this year. Peter and I are seriously looking forward to it, and of course I’ve planned a whole photography mission around it whereby I’ll be flying into Vancouver and heading down the west coast through Seattle, San Francisco, and driving into Vegas to hit the show before a hop over to New York City to unwind until I head back home. I can’t wait to meet a whole bunch of people; I think that’s what I’m looking forward to the most. Second to that, you can watch a class online and learn a lot, but there’s no substitute for being there in front of a teacher telling it like it is. What would we be surprised to know about you? Tough one. How about this? When I’m not behind the lens (or in front of a Mac), I spend time developing kids into tomorrow’s adults. I’m a Royal Air Force Air Cadets Sergeant. I’m the training officer at a Squadron in Hampstead, London, where I teach a variety of skills and lessons, including History of Flight, Principles of Flight, Pilot Navigation, and First Aid. I’m a range officer so I take them shooting with full-bore small arms. How about that? It’s my inner geek really. Who are your greatest professional inspirations? To be nonspecific, anyone who shoots regularly for the likes of Lonely Planet. That’s where I want to be, and that’s where I often seek inspiration. To be a bit of a suck up, it’s Scott. The man is a legend, let’s be honest. To be in a place where you can profit from doing what you love and helping others is inspirational, and if I was there, I’d be a very happy man.

Kaylee Greer! The dog portraits she gets are stunning. Having

To see more of Dave’s work, visit Facebook.com/hybrid.dave

said that, I’m a big Glyn Dewis fan and I’ve learned a lot from

and hybriddave.com. ■

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Dave Williams

Dave Williams hides behind the alias “Hybrid Dave.” He’s a travel and wedding photographer based in London. His professional affiliations are with the Guild of Photographers, the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers, the Society of International Travel and Tourism Photographers, and he’s a proud contributor for Getty Images. He loves a photographic challenge, and to say that he’s a travel photographer is a clear sign that he shoots a huge range of styles.

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Exp sed: Industry News › ›

The latest news about photography gear, software, and services By Chris Main

The New EOS 80D and other Products from Canon

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Canon U.S.A., Inc., recently announced the new Canon EOS 80D Digital SLR. Features in the 80D include: a new 45-point all cross-type AF system; an intelligent Viewfinder with approximately 100% viewfinder coverage; a newly developed 24.2-megapixel (APS-C) CMOS sensor; a DIGIC 6 image processor; improved Dual Pixel CMOS AF for smooth, fast, and accurate autofocus with video and stills; built-in Wi-Fi and NFC; 1080/60p full HD video; and a vari-angle touch screen 3.0" Clear View LCD II monitor that enables flexible positioning and clear viewing. Canon also announced a new lens, the EF-S 18–35mm f/3.5–5.6 IS USM, which will serve as a kit lens for the new 80D. This the first Canon lens equipped with Nano USM, a new type of focusing motor that combines the benefits of a ring USM (ultrasonic motor) for high-speed AF during still

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photo shooting and lead-screw type STM (stepping motor) for smooth and quiet movie AF, and a faster driving speed of the focusing lens than the previous model. To make it even easier to shoot movies with a Canon DSLR or Cinema EOS cameras, Canon also introduced the Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E1. Specifically constructed to be compatible with the new Canon 18–135mm lens, the PZ-E1 is the world’s first detachable zoom adapter that provides silent and smooth zoom and can be adjusted incrementally to 10 different levels of zoom speed. Additionally, the PZ-E1 can be controlled remotely using the Canon Camera Connect app.

Canon also announced the Canon Directional Stereo Microphone DM-E1. This is the first Canon-branded external microphone for the EOS system. The new microphone can be rotated up and down from 90–120°. And finally, Canon also launched two new compact cameras: the PowerShot G7 X Mark II and the PowerShot SX720 HS. Just as we were wrapping up this issue, Canon also announced the EOS Rebel T6, their newest entry-level DSLR. The T6 features an 18-megapixel CMOS (APS-C) image sensor, a DIGIC 4+ image processor, an ISO range of 100–6400 (expandable to H: 12800), a 9-point AF system (including one

center cross-type AF point) and AI Servo AF for impressive and accurate results, and built-in Wi-Fi and NFC. For information on each of these new products from Canon, click on the blue product names above or visit www.usa.canon.com.

Topaz Announces DeNoise 6

Topaz Labs recently announced the availability of DeNoise 6, their application for eliminating noise in digital images. The latest version can now run as a standalone application, but it still works as a plug-in for both Photoshop and Lightroom. It includes dozens of new camera-specific presets based on various camera profiles, with multiple ISO presets for each camera. These presets can help remove noise in just one click. DeNoise 6 now also supports High-DPI monitors, and batch processing is available in the standalone edition. For more information, click on the blue product name above or visit www.topazlabs.com.

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e x p o s e d: i n d u st ry n e w s

Sigma Introduces New Cameras, Lenses, and Off-Camera Flash

In February, Sigma announced two new mirrorless cameras, two new lenses, and a new off-camera flash. Starting with the two cameras, the new Sigma sd Quattro features an APS-C sized Foveon sensor, while the Sigma sd Quattro H has a larger APS-H sized sensor for even better image quality. Both cameras are designed to take full advantage of all Sigma Global Vision lenses, and they use a two-mode autofocus detection system that combines Phase Detection for focus speed and Contrast Detection for focus accuracy. The two new APS-C format lenses include the Sigma 50–100mm F1.8 DC HSM Art Lens and the Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens. The 50–100mm is based on the same engineering as the Sigma 18–35mm F1.8 DC HSM Art Lens but has a new Hyper Sonic Motor that’s 30% slimmer and provides fast and accurate AF. According to Sigma, the new 30mm Contemporary Lens is the first affordable f/1.4 lens for the mirrorless market and is a versatile enough for both photo and video applications. The 50–100mm lens will be available in Canon, Nikon, and Sigma mounts, while the 30mm will be available in Sony E-Mount and Micro Four Thirds mount. And finally, the new Sigma EF-630 Electronic Flash is a multifunctional offcamera flash designed to work with current DSLR cameras. It features TTL exposure control, high-speed sync, wireless flash functions, and auto-zoom, which adjusts for focal lengths of 24–200mm. For more information on each of these new products from Sigma, click on the blue product names above or visit www.sigmaphoto.com.

Tamron has launched a new accessory that will allow users to update the firmware and customize setups for selected Tamron lenses. Up until now, firmware updates for Tamron lenses could only be performed at a Tamron Customer Service Center. Now you can attach the new TAP-in Console to a compatible Tamron lens and then run the Tamron TAP-in Utility software on a Mac or PC connected to the Internet. In addition, you can customize functions such as focus and VC (vibration compensation). The two new lenses include the SP 85mm F/1.8 Di VC USD and the SP 90mm F/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 VC USD. According to Tamron, the 85mm is the first f/1.8 lens with VC for full-frame cameras. It uses LD (Low Dispersion) and XLD (Extra Low Dispersion) glass elements to minimize color fringing and to capture sharp images with high color fidelity. The Nikon mount will now employ an electromagnetic diaphragm system, which has been standard in Canon mounts. The 90mm lens is built on the optical performance of Tamron’s previous 90mm Macro. Image stabilization has been improved by adding XY-Shift compensation to the VC functionality, and advancements in the USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) control software have increased AF speed and accuracy. Both of the new lenses will be compatible with the TAP-in Console. For more information, click on the blue product names above or visit www.tamron-usa.com. ■

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Two New SP Lenses from Tamron and the new TAP-in Console

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HOW TO › ›

Down &Dirty Tricks

light bulb brush effect BY COREY BARKER

I’ve seen this effect done a number of different ways in Photoshop. In this tutorial, we’ll re-create the effect using brushes and layer styles. I like to do it this way because brushes and styles can be saved so you can use them over and over again, plus it’s easy to modify them for numerous configurations. And, it just looks cool!

©Adobe Stock/Beboy

› › DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS

Step One Step Two

Step One: Start by opening the image of the light bulb that’s part of the exercise download. This image has good detail in the round area of the bulb, which will make for a good brush. [KelbyOne members may download the files used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. All files are for personal use only.]

Step Two: First, remove the color in the image by using the Gradient Map method: Press D to set the default colors, then go under the Image menu to Adjustments and choose Gradient Map. The black to white gradient should automatically be selected, so just click OK.

Step Three: Press Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I) to invert the image

Step Three

to a negative. Then, choose the Elliptical Marquee tool (nested under the Rectangular Marquee tool [M] in the Toolbox). Hold down Option-Shift (PC: Alt-Shift), click in the center of the bulb, and drag out a circular selection that includes just the round area of the bulb. Once the selection is made, press Shift-Command-I (PC: Shift-Ctrl-I) to inverse the selection. Press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace) to fill the selected area with white, and then press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect.

Step Four: Press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) to open the Levels dia-

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log. Push both the white and midtone sliders to the left quite a bit to make the background around the bulb pure white and to boost the contrast in the bulb. Click OK. Finally, we used the Eraser tool (E) set to Brush in the Options Bar to remove some of the stem near the bottom right of the bulb.

Step Four

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DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS › ›

Step Five: Go under the Edit menu and choose Define Brush Preset. Give the new brush a name when prompted and click OK.

Step Five ©Adobe Stock/Zbyszek Nowak

Step Six: Create a new document (File>New) that’s 2500x1000 pixels at 300 ppi. Then, open the wood texture file from the exercise download. This will be the base texture for the final effect. Switch to the Move tool (V) and click-and-drag this image over to the new document. Press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) for Free Transform, scale it to fit in the canvas area, and press Enter to commit the transformation. Step Six

Step Seven: Press D to set the Foreground color to black, select the Type tool (T) in the Toolbox, and click on the canvas to set a text layer. Type whatever word you want to dress in lights. Here, we just typed, well, “LIGHTS.” Make sure you use a bold font to contain the bulbs; we’re using a font called Swiss Black Extended.

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Step Seven

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Step Eight: Click on the wood texture layer in the Layers panel to make it active, and make a duplicate of it by pressing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J). Place this duplicate layer above the text layer in the Layers panel. Press Option-Command-G (PC: Alt-Ctrl-G) to clip the wood texture layer inside the text layer. Activate Free Transform and then press Command-0 (PC: Ctrl-0) to expand the window so you can see the entire bounding box. Hold down Shift and click-and-drag outside the bounding box to rotate the wood texture 90° inside the text. Then, hold down Option (PC: Alt), grab one of the side control points, and scale the texture out horizontally to fill the text. Press Enter when done.

Step Eight

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Step Nine: Now we’ll use a couple of layer styles to add more dimension to this text. Click on the type layer in the Layers panel to make it active, then click the Add a Layer Style icon (ƒx) at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Bevel & Emboss. Use the settings shown here to get a nice sharp edge. To change the Gloss Contour, click on the down-facing arrow next to the preview thumbnail and choose the Cone – Inverted preset from the Contour Picker. Don’t click OK yet.

Step Ten: Next, activate Drop Shadow in the list of Styles on the left. The settings shown here work well on the wood texture. Notice the color we chose for the shadow is a dark burgundy color we sampled from the wood itself. (Note: To sample a color from the wood, click on the color swatch to the right of the Blend Mode drop-down menu, click on a color in the image that you want to use, then click OK to close the Color Picker.) Click OK to close the Layer Style dialog. Finally, drop the Opacity of the clipped wood layer to 50%.

Step Nine

Step Eleven: Select the Brush tool (B) in the Toolbox, click on the brush preview thumbnail in the Options Bar, and locate the bulb brush that we created at the beginning of this tutorial; it should be at the very bottom of the Brush Preset Picker. Open the Brush panel (Window>Brush), and in the Brush Tip Shape section, set the brush Size to around 45 px and then set the Spacing to around 160%.

Step Ten

Step Twelve: Activate Shape Dynamics on the left side of the Brush panel, set the Size Jitter to 3% and the Angle Jitter to 50%. The preview at the bottom of the Brush panel will give you a good idea of how the brush will work.

Step Thirteen: Click on the Create a New Layer icon at the Step Eleven

Step Twelve

Step Fourteen: Next, activate Drop Shadow. We’ll use this to enhance the glow. Choose another yellow color that has a bit more orange in it. Then use the other settings shown here. Be sure to experiment with sizes and even Blend Modes to get different looks. Now, click OK to close the dialog.

Step Fourteen Step Thirteen

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bottom of the Layers panel to create a new layer at the top of the layer stack. Go into the Add a Layer Style menu at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Outer Glow. Set the color to a bright yellow and then use the other settings shown here. Don’t click OK yet.

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DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS › ›

Step Fifteen

Step Sixteen

Step Seventeen

Step Fifteen: Press D then X to set the Foreground color to white, and then just paint the bulbs in the area of the letters as you see here. The layer style will give the effect of the bulbs emitting light. Again, you can adjust the intensity of the layer styles at any time by simply double-clicking on their names in the Layers panel. Step Sixteen: Once you have the lights done, load the flare brush that’s also provided in the download files, or you can use your own custom brush. To load the brush, simply double-click the Flare Brush.abr file in the Finder (PC: Windows Explorer). Once loaded, you’ll find it at the bottom of the Brush Preset Picker. Just dab the flares on a few random bulbs on the same layer. This will add a little variance to the lights.

Step Eighteen

Step Seventeen: Click on the original background wood layer in the Layers panel to make it active, and press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) to open the Levels dialog. Push the highlight Output Levels slider near the bottom to the left to darken the overall texture, and click OK.

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Step Eighteen: Next, add a Gradient Overlay layer style to enhance the lighting. Click on the Gradient preview; select the Black, White preset; click OK to close the Gradient Editor; check on the Reverse box; and set the Style drop-down menu to Reflected. You can use the other settings shown here or experiment to get different looks. Click-and-drag directly in the document to position the brightest part of the gradient over the letters. Click OK when done. Step Nineteen: Create a new blank layer and place it between the clipped wood layer and the bulb layer. Set the layer blend mode near the top left of the Layers panel to Hard Light and the Opacity to 75%. Next, grab the Gradient tool (G) in the Toolbox. In the Options Bar, click the Radial Gradient icon, then click on the gradient preview thumbnail, choose the Foreground to Transparent preset, and click OK to close the Gradient Editor. Click on the Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the Toolbox, choose an orange color like the one shown here, and click OK.

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Step Nineteen

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Step Twenty ©Adobe Stock/Vidady

Step Twenty: Now just draw a few gradients starting in the bright areas where you added the flares and dragging out a little ways. This puts an enhanced glow around the text as if it’s coming from the bulbs. Step Twenty-One: At this point you could call the effect done, but why stop here? Here we have an image of sparks (in the download files) that would look cool if they were added to the bulbs as if there were some kind of power overload. Since the sparks are on a black background, they’ll be easy to extract. Just open the Channels panel (Window>Channels) and Commandclick (PC: Ctrl-click) on the Red channel thumbnail to load the bright areas as a selection. Then, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the selected area to a new layer. Step Twenty-Two: Go under the Layer menu to Matting and choose Remove Black Matte to clear the dark edge around the sparks.

Step Twenty-One

Step Twenty-Three: Using the Move tool (V) click-and-drag the sparks into the bulb image. Then, use Free Transform to scale and rotate them around one of the bulbs as you see here. Now you have an old wood lighted sign with a bad short. ■

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Step Twenty-Two

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Final

HOW TO › ›

Down &Dirty Tricks

nesting heads BY PETE COLLINS

This type of imagery has been around for a while and it always reminds me of Monty Python. It’s a unique look that conveys complexity, depth, mystery, or just being mental. Some folks may find it a bit creepy; I find it a lot of fun.

› › DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS

©Adobe Stock/noel moore

Step One: This technique can be used with just about anyone’s head, but if you want to make your job easier, use a head that’s a bit “follicly” challenged. This will make selecting and nesting easier. This image was found on Adobe Stock. [KelbyOne members may download the file used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. All files are for personal use only.]

Step Two: First, we need to select the head. Whether you have a head with hair or not, one of the best tools to use for this is the Quick Selection tool (W). Click-and-drag your cursor around the inside edge of the head and it should do a pretty good job of making a selection. Hair will require a little more patience and maybe you’ll need to hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key to subtract any areas that you accidentally selected.

Step Two

Step Three: Once you have the head selected, and before you do anything else, go up to the Options Bar and click on the Refine Edge button. The Refine Edge dialog will open and you’ll probably have an image that looks something like this. You can change the look of the background in the View drop-down menu. I find that when working with lighter images, a black background shows up the best, so choose On Black (B).

Step Three

Step Four: You’ll see the selection is pretty good but a little jagged in places. Check on the Smart Radius box and drag the Radius slider to around 2.7 px. Now, use the Refine Radius tool (E) to paint around the edge of the head to help refine the selection. You may also want to drag the Smooth slider a bit to help smooth out any bumps. Set the Output To drop-down menu near the bottom to Selection, and Click OK to close the Refine Edge dialog. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy just the

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selected head onto its own layer.

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Step Four

DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS › ›

Step Five: Now grab the Elliptical Marquee tool (nested under the Rectangular Marquee tool [M] in the Toolbox) and drag across the forehead where you would like to make the cut. This will give you a clean cut, so if you want a more organic look, you could freehand it with the Lasso tool (L). The ellipse you drag out will probably be too small to cover the entire top section of the head, so hold the Shift key and drag out a second ellipse to include everything above the cutline. Command-X (PC: Ctrl-X) will now cut off that part of the head, and Command-V (PC: Ctrl-V) will paste the cut section on a new layer.

Step Five

Step Six: You’ll want to use the cutoff section as the back area of the head. To better see what you’re doing, click the Eye icon next to the original Background layer to hide it, click the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, drag this new layer above the Background layer, press D then X to set the Foreground color to white, and then press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the layer with the Foreground color. Now, simply drag that cutout (or skull) layer below the head layer in the Layers panel, press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) for Free Transform, Right-click inside the bounding box, and choose Rotate 180°. You’ll want to rotate it instead of flipping so that the shadowing matches up (the light from the right causes shadows on the left side of the face and vice versa for the inside of the › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › m a r c h 2 0 1 6

head). Now drag the skull layer into place so that it matches the

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edges of the front scalp. Press Enter to commit the transformation.

Step Six

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Step Seven: Because the skull section is the same lightness as the rest of the head, it will look more believable if you darken it using a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer. Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel (it looks like a flat yin-yang symbol), and you’ll have a list of adjustments. Choose Brightness/Contrast and then click the bottom icon in the Properties panel that looks like a square with a 90° arrow. This will attach the adjustment to the layer that’s directly below so it doesn’t affect the whole document. Now drag the Brightness slider to the left to darken the inside of the head. Press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to merge the adjustment layer with the skull layer. Once you’re done, click on the head layer to make it active, Shift-click the skull layer to select both layers, and then click the Link Layers icon (chain) at the bottom of the Layers panel to link them together so they will move as one.

Step Seven

Step Eight: Using Free Transform, resize and position the head near the bottom of the image. Make sure that both layers are still selected and then press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) three times to make three more copies of the head and skull. In the Layers panel, select the second set of copies from the top, and use the Move tool (V) to drag the head and skull straight up. Using Free Transform, hold Shift-Option (PC: Shift-Alt) and transform this second head so it looks like it will fit inside the bottom head. Now, work your way down the Layers panel and do the same for the third and fourth group. You’ll now have all of the heads stacked, but

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they won’t look like they’re nesting inside one another.

Step Eight

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DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS › ›

Step Nine: Once all four sets of heads are in place, click through the layers in the Layers panel, and click the Link Layers icon for each linked layer to unlink the heads from the skulls. Drag each skull layer down below all the head layers in the stack of layers so they appear behind the heads. Now grab the Brush tool (B), set it to a soft round brush, press D to set it to black, and set the Opacity to 20% in the Options Bar. Create a new layer below each of the head layers, except for the layer that contains the smallest head at the very top. On each blank layer, paint so it looks like the head in front is casting a shadow on the head nested inside it. Do that for each head so they look like they’re interact­ing with each other. When you’re done, the layers should look something like this. Step Nine

©Fotolia/csp_Alkestida

Step Ten: Now you’ll want to add a background that fits with what you’re trying to convey. Since this image is pretty surreal, we’ll give a little nod to Salvador Dali with this desert image. The sign was taken out in the final image. You can use any image

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you’d like for the background.

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Step Ten

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Step Eleven: Once we had this background in place, the heads seemed to be a little too blue. So, we selected all the layers that made up the nested heads and pressed Command-G (PC: Ctrl-G) to place them into a single layer group. From the adjustment layer icon menu, we chose Photo Filter. The default Warming filter did just fine after adjusting the Density to around 18%. This affected the entire scene, so we clicked on the square with the 90° arrow to clip the adjustment to only the layer group. And there you have it!

Step Eleven

Once you have this simple technique down, you can add more stuff like plants, tentacles, or anything you can think of coming out of the top head—or even all of the heads. This can be especially fun when you find a picture of that girl in high school who broke your heart and you create your own totem of her that will

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make you feel just a little bit better. Enjoy! ■

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OKAY, DRUMROLL PLEASE (WAIT FOR IT, WAIT FOR IT)—the 2016 Photoshop World Conference (in Las Vegas, July 19–21, 2016, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino) is on! And, official registration is now open! That’s right, we’re back in Vegas, baby! Awwwww, yeah! Now that I have that out of my system, welcome to this quick look at Photoshop World. Since we have so many new KelbyOne members out there (whoo-hoo!), I wanted to put this together so you’d know what it’s all about it, and most importantly, that you’re invited! Photoshop World is the world’s largest Photoshop training event (but it’s more than just Photoshop) and members come from all over the world to learn from an extraordinary roster of instructors (but

I guess if there’s any one thing I’d want all of you awesome new members to know it’s this: this is your conference. It was created for KelbyOne members to have a place to come together once a year to learn all the latest stuff; make new friends and connections; meet the instructors; get inspired, faster, better, and more efficient; and just have the best time ever doing it all. If you’re a KelbyOne member, we really want you to be there—we built this for you.

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it’s also way more than just education). Everybody’s here—from beginners to seasoned pros, from students to educators, from amateurs to wizards—and we all come together to share, connect, and engage.

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LAS VEGAS

PHOTOSHOP WORLD

CONFERENCE 2016

WHO COMES TO PHOTOSHOP WORLD? Photoshop users, photographers, graphic designers, social media marketing folks, and Lightroom fanatics are all there. It’s creative professionals, soccer moms, artists, educators and students, hobbyists, creative directors, bloggers, video creators, wedding photographers, and folks who use Adobe’s amazing tools to create, excite, inspire, and communicate. It’s beginners, intermediate-level users, and advanced users. It’s ad agencies, print shops, and mom-and-pop shops. It’s tattoo artists, brain surgeons, painters, and pilots. It’s a bunch of really cool, fun, creative people—like you.

REALLY QUICK, HERE ARE THE NUTS & BOLTS I’ll keep this short, because this is just the nuts-and-bolts stuff you’ll need to know: We have more than 80 class sessions over three days (well, you can come a day early and take some in-depth workshops, but I wasn’t counting those). To make it easy, we put them into tracks, like the Photoshop track, the Creative Cloud track, the Lightroom track, the Lighting track and stuff like that. We’re even working › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › m a r c h 2 0 1 6

with Adobe (the official Photoshop World sponsor) to create an entire 3-day track dedicated to learning

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Adobe’s new mobile apps, such as Photoshop Fix, Photoshop Sketch, Adobe Comp, Adobe Capture, and Photoshop Mix, among others. You’ll find the full schedule on the Photoshopworld.com site. One more thing about the sessions that I think is particularly cool is that you create your own custom training experience. We don’t make you register for your sessions in advance—you can attend any class, or any track, at any time, and change classes whenever you like. You just show up at the class you want to take so you can focus on exactly the topics that interest you most.

OKAY, HERE’S MORE OF A PLAY-BY-PLAY OF THE EVENT The conference kicks off with a really exciting, high-energy opening keynote, and each year we pick a fun theme to build our “look and feel” around. Our themes have run the gamut from Top Gun to Star Trek, from auto racing to rock n’ roll, and there are always lots of laughs and surprises. We do this to set the tone for the entire conference. Yes, we’re here to learn, and we’re all going to learn so much our heads will hurt, but this opening keynote lets you know that we’re going to have a lot of fun doing it. Of course, when Adobe takes the stage, it gets really interesting because they often use this opening keynote to give us a sneak peek at new technology, new software, and sometimes they even launch new products. So, it’s a really fun way to kick off the conference (and you don’t want to miss it).

THEN WE’RE OFF TO CLASSES After the keynote, it’s time to head to class. We have a free downloadable app for your smartphones that makes picking your classes easy (available soon). It has the full conference schedule, as well as lots of info on times and places for events, so you’ll know right where to go (luckily, the classes are all in the same area this year). Also, we have these giant 8’ high boards with the full class schedule, if you want to go “old school.” The class sessions are 1 hour each (that keeps your head from exploding with too much info), and we take a 30-minute break in between sessions.

Imagine getting your portfolio reviewed by some of the industry’s best-known names. They’re there to help you tweak your presentation, advance your career, and help you stand out from the crowd (and this is one thing we do year after year because our attendees have told us this was a life-changing, career-changing experience).

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WE OFFER ONE-ON-ONE PORTFOLIO REVIEWS

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LAS VEGAS

PHOTOSHOP WORLD

CONFERENCE 2016

WHAT TO DO DURING THE BREAKS? CHECK OUT COOL NEW GEAR! Just outside the classrooms we have our Partner Pavilion, where you can meet the developers and companies that make everything from plug-ins to printers to cameras and more. Lots of exhibits from the best-known names in the business, and best of all, Adobe is there, so you can meet the folks that make it all happen and talk directly with Adobe’s own Photoshop team. There’s lots to see and do here, and since we add a few breaks during the day (including an extended lunch break), you can meet up with the exhibitors and check out all their latest stuff. Plus, this year, they’ll be right outside the classrooms so there’s no long walk to an expo hall (and everything that entails). You’ll dig it.

WE WORK HARD; WE PLAY HARD We know that if you’re having fun, you’ll learn more, you’ll get more engaged, and you’ll be more open to new ideas and learning new things, so we put a lot of emphasis on having fun and meeting new people. We all need “Photoshop friends,” so we have a bunch of different events planned that get people together in a casual and fun atmosphere for networking and just recharging our brains after being in classes all day. We have after-hours events, parties, get-togethers—we do lots of › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › m a r c h 2 0 1 6

things, so you don’t wind up at the blackjack table. (Wait! Who said that?)

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One of my favorite events is one we’ve been doing for years—it’s called Dinner with a Stranger, and it’s about getting people who come to Photoshop World by themselves to meet up with other people just like them over dinner. Here’s how it works: We’ve picked eight yummy restaurants. You sign up for the type of dinner you’d like (Italian, Chinese, burgers, etc.), and then get a red button that says, “I’m a Stranger.” You head to the restaurant and look for other people wearing the “I’m a Stranger” button. You then all get one big table, share a meal, some stories, a few laughs and whammo!—it’s the first night of the conference, and you’ve already met like 11 new people.

MIDNIGHT MADNESS

This has been a tradition at Photoshop World for about 16 years and our attendees love it, because this is where we let our hair down, play a bunch of silly games, give away a bunch of cool prizes, and well, you just have to experience it for yourself (though, seating is limited, and you have to get a special free ticket in advance). The first few years we did it, it literally started at midnight. Then, over the years, we moved it back to 11 p.m. Now, it starts at 10 p.m. If this keeps up, soon we’ll be starting at 5:30 p.m., and we’ll call it “Early Bird Dinner Madness.” Anyway, there’s lots of other fun stuff, all throughout the conference, from our famous Meet Up the night before the conference at the Eyecandy Sound Lounge to our Evening Inspiration session with Gregory Heisler (it’s going to be a very special night) to our attendee party that’s always loads of fun.

HOW ‘BOUT A PUB CRAWL?

Okay, let’s do it! It’s new this year, and the plan is to go to some of the best bars in Mandalay Bay and the Shops at Mandalay Bay (yes, it has its very own mall), and you’re invited to come along, have a fine lager, and meet some new people.

LAS VEGAS

PHOTOSHOP WORLD

CONFERENCE 2016

CONNECTING WITH INSTRUCTORS One of the things that we hear again and again from our past attendees is that they’re amazed at the access they have to the instructors, and how helpful, gracious, and just plain nice they are. I really take that as a compliment because my job at Photoshop World (besides teaching sessions) is to choose the instructor roster each year. I work really hard to ensure that not only are the instructors at Photoshop World the very best in the industry, but I choose those who are in it for the right reasons—instructors who really care about the success of their students and who are genuinely there to help and make a difference. Our instructors make themselves very available the entire conference, and you’ll see them at the parties and after-hour events, or just chatting with attendees in the halls. It’s really refreshing, fun, and it’s something that definitely helps make Photoshop World something very special.

IT’S TIME TO GET YOUR WORK RECOGNIZED We wrap up the conference with the presentation of the prestigious Photoshop World Guru Awards. › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › m a r c h 2 0 1 6

This competition is open to any full-conference attendee (in fact, it’s only open to our attendees—

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only people at the conference can enter), and you can submit images in all sorts of categories from retouching to photography, from illustration to compositing, among others. Our panel of judges picks the winners who then come onstage to accept their Guru Award trophy. So many careers have been launched from winning a Guru award—the stories we hear are just amazing, and we want you to enter. Hey, ya never know.

DID I MENTION YOU SAVE $100 One of the things we’ve always done is to keep the event really affordable. As a KelbyOne member, you get $100 off the registration price, and if you register now (before June 11, 2016), you can use the Early Bird Discount and save another $100. So, you can attend the entire threeday conference, including all the classes, and get the massive workbook for just $599, which is just an incredible value. You’ll see conferences of this scale with registration fees around the $2,000 range all day long, but we want Photoshop World to be accessible to everyone.

COME A DAY EARLY AND DIG IN DEEP! really dig in to a particular topic, or go on location with your instructor for a live shoot. These are hugely popular with our attendees and most of these pre-conference workshops sell out way in advance. (These optional workshops are the day before and have a separate registration fee.) To see a listing of this year’s workshops, as well as the full conference schedule, just turn the page.

>>

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If you want to come a day early, we offer a series of optional in-depth workshops, where you can

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CREATE YOUR OWN CUSTOM LEARNING EXPERIENCE One of the best things about Photoshop World is that you can build a custom training experience that’s just right for you, choosing from nearly 100 sessions in seven different training tracks— they’re all open to you with a full conference pass. You choose your own schedule, and even change tracks or sessions any time you want. This allows you to maximize your experience and focus just on the topics you really want to master.

PRE CONFERENCE DAY (07.18.16): SCHEDULE The day prior to the kick-off of the conference our in-depth workshops are held. These workshops provide a deep dive into the topics you want to learn most with small class sizes, live shoots and hands-on training. Separate registration fee required. Red Rock Landscape Shoot

Dog Photography: Sit, Stay, Snap

A Photographic Project From Concept to Execution | Julieanne Kost | In-Depth Workshop

Frank Doorhof | In-Depth Workshop

Wow-Worthy Creative Studio Lighting

The Art of Inspired Business

Lindsay Adler | In-Depth Workshop

Tim Wallace | In-Depth Workshop

Hands-On Portfolio Prep

Lightpainting the Town

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Moose Peterson | In-Depth Workshop

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Daniel Gregory | In-Depth Workshop

First Time Attendee Orientation | Larry Becker

Kaylee Greer | In-Depth Workshop

Fashion Photography

Dave Black | In-Depth Workshop

DAY 1 (07.19.16): SCHEDULE Getting the Most Out of The Creative Cloud Photography Plan (LR +PS+Mobile) | Creative Cloud Track

Bryan O’Neil Hughes

Sports Action with High Speed Sync Flash

Dave Black

Tack Sharp! Sharpening in Lightroom

Daniel Gregory

Night & Low Light Photography

Alan Hess

Master FX Live

Corey Barker

The Moment It Clicks

Joe McNally

Improv Photoshop & Illustrator Hour

Corey Barker

Creating Magic with Lighting

Frank Doorhof

What’s New in Lightroom

Julieanne Kost

Setting the Wildlife Loose

Moose Peterson

Essentials of Designing with Type

Scott Kelby

Never Say Never: A Journey into Inspiration and Redefining “Impossible” | Inspiration Track

Kaylee Greer

Intro to Adobe Muse CC

Terry White

Dramatic Portraits Using Speedlites

Joel Grimes

Organizing Your Images with Lightroom

TBA

Think Before You Press the Shutter

Dave Black

RAW Image Restoration

Katrin Eismann

4 Steps to Meaningful Work

Daniel Gregory

Lighting Track

12:00pm 1:00pm

Lightroom Track

Photography Track Photoshop Track Inspiration Track

Creative Cloud Track Lighting Track

Lightroom Track

3:00pm 4:00pm

Photography Track Photoshop Track

Lighting Track

Lightroom Track

4:30pm 5:30pm

Photography Track Photoshop Track Inspiration Track

to register visit photoshopworld.com or call 1-800-201-7323

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Creative Cloud Track

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DAY 2 (07.20.16): SCHEDULE Adobe Muse CC Tips & Tricks

Terry White

Lightroom Develop Module

Katrin Eismann

Lightpainting—Light up The World

Dave Black

Masters In Skin: Part 1

Kristina Sherk

Photoshop Lighting Effects for Photographers

Glyn Dewis

Combat From Behind the Camera

Stacy Pearsall

Using Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign

Dave Cross

The Creative Power of Selective Tools

Katrin Eismann

Dog Photography

Kaylee Greer

Black & White in Photoshop, Lightroom, and Beyond | Photoshop Track

Bryan O’Neil Hughes

Creative Cloud Track Lightroom Track

8:30am9:30am

Photography Track Photoshop Track Photoshop Track Inspiration Track

Creative Cloud Track Lightroom Track

Photography Track

10:00am 11:00am

Photoshop Textures, Borders, Edges and More Photoshop Track

Light, Gesture & Color (hour 1 of 2) Inspiration Track

Dave Cross

Jay Maisel

Intro to Illustrator

TBA

Dial It Up: Advanced Lightroom Techniques

Daniel Gregory

Hot Shoe Flash—The First Steps

Joe McNally

More Photoshop 3D

Corey Barker

Expert Selections in Adobe Photoshop Photoshop Track

Richard Harrington

Light, Gesture & Color (hour 2 of 2)

Jay Maisel

Creative Cloud Track

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Lightroom Track

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Photography Track

11:30am 12:30pm

Photoshop Track

Inspiration Track

How to Take Advantage of Adobe’s Creative Cloud | Creative Cloud Track

Terry White

Creating Beautiful Photo Books in Lightroom

Scott Kelby

Big Flash Done Fast

Joe McNally

Compositing: Don’t Get Stuck, Get Creating!

Glyn Dewis

Video in Photoshop CC

TBA

The Power of Creating a Signature Brand

Joel Grimes

Smart Objects, Layer Comps and Libraries, Oh My!

Dave Cross

Unlocking the Power of Lightroom Mobile

Scott Kelby

Concert Photography

Alan Hess

Getting that Cinematic Wow Factor! Hollywood FX That You Can Use! | Photoshop Track

Corey Barker

Camera Raw Basics

TBA

From Zero to Shabang!

Peter Hurley

Lightroom Track

Photography Track

2:30pm 3:30pm

Photoshop Track Photoshop Track Inspiration Track

Lightroom Track

Photography Track

4:00pm 5:00pm

Photoshop Track Inspiration Track

Showcasing Your Work with Adobe Creative Cloud | Creative Cloud Track

Julieanne Kost

Lightroom for Absolute Beginners

Terry White

Start Your Engines

Moose Peterson

Masters In Skin: Part 2

Kristina Sherk

The Photoshop Playbook Photoshop Track

Bryan O’Neil Hughes

How to Get Your Model to Work It!

Frank Doorhof

Lightroom Track

Photography Track

6:15pm 7:15pm

Photoshop Track

Inspiration Track

to register visit photoshopworld.com or call 1-800-201-7323

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Creative Cloud Track

045

DAY 3 (07.21.16): SCHEDULE Illustrator Tips & Tricks

TBA

Live Car Shoot

Tim Wallace

Triple Exposure in Lightroom—Panoramics, HDR, & Time Lapse Post Processing Tips | Lightroom Track

Richard Harrington

Creative Cloud Track

Lighting Track

9:00 am 10:00 am

Invite the Landscape Into The Photograph Photography Track

Small, Medium, Large Photoshop Track

Add Sizzle: 3 Ways to Make Your Videos Stand out | Video Track

Drama Queen of Lighting: Lighting for Mood & Dramatic Effect | Lighting Track

Lindsay Adler

Lightroom Track

Picture Perfect Posing Photography Track

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TBA Roberto Valenzuela

How to Bring Portraits to Life with Photoshop & Lightroom | Photoshop Track

Glyn Dewis

Shooting to Sharing, DSLR Video Basics

TBA

Intro to InDesign CC

Terry White

5 Fashion Lighting Setups to WOW your Portrait Clients | Lighting Track

Lindsay Adler

Lightroom Killer Tips!

Scott Kelby

Lighting & Posing Simplified and Working Seamlessly Together | Photography Track

Roberto Valenzuela

Printing in Photoshop CC

TBA

Creative Cloud Track

046

TBA

Julieanne Kost

Video Track

1:00pm 2:00pm

Katrin Eismann

Mobile Apps: Adobe Slate, Capture, Post, & Photoshop Mix | Creative Cloud Track

Printing in Lightroom CC

10:30am 11:30am

Moose Peterson

Lightroom Track

Photoshop Track

Get Started with Premiere Pro Video Track

Richard Harrington

Attend conference sessions in any track and move between them as you like. Instructors, classes and class materials may change without prior notice. Visit www. Photoshop®world.com for the latest schedule and information. Adobe, The Adobe Logo, The Creative Cloud, Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and Muse are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Incorporated.

STAY RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL, AND GET A GREAT ROOM RATE Our home for Photoshop World is the awesome Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino right on the Vegas Strip. It has lots of shopping (heck, as I mentioned earlier it has its own mall), lots of yummy eateries, exciting nightclubs (such as the House of Blues), along with shows and entertainment, plus an amazing 11-acre beach/pool aquatic wonderland. It’s the ideal location for a conference like ours. You’ll super dig it. Best of all, you can stay right there—where the conference is held (it’s where our instructors and staff stay, as well), and we negotiated special discount room rates just for our conference attendees at either the Mandalay Bay or the trendy Delano (both are attached to the convention center). So, stay where we stay, get a great room rate, and be right in the middle of it all. Click here to learn more and to make your hotel reservation online. To make your hotel reservation by phone please dial: 877-632-7000 or 702-632-7000 (To receive the special event room rate, attendees must identify themselves as a Photoshop World Conference attendee.)

PACK YOUR BAGS; WE’RE GOING TO VEGAS! I hope this gives you a little insight to what your Photoshop World experience will be like, but to really get see what I mean. There’s really no conference like it anywhere in the world. It has its own vibe—it has a real “we’re-all-family-here” kind of feel that just sweeps over you. When you go, you’ll see some attendees wearing a long row of ribbons along the bottom of their badges for all the times they’ve been to Photoshop World. Some have 20 or more. They keep coming, they keep learning, they keep laughing, and so can you. See you in Vegas this summer! ■ Photography courtesy of Kevin Newsome Brad Moore, Kathy Porupski and Jeff Liembach

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a feel for it, head over the Photoshopworld.com site and watch the video on the homepage, and you’ll

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HOW TO › ›

Beginners' Workshop how to smooth skin realistically

LESA SNIDER

If your subject has an uneven complexion, acne scarring, wrinkling, or excessive freckling, then that can be the first thing you notice in a portrait. Sure you could use the healing tools in Photoshop to remove problematic areas, but that takes time and may result in unnatural-looking skin. In this column, you’ll learn how to quickly smooth skin while retaining texture.

©Adobe Stock/dubova

Step One: If your document consists of a single layer, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate it. If it consists of many layers, say that you used adjustment layers to correct the image as we’ve done here, activate the topmost layer and then press Shift-Option-Command-E (PC: Shift-AltCtrl-E) to create a new “stamped” layer that contains the content of all the other layers that have their layer visibility turned on. Either way, double-click the new layer’s name and enter “skin smooth.” [KelbyOne members may download the file used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone

Step One

.com/magazine. All files are for personal use only.]

Step Two: Using the drop-down menu near the top of the Layers panel, change the blend mode of the skin smooth layer to Overlay. This mode boosts contrast by making dark areas darker and light areas

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lighter. Now let’s invert the information

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on that layer by pressing Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I).

Step Two

› › BEGINNERS' WORKSHOP

Step Three: Just like a high pass filter in the audio world can be used to remove high frequencies (the treble) in an audio track, the High Pass filter in Photoshop can be used to remove high frequencies (fine, small, and sharp details) in an image, which produces a blurring (smoothing) effect. Choose Filter>Other> High Pass, and in the resulting dialog, enter 10 pixels into the Radius field, and click OK.

Step Three

Step Four: Choose Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and in the resulting dialog, drag the Radius slider all the way to the left and then slowly drag it rightward until you’re happy with the way the skin looks (3 pixels was used here, but if you’re using the practice file, try 1.5 pixels).

Step Four

Step Five: Now let’s use a layer mask to hide the blurring (smoothing) from everywhere except the skin. Since we want to hide the blur from the majority of the image, Option-click (PC: Alt-click) the circle-within-a-square icon at the bottom of your Layers panel to add a layer mask filled with black. Photoshop hides the blurring from the image—remember, in the realm of

Step Five

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the layer mask, black conceals and white reveals.

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BEGINNERS' WORKSHOP › ›

Step Six: Press B to grab the Brush tool and then take a peek at the color chips at the bottom of the Toolbox. If necessary, press D to set them to the default values of black and white, and then press X to flipflop them so white is on top (because you want to reveal the skin smoothing). Trot up to the Options Bar, click the brush preview thumbnail (circled) to open the Brush Preset Picker, and choose a soft-edged brush. Make sure the Mode is set to Normal and that Opacity is 100%.

Step Seven: Mouse over to your image and brush across the skin. As you go, use the Left and Right Bracket keys ([,]) on your keyboard to decrease and increase

Step Six

Step Seven

brush size, respectively. Use a larger brush for the forehead and cheek areas, and a smaller brush for other areas. Avoid blurring the nostrils and eyebrows. If you mess up and reveal smoothing on an area you didn’t mean to, press X to flip-flop your color chips so that black is on top, and then brush back across that area. Tip: Since this skin smoothing technique can be subtle, it may be helpful to turn the mask into a red overlay so you can more easily see what you’re doing. To do that, press the Backslash key (\). To turn off the overlay, tap the same key again.

Step Eight: Last but not least, use the Opacity setting at the top of the Layers panel to adjust the strength of the effect (85% was used here). Here’s a before and after version:

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As you can see, this technique really

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helped tone down the acne in this portrait yet the skin texture itself is preserved. Until next time, may the creative force be with you all! ■

Step Eight

HOW TO › ›

Dynamic Range

portraits with depth & dimension

GLYN DEWIS

In this tutorial, I want to take you through the retouching steps that I currently use to give my portraits added depth and dimension, almost as if the face of the person is coming forward from the screen or page.

away from the viewer. Areas that contain more contrast also draw the viewer’s attention, as do areas of sharpness. So throughout these retouching steps, you’ll see how light, contrast, and sharpness can be used in combination to boost the depth and dimension in a portrait and give a very distinctive look.

As photographers and retouchers, we know that there are three main elements to a picture that draw the viewer’s attention: light, contrast, and sharpness. When it comes to the light, which is much like dodging and burning in Photoshop, the brighter areas of a picture appear to come forward toward the viewer, whereas the darker areas give the feeling of pulling

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Before

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After

› › DYNAMIC RANGE

Step One: RAW Conversion Starting off in Lightroom, we’ll change the white balance, as the out-of-camera shot is a little on the warm side. With the White Balance Selector (W), click on an area of the background to the right of the man’s head; then reduce the magenta by adding in some green in the Tint slider: around –22 should be enough. With the Spot Removal tool (Q) in the Heal mode, remove some of the blemishes and the hot spot on the man’s nose. [KelbyOne members may download the file used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. All files are for personal use only.]

Sharpening to around 55, and then restricting the sharpening to the face by increasing the Masking slider to around 80.

Step One

Step Two: Eyes plus Sharpening

Step Two

Step Three: Dodge & Burn This is where we start to give our portrait that almost 3D kind of feel rather than being flat and two dimensional. We’ll use dodging and burning, contrast, etc. to add depth and dimension. So, go to Photo>Edit In>Edit in Adobe Pho­to­shop to export the image to Photoshop and then go

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What I love these days about Lightroom, or indeed Camera Raw, is what used to take several steps in Photoshop can be completed in a fraction of the time using the Adjustment Brush (K). So zoom into the eyes and select the Adjustment Brush. Reset all the sliders by double-clicking on the word “Effect” near the top of the Adjustment Brush panel, and increase the Exposure a small amount. Tick the Show Selected Mask Overlay checkbox below the image preview so you can see exactly where you’re painting and, consequently, what areas are going to be adjusted. Use the Bracket keys on your keyboard to quickly change the size of your brush, and then paint over the eyes to select them. Turn off the overlay and then increase the Exposure to around 1.25. Also, add in some Clarity and Sharpness to add punch to the eyes. Press K to deactivate the Adjustment Brush. Finally, zoom out and add some overall sharpening by going to the Detail tab, increasing

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DYNAMIC RANGE › ›

to Layer>New>Layer. In the New Layer dialog, name the layer “D&B.” In the Mode drop-down menu, choose Soft Light, tick the Fill with Soft-Light-Neutral Color (50% Gray) checkbox, and click OK. Choose the Dodge tool (O) from the Toolbox, and in the Options Bar at the top of the screen, set the Range to Highlights and Exposure to between 5 and 10%. With the Dodge tool, work around the image brightening highlight areas and any other areas you wish to appear closer to the viewer. With the Burn tool (nested under the Dodge tool in the Toolbox), darken the midtone and shadow areas. In the image shown here, I’ve turned off the Background layer so you can better see the areas I dodged and burned.

Step Four: Contrast and Sharpening Add a merged/stamped layer to the top of the layer stack by pressing Shift-Command-Option-E (PC: Shift-Ctrl-Alt-E). Double-click the name of this new layer, and rename it “C&S” for contrast and sharpening. Then, go to Filter>Camera Raw Filter and choose the Adjustment Brush. Click on the plus icon to the right of Clarity to set it to +25 and to reset all the other adjustment sliders to zero. Activate the Mask near the bottom of the panel, then paint over the center part of the face. Turn off the Mask overlay, increase the Sharpness to around +10, and Click OK.

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Step Four

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Step Three

› › DYNAMIC RANGE

Step Five: Desaturate

Step Six: Fake Depth of Field

Press D to set the Foreground and Background colors to their defaults of black and white, respectively, and then click the Create New Adjustment Layer icon (half-white, half-black circle) at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a Gradient Map adjustment layer. Within the Properties panel, click on the gradient ramp to open the Gradient Editor. Drag the white color stop in toward the center. You’ll see a midtone point appear (small diamond) after you drag the white color stop. Drag that midtone point to the left a small amount until you get the desired black-and-white conversion. Click OK then reduce the Opacity of this adjustment layer to 30% in the Layers panel.

Of course there’s nothing that beats photographing a shallow depth of field in camera, but we can do a pretty good job faking it using blur in Photoshop. To add to this depth and dimension, add another merged/stamped layer to the top of the layer stack and rename it “IRIS BLUR.” Then, go to Filter>Blur Gallery>Iris Blur and position the oval so that it fills the main face area and extends just beyond the chin. Click on the small dots on the outer circle to rotate the oval, and click-and-drag the white line to resize the oval. Adjust the transition points (the four larger dots inside the oval) individually by holding down the Option (PC: Alt) key and clicking-and-dragging them to ensure that none of the areas you want to be in focus have any blur over them. Increase the Blur amount to around 16 px in the Blur Tools panel and click OK in the Options Bar.

Step Six

Step Five

Now create two copies of the uppermost layer in the layer stack by holding down the Command (PC: Ctrl) key and pressing J twice. Rename the first copy “Texture” and the second copy (the uppermost layer) “Sharpness.” Click on the Eye icon for the Sharpness layer to turn it off, and with the Texture layer active, go to Filter>Noise>Reduce Noise. Increase the Strength to 10, decrease all of the other sliders

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Step Seven: Adding Texture

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DYNAMIC RANGE › ›

to 0, and click OK. Then, turn on the Sharpness layer, and with it active, go to Filter>Other>High Pass. Add in a Radius of 1 Pixel, click OK, and change the blend mode of the Sharpness layer to Overlay. Hold down the Shift key and click on the Texture layer to make both the Texture and Sharpness layers active, then go to Layer>New>Group from Layers and click OK. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon (circle in a square) at the bottom of the Layers panel, and with the Brush tool (B) set to a black soft-edged brush, paint over the eyes to remove the texture effect.

Step Eight: Adjusting the Light Add one final merged/stamped layer to the top of the layer stack and rename it “Lighting.” Then, go to Filter>Camera Raw Filter and choose the Radial Filter (J). Ensure that the Outside option is selected and then draw out an oval in the general position and size that you want it. Click-and-drag inside the oval to position it so that it encircles the main part of the face. Click-and-drag outside of the oval to rotate it slightly and then adjust the Exposure slider to darken areas outside of the Radial Filter. An amount of around –0.15 is enough to make the face the brightest part of the picture, giving it the added appearance of coming toward the viewer. Make sure the other sliders are set to 0 and click OK.

Step Eight

Step Nine: Faking a Smile (Optional)

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Photoshop is an incredibly useful tool that enables us to make more of our images and not necessarily by layer upon layer of retouching. From time to time I come across images where I really like the lighting and pose of the model but wish their expression was slightly different. Adding in a slight smile can make a huge difference to the feel of an image and is something I do occasionally. This is incredibly easy with a subtle use of the Liquify filter (Filter>Liquify).

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Step Seven

Step Eight

› › DYNAMIC RANGE

Before/After

Tip/Technique: Aperture and Shutter Speed

If you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to drop me a line at [email protected]. To check out more of my work, visit my blog over at www.glyndewis.com which I update up to five times each week with lots of behind-thescenes information. There’s also my YouTube channel over at www.youtube.com/glyndewis.

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I’ve always been one for trying to get as many different looks as I can when using the same lighting setup. This can often be achieved by a simple control of the shutter speed. When we’re using off-camera flash, it’s the shutter speed that controls how much ambient light is in our picture, and the aperture that controls the power of the light coming from the flash. Therefore, if we slow the shutter speed down (commonly referred to as dragging the shutter), we can increase the amount of ambient light in our pictures without affecting the exposure from the flash. In this example, I wanted more of the background to show through to give greater separation. ■

057 ALL IMAGES BY GLYN DEWIS

HOW TO › ›

Photoshop Proving Ground layers, part 2: blend modes and adjustment layers

SCOTT VALENTINE

Last issue, we got into some technical details about layers and how Photoshop passes information through the layer stack from bottom to top. We also introduced Opacity, Blend If, and masks as alpha channels. Whew!

Step Three: Now, change the blending mode of Layer 2 to Subtract using the drop-down menu near the top left of the Layers panel. The pattern should not be symmetric. In my case, I ended up with a black zigzag pattern.

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Now let’s put blending modes and adjustment layers in the mix. A major theme from the previous article is “order matters,” so I want you to build a little experiment.

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Step One: Start with two blank layers in a new, square document. Grab your Gradient tool (G) and choose a Spectrum style of gradient from the Gradient Picker in the Options Bar. Also make sure that you have the Linear Gradient icon selected in the Options Bar.

Step Four: Press Shift-Command-Option-E (PC: Shift-CtrlAlt-E) to stamp a copy of the results to a new layer, then click its Eye icon to turn it off (I named it “A” in my example). Finally, set Layer 2’s blending mode back to Normal.

Step Two: On the bottom layer (name it Layer 1), drag from

Step Five: Drag Layer 1 above Layer 2, and now set it to Sub­

the upper-left corner down to the lower right (hold Shift once you start dragging to constrain it to 45°). On the top layer (name it Layer 2), do the same thing from the upper right to the lower left.

tract blending. You should get essentially a mirror image of the previous result!

Step Six: Repeat the stamp copy shortcut to capture the

Blend Modes on Adjustment Layers

results, and name the new layer “B.” Toggle the visibility of A on and off to see the difference.

So how do you use this in real life? To be honest, this is mostly a Photoshop party trick when used by itself. The reason you should know it, however, is because it can play a part in more advanced techniques that use lots of adjustment layers and composited elements. You may recall that adjustment layers can have blending modes applied. If you make use of this ability, knowing that some blend modes behave differently can help you troubleshoot or focus in on very specific changes. The order of your adjustment layers depends on what you want to achieve, and how you use the adjustments. Remembering that the output of one layer is the input to the next, you can easily clip or oversaturate your image even when making small changes to sliders. Or, you may remove the function of an adjustment layer altogether. Let’s say you add a Black & White adjustment layer to your image. Putting a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above that won’t have any effect except with the Lightness slider. The Black & White adjustment has removed the color input for the Hue and Saturation sliders. But if you swap them, putting the Hue/Saturation layer first, it absolutely controls how the Black & White adjustment behaves. In fact, it gives you much more control over your final output. Alternatively, one of my favorite black-andwhite conversion techniques involves using Black & White adjustment layers set to Luminosity blending mode, which brings me to my final point. When you change the blending mode of an adjustment layer, you’re getting a twofer! As I mentioned above, you get the control of the adjustment along with the math of the blending mode. And you do it on a single layer! I can hear you thinking now, “But, Scott! Which happens first—the blend mode or the adjustment layer?” Excellent question, you sly dog. It turns out that the blend mode is applied first. The results of the blend are sent to the adjustment. You can’t change this, but you can add multiple adjustment layers.

Remember that Photoshop is actually doing math. Blending modes are functions that take in values from the lower layer, combine them with the values on the current layer according to some math, and show you a result on the canvas. Subtract does just what it implies: It subtracts the current layer’s value from the lower layer’s value. When two values are similar, the result is black, or at least very dark. If you remember basic subtraction, order matters because 100–25=75 (in this example, 100 is a value on the lower layer, and 25 is a value on the blended layer). But 25–100= –75, which is what you get if you reverse the order of the layers. Now a pixel value of, say, 75 is dark, but not black; however, –75 is tricky. Photoshop doesn’t know how to display negative color values, so anything less than zero becomes black: 0, –75, or –255 all show up as black on the canvas. Not all of the blending modes behave this way, though. One way to tell which ones don’t care about order is to look at their names. Multiply is a good example. Both 10*20 and 20*10 give you 200. But you can prove this in Photoshop itself. Repeat the above experiment with the Multiply blend mode. What do you notice right away? Now try Hard Mix.

You should get a symmetrical pattern. If you swap layers, you get the same result. Of course not every image will give you a pattern like this. The gradients are set up specifically to demonstrate the difference between blending modes that care about layer order and those that don’t.

Contrast and Color In this example layer stack (see next page), I have two Curves adjustments. The one in the middle (Curves 1) is meant to bring out detail in the sky. Notice that there’s a Color Balance layer above it, and a Black & White adjustment below it. Both the

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› › PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND

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PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND › ›

Curves 1 and Black & White 1 layers are set to Luminosity blend mode. (Note: Luminosity blend mode allows the adjustment layer to ignore color information and only look at brightness.)

To wrap things up, layers are the foundation of Photoshop’s power. They have some special properties that let you control how they interact with each other, so it’s vital to understand that they’re more than little pixel buckets. Think of them as another kind of control, a physical way to work on your images. ■

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The reason for this is that I prefer to work by adjusting contrast before color. The Black & White layer set to Luminosity allows me to adjust the relative values of each color range without actually shifting the color. That feeds into the Curves

adjustment. Since Curves can shift colors around, I wanted to minimize the number of color changes to deal with, so that layer is also set to Luminosity. Once I had the contrast set up mostly the way I wanted it, Color Balance let me remove a yellow cast from the original image. The Curves adjustment at the top is masked to affect only the sky, and it’s set to Color Burn blending mode, with 65% Opacity. Moving these layers around would give me a very different look, and require different settings in order to get the result I wanted; however, if you like to work with color before contrast, your layer order would be different than mine, and you’d probably have more color controls than I used (see below). And that’s perfectly fine! As with most things in Photoshop, there’s no right way; there’s only the way that gets you the results you want along the path you know.

062 ALL IMAGES BY SCOTT VALENTINE

D E PA R T M E N T › ›

Photoshop Tips

boost your productivity and creativity

COLIN SMITH

In this issue I’m going to focus on doing something once but getting bulk results. This is called massive timesavings, or more technically, batch processing. With all the extra time you save, you can read the rest of the magazine—now that’s a great deal!

Batch Rename

Layers as Files

Have you ever had to rename a bunch of files? Maybe DSC34565

What if you want to do the opposite of the previous tip? For

.CRW isn’t a descriptive enough name? Or maybe you want to

example, you’ve stacked all these images into a single Photoshop

rearrange the files and give them a sequential filename to keep

file and applied a treatment, maybe added text or a logo, or

them in order, or even build a time-lapse sequence. Whatever

made thumbnails. Now you have the daunting task of export-

reason you may have, it’s easy! Open Bridge and select all the

ing each one of these to a new file and naming them. It’s easy:

files that you want to rename. Right-click and choose Batch

File>Export>Layers to Files. But wait, before you do, name the

Rename. You’ll see a dialog with lots of options, including the

layers because the filenames will be the same as the layer names

option to add sequential numbers.

preceded by a sequential number. You don’t have to get fancy, though, because you can combine this with the first tip and use

Files as Stacks

Batch Rename to do all the hard work for you.

Did you ever find yourself with a whole heap (not that digital files can actually be heaped) of images that you wanted to load into Photoshop in the same document? Maybe you wanted to make a grid or a collage. You could open them all into Photoshop and drag them onto a new canvas one at a time. Or you could try this: File>Scripts>Load Files into Stack, and Photoshop will do it

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all for you, putting each image on its own layer.

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Multiple Images in ACR There’s a RAW processor built into Photoshop called Adobe Camera Raw, ACR for short. Whenever you open a RAW file in Photo­shop, it will open in ACR. What a lot of people don’t realize is that you can open multiple images in ACR at the same time and they’ll appear in the Filmstrip on the left side of the dialog. You can either adjust them all at the same time, or you can adjust one image and then synchronize the settings across all the other images. Okay, I hear you ask, “I’m convinced, but how do I do it?” It’s really easy. Simply select all the images

› › PHOTOSHOP TIPS

in Bridge that you want to open (RAW, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, or a

blocks one at a time? Bad typesetter, bad typesetter! You can

combination of any of these file formats), Right-click on one of

change all the blocks of type at the same time. Select all the type

the selected images, and choose Open in Camera RAW. At the

layers in the Layers panel, then change the font, the size, or any

top of the Filmstrip in ACR there’s a flyout menu where you can

property, such as color, and you’ll see that all the text changes at

choose Select All so all the images will change together in real

the same time. That’s not only handy, that’s fast!

time. You can also adjust one of the images to your liking and then, from the same flyout menu, choose Select All, followed by

Double RAW Processing

Sync Settings. You can also click on any of the thumbnails on the

Have you ever applied an adjustment in Camera Raw and

Filmstrip to make it the active image.

wished the slider went further? For example, you’re recovering high­lights with the Highlights slider, but it’s all the way to the left, and you know there’s more detail that you just can’t get to. Here’s a sneaky way around that: Make your adjustment, then create a Radial Filter (J) adjustment, and make the oval large enough to cover the entire image. Now you have a whole array of sliders all ready for you to push the boundaries. Call it turbo processing if you like.

Apply Settings in Bridge

Duplicating Multiple Layers at Once

What if I told you that there’s a way to apply ACR presets to

You may already be aware that you can duplicate a layer right

images without even launching Photoshop or Lightroom? Would

onscreen by activating the Move tool (V), holding down the

you think I’m nuts? Quick, before you answer that, let me show

Option (PC: Alt) key, and dragging out a duplicate. What you

you how. Open your image in Bridge and Right-click on it. Do

may not have known is this: You can duplicate multiple layers

you see the Develop Settings option in the contextual menu?

at one time. Let me explain. Go to the Layers panel, hold down

If you hover over Develop Settings, you’ll see a list of all the pre-

the Command (PC: Ctrl) key, and click on different layers to

sets currently loaded into ACR. Click one to apply it to the image.

select them. With multiple layers selected, hold down Option

You can select multiple images and apply the preset to all of

(PC: Alt) and drag on the page. All the selected layers will now

them at once just as easily as a single image, all without launch-

be duplicated. ■

ing Photoshop.

Change All Fonts Have you ever worked on a document that had multiple blocks of type in it? If you’ve worked with type, the answer is probably yes. Second question: Have you ever changed the font in all the

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ALL IMAGES BY COLIN SMITH

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>>LIGHT IT

FILM NOIR: A CLASSIC STYLE WITH A MODERN TWIST

OKAY, I’LL ADMIT I WASN’T EVEN BORN WHEN FILM NOIR WAS IN ITS HEYDAY; BUT AFTER WATCHING CURRENT FILMS INFLUENCED BY FILM NOIR SUCH AS NIGHTCRAWLER, THE DARK NIGHT, AND SIN CITY, I WAS HOOKED. THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT THAT BLACK-AND-WHITE CINEMATIC STYLE OF THE 1940S AND 50S THAT

By Tom Bol

INSPIRES BOTH FILMMAKERS AND PHO­TOGRAPHERS. DON’T GET ME WRONG; I LOVE SHOOTING IN COLOR. BUT ONCE IN A WHILE IT’S GOOD TO GO BACK TO YOUR ROOTS TO GET PERSPECTIVE ON YOUR FUTURE. MY ROOTS ARE IN BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY, AND FILM NOIR WAS BASED IN GRITTY, HARD-EDGED BLACK-AND-WHITE IMAGERY.

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STEP ONE: FIND THE GRITTY ALLEY Integral to film noir is a gritty urban backdrop, and more often than not, an ominous alley is the scene setter. You can’t say enough about how important a gritty urban scene is to creating a successful film noir shot. I live in a city that has an old-town district where many aged brick buildings still stand, and finding a dark alley isn’t too hard. One important tip for scouting film noir scenes is to scout them at night. During the day, this alley looked great; but when I went back at night, it looked even better. Overhead streetlights illuminated the alley. I could easily overpower these lights with my strobes, but also let them render in the final image to add some ambience to the scene. I loved the depth of this alley; it would create a tunnel effect and leading lines in the final image.

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hat is film noir? French for “black film,” film noir is a cinematic style characterized by stark shadows, gloomy urban scenes, alleys, femme fatales, cigarettes, and lurking figures—all shot at night. Storylines often revolved around doomed romance and crime drama. Women wore elegant dresses and heavy lipstick. Men were often in trench coats and fedoras. With all these elements and moods at play, photographing a film noir scene takes a little preparation and planning. But the results are worth it. I wanted to create photographs inspired by film noir, but with a modern twist. Rather than shoot strictly in black and white, I planned to photograph in color, convert to black and white, and then bring back subtle color tones to the images. This is more along the lines of neo-noir: films that were shot in color but inspired by classic black-and-white film noir.

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STEP TWO: TAKE THE FIRST SHOT

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On just about every shoot I do, nothing seems right until I take the first shot. But once I take that image, then the photo shoot flows smoothly. I decided the best packs for this shoot were Elinchrom ELB 400s. These compact battery-powered packs have more than 424Ws of power, are lightweight, and can be easily controlled at the camera using the EL-Skyport Plus HS. This transmitter shows each unit on the LCD, allowing intuitive power control of multiple packs.

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Another important thing to consider when shooting at night is the minimum power output of your strobes. I took a test shot of the alley and realized I needed an exposure of f/4, 1/30, at ISO 800. To get the correct amount of light out of my flash, I needed a very low power setting. The ELB 400s can go all the way down to 7Ws, plenty low enough to shoot at night with a high ISO setting. To start things off, I positioned my femme fatale model, Lily, close to the camera and had my male “gangster” model in the back of the alley. Another characteristic of film noir is the use of wide-angle lenses and low angles, both of which I planned to use with this image. I used my Nikon D810 and a NIKKOR 24–70mm F2.8 the entire shoot. My main light on Lily was a 14x35" Elinchrom Rotalux Strip Softbox with a Lighttools 40° egg crate grid. The grid kept the light from spilling onto the alley walls, and gave the light strong direction and shadow.

To illuminate the lurking gangster in the background, I placed another ELB 400 to his side and attached a 20° grid onto a Quadra Action flash head. Once again, I only wanted light on the model, and not all over the alley walls. The overhead streetlight added a warm glow to the scene. This image was looking good (see next page), but the models were far apart, so we moved to the second location I had scouted.

Cree Bol

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During my scout of the alley, I became very excited about finding a corner staircase adjacent to the alley. This location offered more angles than shooting straight down the alley, and had a small light illuminating the corner. By placing the gangster under this light, I could have Lily standing on the staircase only a few feet away. I started this shot by using the same gridded stripbank I used earlier, and chose a shutter speed that would allow the alley light to illuminate the gangster. To get the right perspective of Lily, I used a small ladder

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STEP THREE: GET THE MODELS CLOSER TOGETHER

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to get a higher angle. This shot already looked great, but I wanted to bring out a little more detail on the brick wall in the background, so we set up another ELB 400. We placed a 20° grid on the flash head, and used a deep-blue gel on the light. The blue light would add some color to the wall, but not take the focus away from the models.

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I often get so excited on shoots that I have to tell myself to settle down. To keep things in perspective, I like to sit down a moment and scrutinize the images I have in the camera. Are they the best I can do, or am I missing a subtle lighting tweak? Looking at Lily on the stairs, I found one thing I could do better: My gangster didn’t have any light on his face; his fedora blocked the light from above. I decided to add a touch of warm light to his face. To accomplish this, we set up a third pack and flash head with a 20° grid, and placed an orange gel over the grid. The grid helped narrow the light, but not enough. To add light to his face, and only his face, we placed strips of black gaffer tape over the grid leaving only a small part uncovered. This narrowed the light to illuminate just his head and face. Lily took off her coat and looked dangerous and demure at the same time. Perfect! I knew we had a great shot.

Cree Bol

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STEP FOUR: TWEAK THE GREAT SHOT

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STEP FIVE: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

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Cree Bol

If you asked me what one of the most important things is about shooting on location, I’d tell you to roll with the punches. Photo shoots are fluid, and sometimes the best shots are unscripted moments and unexpected locations. The temperature was in the teens, so everyone was getting cold and ready to head to the local pub. But just as we were wrapping up, I noticed an amazing side alley I’d missed earlier. What was so appealing about this alley were the tall brick walls, which would be perfect for projecting a menacing shadow in the background. Working quickly, we set up the same main light (gridded stripbox) and placed it close to Lily. To create the shadow, we placed a 20° gridded light off to the side and aimed it at the gangster standing about 10' away. This hard-edged light produced a nice ominous shadow on the wall behind Lily. This was a bonus shot for the night. I loved the shadow element— classic film noir.

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STEP SIX: SPICE IT UP IN POST

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I knew from the beginning I wanted muted color, not full black and white for the images. There are numerous ways to convert color images to black and white in Photoshop and Lightroom, but for this shoot I converted the images using ON1 Effects 10. Their black-and-white conversions include Bogart Cool and Ingrid Warm, subtle references to the stars of some classic film noir movies. I used Bogart Neutral to convert the images to black and white, and then reduced the Opacity to 60% to bring a touch of color back into the image. Film noir meets neo-noir. ■

ALL IMAGES BY TOM BOL, EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

LIGHTROOM THE ADOBE PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM HOW-TO MAGAZINE ®

®

MAGAZINE

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LIGHTROOM WORKSHOP

Learn how to quickly retouch portraits using the powerful Adjustment Brush & Spot Removal tool in Lightroom. p75 PHOTO BY SCOTT KELBY

ISSUE 19

UNDER THE LOUPE

DO YOU HAVE THOUSANDS OF OLDER, LESSTHAN-STELLAR FAMILY PHOTOS SITTING IN YOUR LIGHTROOM CATALOG? WE’LL SHOW YOU HOW TO CORRECT SOME OF THE MOST COMMON PROBLEMS FOUND IN THESE TYPES OF PHOTOS. p80

MAXIMUM WORKFLOW

Portraiture from Imagenomic can help you quickly smooth & enhance the skin in all of your portraits in Lightroom. p86

Seán Duggan

Sean McCormack

Rob Sylvan

Scott Kelby

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&

BY SEÁN DUGGAN

Tips Tricks

BY SCOTT KELBY

Questions Answers

Maximum Workflow BY SEAN McCORMACK

imagenomic portraiture

Under the Loupe

B Y R O B S Y LVA N

fixing family photos in lightroom

Lightroom Workshop BY SCOTT KELBY

retouching portraits

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Rob Sylvan

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Lightroom Workshop

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retouching portraits BY SCOTT KELBY

When it comes to detailed retouching, I generally jump over to Adobe Photoshop, but if you just need to do a quick retouch, it’s amazing how many things you can do right in Lightroom using the Adjustment Brush and the Spot Removal tool, with its healing power. Here’s a quick retouch using just those two tools.

Excerpted from The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC Book for Digital Photographers

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step one:

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Here are the things we’re going to retouch in this image: (1) remove any major blemishes and wrink­les, (2) soften her skin, (3) brighten the whites of her eyes, (4) add contrast to her eyes and sharpen them, and (5) add some highlights to her hair. Although we’re see­ing the full image here, for retouching, it’s best to zoom in quite a bit. So, go ahead and zoom in nice and tight to start the next step. By the way, I thought her skin looked a little too warm in the original image, so here I reduced the Vibrance to –21 (just so you know).

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SCOTT KELBY

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step two: Here, I’ve zoomed in to a 1:2 view, so we can really see what we’re doing (just select this zoom ratio from the pop-up menu at the top right of the Navigator panel, at the top of the left side Panels area). Click on the Spot Removal tool (in the toolbox near the top of the right side Panels area or just press the letter Q). This tool works with just a single click, but you don’t want to retouch any more than is necessary, so make the brush Size of the tool just a little bit larger than the blem-

ish you’re going to remove. Move your brush cursor over the blemish and then just click once. A second circle will appear showing you from where it sampled a clean skin texture. Of course, it’s not always 100% right, and if for some reason it chose a bad area of skin to sample from, just click on that second circle, drag it to a clean patch, and it will update your blemish removal. Go ahead and remove any blemishes now using this tool (as shown here).

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step three: Now, let’s remove some wrinkles under her eyes. Zoom in tighter (this is a 1:1 view), then take the same Spot Removal tool we’ve been using (make sure it’s set to Heal) and paint a stroke over the wrinkles under her eye on the right (as shown here). The area you’ve painted over turns white (as seen here), so you can see the area you’re affecting.

step four:

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Lightroom analyzes the area and picks a spot somewhere else in the image to use to repair those wrinkles. It usually picks something nearby, but in this case it chose an area across the bridge of her nose, which, of course, created a bad retouch. Luckily, if you don’t like where Lightroom chose to sample from, you can simply have it sample somewhere else by clicking on that second outline (the thinner one of the two) and dragging it somewhere on her face where you think the texture and tone will match better (here, I moved it right up under the original area where the wrinkles used to be, as shown in the bottom image). Also, don’t forget to remove the wrinkles from beneath the other eye (it’s easier to forget than you’d think). Note: If your subject is at an age where fully removing the wrinkles would be un­­ realistic, we would instead need to “reduce” the wrinkles, so we would decrease the Opacity slider to lower the strength of the removal, bringing back some of the original wrinkles.

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step five: Now that the blemishes and wrinkles are removed, let’s do some skin softening. Switch to the Adjustment Brush (also in the toolbox near the top of the right side Panels area, or just press the letter K), then choose Soften Skin from the Effect pop-up menu. Now paint over her face, but be careful to avoid any areas that you don’t want softened, like her eyelashes, eyebrows, lips, nostrils, hair, the edges of her face, and so on. This softens the skin by giving you a negative Clarity setting (it’s set at –100). Here, I’ve only painted over the right si de of her face, so you can see the difference. This is quite a lot of softening, so once you’re done, back off the Clarity amount so you can still see skin detail (I raised my amount to –55).

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step six:

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Next, let’s work on her eyes, and we’ll start by making the whites brighter. First, click the New button in the top right of the panel, then double-click on the word “Effect” to reset all the sliders to zero. Now, drag the Exposure slider to the right a little bit (here, I dragged it over to +1.04) and paint over the whites of her eyes. If you accidentally paint outside the whites, just press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key to switch to the Erase tool and erase away any spillover. Do the same for the other eye and, when you’re done, adjust the Exposure slider, as needed, to where the whitening looks natural. Next, let’s brighten her irises. Click the New button, and increase the Exposure amount to +1.36 and paint over both irises. Then, to add some contrast, increase the Contrast slider to +33. Lastly, to make those eyes really nice and sharp, increase the Sharpness slider to +22, so the irises get brighter, more contrasty, and sharper all at the same time.

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step seven: Now, click the New button once again, and let’s brighten the highlights in her hair. Start by resetting your sliders to zero, then drag the Exposure slider to the right a little bit (I dragged mine to +0.35), and then paint over the highlight areas to bring them out. Lastly, one of the retouches I get asked the most to do by subjects is to slim them up a bit. I don’t think our subject here needs it at all, but if you’re asked, here’s how it’s done: Go to the Lens Corrections panel; click on Manual (at the top right of the panel), then drag the Aspect slider to the right (as seen in the overlay here). As you do, it compresses (narrows) the photo, giving you an instant slimming effect. The farther to the right you drag, the more your subject gets slimmed (here, I dragged to +28). A before/after is shown below.

tip: keep from seeing too many pins

The After photo has clearer and smoother skin (plus it’s desaturated a little bit), the eyes are brighter, have more contrast, and are sharper, we’ve enhanced the highlights in her hair, and we’ve slimmed her face a bit

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To see just the currently selected Edit Pin, choose Selected from the Show Edit Pins pop-up menu in the Preview area toolbar.

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Under the Loupe

fixing family photos in Lightroom B Y R O B S Y LVA N

The objects we’re most likely to grab on the way out of a burning building are our family photos. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of Lightroom when trying to make corrections to the most common issues you’ll encounter with older digital photos.

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Our favorite and most cherished photos may not be the best ones we’ve ever taken, but rather those where the moment or the people captured within them are more important than camera settings. As I look back through thousands of my family photos, I see so many examples of bad lighting, on-camera pop-up flash, incorrect white balance, horrible framing choices, red eyes, and other problems that can diminish the impact of these photos. The obvious solution for many of these photos may be to simply delete them. But, if a certain photo is too sentimental to send to the trash, then let’s look to Lightroom to see what can be done to improve or outright fix the most common problems plaguing our family photos.

process version If you’ve been using Lightroom for awhile, then you may have some photos that were originally imported into a much older Lightroom catalog, and that catalog may have since been upgraded to the latest version. For example, I have photos that were originally imported into Lightroom 1, and that catalog has been upgraded to each subsequent new version since. However, while the catalog itself is upgraded to the new version, Lightroom doesn’t change the processing applied to these older photos. So, photos imported and processed (or not processed) into a Lightroom 1 catalog would have the original Process Version used at the time. The reason this is important to know is that as Lightroom has evolved, so has the Process Version. When Process Version 2010 was introduced, it brought improved sharpening and noise reduction algorithms. With Process Version 2012 (the current default), we saw some old adjustments evolve (Brightness, Recovery, Fill Light) into new ones (Highlights, Shadows, Blacks, and Whites). To get the most out of Lightroom’s current suite of tools, you want to be using the latest Process Version when you tackle these old photos. Newer adjustments, like Dehaze, won’t even work with the older process versions. Looking at the right side Panels, you can see a few clues as to the Process Version applied to a given photo. First, look in is telling you this photo is using an older Process Version. If you look in the Basic panel and see the old adjustment sliders, that’s another clue. The same would be true if the local adjustment tools were only showing old adjustment sliders, or if Dehaze (in the Effects panel) was grayed out.

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the Histogram panel. If you see a lightning bolt icon, Lightroom

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You can upgrade that photo to the new Process Version by clicking on the lightning bolt icon, which will open the Update Process Version dialog. Here, you can update the selected photo, or even all photos in the Filmstrip. It’s recommended to only update one photo at a time to get a feel for how this can change a photo, but if you’re dealing with a lot of previously unprocessed photos, then you may just elect to update all of them at once. Alternatively, clicking the Reset button (at the bottom of the right side Panel area) will reset the photo to the current default settings, which does include the current default Process Version. You can also change the Process Version using the Process pop-up menu in the Camera Calibration panel.

camera calibration On the topic of the Camera Calibration panel, you may also want to consider the Camera Profile being used, as that can have a big impact on the color and contrast of the initial rendering of the photo. That said, a great many of my oldest family photos are in JPEG format. If you expand the Camera Calibration panel and see Embedded selected in the Profile pop-up menu, it means you have a non-RAW photo selected. As such, you can’t change the camera profile. There’s still plenty Lightroom can do to adjust a JPEG, but you’ll not have the same latitude for adjusting white balance, recovering highlights, or dealing with noise as you would with a RAW original. If you do have a RAW photo selected, then you should see some other Profile choices, such as Adobe Standard, Camera Standard, Camera Landscape,

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Camera Portrait, and so on. If you have a RAW photo

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from an older camera, you may also see some names like ACR 4.6, Camera D2X Mode 1, or something else, but don’t be confused by this. At one point in the past, the naming conventions for camera profiles weren’t as standardized as they are now, but the important thing to know is that Lightroom will only show the correct Profiles for the selected photo and no others (you may have fewer or more profiles than what is shown here). So, any profile listed is fair game for that photo, and you should give each a try to get a feel for how it affects the photo.

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cropping With your Process Version updated, and potentially a better camera profile, I often find that a lot of older photos are vastly improved with a good crop. Cropping can remove distracting elements around the edges, can be used to straighten lopsided photos, or maybe you just need to change the aspect ratio to fit the print size you want to make. It’s also worth noting that the histogram reflects the area within the crop, so cropping out an area with blown-out highlights will change the histogram accordingly. For example, here’s a photo of me and my son gazing at each other. The photo is totally crooked, full of noise, poorly exposed, and has blown-out highlights, but I love it. This was taken back in 2001 on our first digital camera (a 3MP Kodak), so the file size is small and the noise is high even though it’s only ISO 400. I don’t care about the noise, but let’s see what a little cropping can do. Pressing the R key is the fastest way to jump to the Crop Overlay tool, but you can also click its icon under the Histogram panel. Because this photo is so crooked, my first move is to click the Auto button in the Crop & Straighten options to see if Lightroom can automatically straighten it out, which will also crop the photo as part of the process. With one click I straightened the photo and cropped out the blown-out highlights in the upper-right corner, which resulted in a tighter composition on the most important elements in the scene. Another good use for cropping is when you find a photo with a dead-center subject in a landscapeoriented photo and feel it would work better as a tight portrait-oriented photo, instead. With the Crop Overlay tool selected, press the X key to swap the orientation of the aspect ratio (this works for

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cropping a horizontal out of a portrait, too).

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rotating These days, digital cameras have a built-in means to determine which orientation the camera was held when the photo was taken. The information is written into the photo’s metadata so that programs like Lightroom can automatically rotate the photo to display it correctly; however, this was not true of early digital cameras. If you scan through Grid view in the Library module, and come across photos lying on their sides, you can easily rotate them all together. Just select all of the photos that need to be rotated the same amount in the same direction while in Grid view (press-and-hold the Command [PC: Ctrl] key to select non-contiguous photos, or press-andhold the Shift key to select the first and last photo in a continuous row). Then, click the correct rotational arrow that appears on the thumbnail, or choose the desired option from the Photo menu, to quickly rotate them all at once.

red eye reduction The only time I seem to reach for the Red Eye Correc­ tion tool is with those old family photos taken during parties and holidays when the camera just gets passed around to family members. Over time, these can be some of the most fun photos you have. Lightroom’s Red Eye Correction tool doesn’t have a keyboard shortcut, so you’ll have to click its icon under the Histogram panel to enable it. Once enabled, click-and-drag from the center of the red eye, and then release your mouse once you get outside the eye. Lightroom automatically attempts to detect the red and apply a correction. You can

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then use the Pupil Size and Darken sliders to refine

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the adjustment. Once I’ve done the first eye, I usually just click on the second eye to use the same size circle I created previously.

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Our pets are people, too, so don’t let a demonic dog or cat ruin an otherwise memorable keepsake. With the Red Eye Correction tool enabled, click the Pet Eye tab in the tool options to switch over to the new feature added in Lightroom CC. The original Red Eye Correction tool doesn’t work on the yellow/green eyes we see in our dogs and cats, but this new addition can improve the situation. It isn’t perfect, so don’t expect miracles, but it can tone down a laser yellow eye to save the photo. The Pet Eye option will only let you adjust the Pupil Size after the correction is made, so you can’t darken it any further; however, it does have the option to add a catchlight, which can give life to what otherwise may look like a dead black hole after

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the correction. ■

085 ALL IMAGES BY ROB SYLVAN

Maximum Workflow

imagenomic portraiture BY SEAN McCORMACK

While Photoshop is definitely the king of high-end retouching, it’s possible to do quite a lot of beauty retouching in Lightroom and get a professional result. It does take a lot of time and care, though. Often, you may need to get photos out quickly, or process a lot of images, be it for a client, or even for friends and family, so you don’t have the time. This is where a product such as Portraiture from Imagenomic excels.

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As well as offering a lot of control over the amount of smoothing of skin, Portraiture provides an effective masking system, meaning only the skin itself is being worked on, leaving the rest of the image alone. Portraiture is available for both Photoshop and Lightroom. The main difference with the Photoshop version is that it allows the plug-in results to be saved to a layer with a transparency mask, something not possible with Lightroom because Lightroom doesn’t handle layers directly. With a little care, this isn’t an issue; it just means refining the mask more inside the plug-in.

installation Portraiture has a straightforward installa-

tion process. You begin with Lightroom closed (this is so the Export presets and Edit In plug-ins are active when Lightroom is launched). Run the installer, select the installation location, and off you go. When you launch Lightroom, Portraiture now appears as an option in the Photo>Edit In menu, as well as in the Export To dropdown menu in the Export dialog. Using the Edit In menu is best for automatically returning to Lightroom and stacking the edited image with the original. Portraiture will work with TIFFs or JPEGs, as well as 16-bit or 8-bit files (note that JPEG is always 8 bit).

getting started with portraiture Portraiture is great for skin smoothing and provides a fast way of improving portraits. to Portraiture, you need to do general cleanup on the skin in Lightroom—remove major blemishes and do any basic corrections to the image, like Exposure and Contrast, giving Portraiture the best file possible to work with.

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What it’s not is a magic bullet. Before going

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layout As with most plug-ins, Portraiture has a central image area surrounded by panels. The left panel area is where the settings and presets reside, while the right panel area shows the mask preview, images in a batch process, and the Navigator panel. Use the Navigator panel to move around the image once zoomed in. At the top, there are Preview controls (which we’ll cover later) and, at the bottom, there’s a Zoom slider and a drop-down menu with fixed zoom levels. Use these to zoom into the image.

presets At the top of the left panel area, under Settings, is the Preset drop-down menu. From here, you can choose from a range of predefined settings based on their descriptions. Default or Smoothing: Normal make for a good start when you’re getting familiar with the plug-in. To create your own preset (which will appear in the Preset menu, under Custom Presets), click Save (above the menu). Click on the Presets button (to the right of Save) to open the Preset Manager. Here, you can delete, rename, add notes, or even import and export presets.

detail smoothing In this panel, you decide how the skin is processed. There are three sliders that split the skin into different ranges: Fine, Medium, and Large. Fine controls pores and skin detail, Large controls the low frequency detail—the general skin tone and

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evenness—and Medium controls the features in

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the middle. Threshold controls the strength of the effect—0 does nothing, while 40 applies the most. You can reset each to 0 by double-clicking on the slider name. You can also use the Portrait Size dropdown menu to change the strength of the effect. Different output sizes have different requirements. What looks good for a large print might be far too smooth at a smaller size. If you want to retain good skin detail, use the Default preset, but bring the Fine slider back to

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around –6 to –8 so it’s not as strong on pores. The best way

Mask Preview panel on the right, as you hover the eyedropper

to get a feel for each slider is to view them at minimum and

over the skin to find the best selection point. You may not

maximum levels (which can be done with Preview Bracketing,

be able to get the entire skin range, but that’s okay. You can

which we’ll look at later).

add more tones to the selection by choosing the Expand Mask Color eyedropper (the second eyedropper). Avoid getting hair or the eyes in the selection, if possible.

The plug-in applies adjustments to the whole image, but uses

You can also use the sliders at the bottom of the panel to

a mask to prevent areas from being affected. By and large,

refine the colors further. Saturation refines by intensity of color,

you only want Portraiture to work on just the subject’s skin.

Luminance by the brightness (so it can be used to exclude dark

Click the On button (at the top of the panel) to activate the

hair), while Latitude controls the size of the outline in the box.

mask. Auto (to the left of the On button) is used by default

At the top of the panel, there are three other sliders: Feath-

and includes all areas that fit into the range of tones covered

ering, Opacity, and Fuzziness. Feathering controls the edge of

by skin. If you look at the figure for Detail Smoothing, you can

the mask. Opacity controls the mask transparency—at 0%, no

see that this can often include hair, so you may need to refine

mask is applied, and the whole image is processed; at 100%,

the mask manually.

the mask is used. Generally, you want this at 100%. Fuzziness

In the middle of the Skin Tones Mask panel are two gradi-

controls the range of colors around the selected colors that get

ent boxes. The larger one shows the range of skin colors in the

included in the mask. If you’re having issues with too many

current photo, with the white outline representing the mask

colors being selected, reduce Fuzziness to decrease these.

colors. The smaller box below is a slider that contains a larger

Once you start to make mask changes, the menu at the top

map of skin colors from pink to yellow. You can drag this

of the panel will change from Auto to Custom. There’s one

slider manually, or use the Hue slider to change it.

other option in this menu, Last Used, which uses the settings

The best way to set the skin is to use the Pick Mask Color

from the previously processed image. Finally, the Show Mask

eyedropper (the first eyedropper to the right of the smaller

options in the middle of the panel are used to change the main

box) to select the skin. As a general rule, the area between the

Preview area to a black or white mask. Personally, I use neither

eyebrows is a good representation of the face color. Watch the

and rely on the visual feedback in the Mask Preview panel.

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skin tones mask

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enhancements The final panel on the left is Enhancements. You apply these only to the skin by turning on the Use Mask checkbox. Sharpness and Softness are global and ignore the mask. Sharpness sharpens the whole image; Softness adds a glow to the image, not unlike the old tights-in-front-of-the-lens trick. This look isn’t as popular as it once was, though. Warmth will warm, or cool, the skin tone. Tint adds magenta to the left, or green to the right to counteract the opposite color in the skin. For pink skin, adding a slight green tint can help it. Brightness will lighten or darken the skin, and Contrast will define the skin edges more or flatten out the tones.

previews and bracketing At the top center, there are Preview options. From here, you can choose a single after view, a top/ bottom before/after view, or a left/right before/ after view. That’s not all, though. By clicking Add Preview, you can add a new preview tab based on the current settings. You can then change these settings and compare it to the first preview, which will have retained its settings. This is great if you’re not sure about a particular setting—you can create a new preview, change the settings, and then compare them. Use the arrow buttons to move between previews, or click on the down-facing arrow to see the settings that are changed between the current preview and the others. You can have up to 100 pre­views at a time. Bracketing is a variation on this. Click on Bracketing to bring up the Parameter Bracketing dialog. › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › m a r c h 2 0 1 6

Here, select a parameter you want to see in different

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setting amounts, select the number of previews you want, and the step gap between each one (i.e., the amount of the Parameter setting you want changed with each preview). The final options here are Fast Preview or Accurate. Fast Preview is good enough for general use.

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saving To save the edit back to Lightroom, click OK near the top right. To cancel the job, click Cancel (note that you’ll still have an unedited TIFF file in Lightroom if you cancel, as this has to be generated for the plug-in to save it).

batch editing One feature that’s handy in Portraiture is the ability to edit a range of images at once. In Lightroom’s Grid view (G), select the images to edit, choose Edit In>­ Imagenomic Portraiture from the Photo menu, and the images will load into Portraiture. To navigate between images, use the arrow buttons, or select a filename from the drop-down menu right above the Mask Preview panel. If the filenames aren’t helpful, you can change to a thumbnail preview instead. The settings will apply to all the images initially, but you can go in and edit any image without affecting the others. This means you can get a general edit done, and then tweak individual photos as needed before saving back to Lightroom.

final comments Imagenomic Portraiture is probably one of my favorite skin smoothing plug-ins, which is great when you’re in a hurry and don’t need a high-end retouch. When used with Lightroom, you have to nail the skin mask, because there’s no way to erase or mask out a layer like you can in Photoshop. So, that just means doing a good job with your selection and refining. Remember to always prepare the best file possible before going to the Portraiture

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Before/After

091 ALL IMAGES BY SEAN McCORMACK

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&

Questions Answers I have a long list of collections in my Collections panel, but I use the same few collections most of the time. Is there a way to have easier access to them without scrolling through a long list, or changing their names to put them at the top of the list? You can mark your most-used collections as Favorites, and then you can jump directly to them from the pop-up menu at the top left of the Filmstrip. You add them in the same place—click on the collection you want to set as a favorite, and then click on that menu and choose Add to Favorites. Now that collection will appear in this pop-up menu, in the Favorite Sources section, so it’s always just one click away.

SCOTT KELBY

that stuff to Lightroom 6, but they never said they would. In fact, they said from the start that the only way to have all the new features is to subscribe, and you get new features as soon as they’re released. That’s the whole advantage of the Creative Cloud. Not to mention that the $10 a month isn’t just for Lightroom—you the get full, most-current version of Photoshop, too. That’s no small thing.

If I convert an image to black and white, and then make some edits to it, when I do a before/ after, the Before image returns to the color image instead of the black and white. So, it’s hard for me to compare my black-and-white edits to the original black-and-white conversion. Is there a way around this? There sure is. Go to the History panel, Right-click on the Convert to Black & White state and, from the pop-up menu that appears, choose Copy History Step Settings to Before. Now, your original black-and-white conversion becomes the Before image.

I know you can easily see a before/after of all your changes to an image, but is there a way to see a before/after of just a particular set of changes? Like if I use the Adjustment Brush, is there a way I can see what the image looked like before I used it?

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ALL IMAGES BY SCOTT KELBY

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I’m thinking of switching from Elements to Lightroom, but I did the math and it makes more sense for me to buy Lightroom 6, instead of subscribing to Lightroom for $10 a month, right? Well, that depends on what’s important to you. I personally wouldn’t recommend that you buy Lightroom 6 because it’s

You bet. When you have the Adjustment Brush active, scroll down to the very bottom of the panel, and you’ll see a little toggle switch on the left. It’s in the up (on) position. Click on it to toggle it off, and it only turns off the visibility of the changes you made with the Adjustment Brush—everything else you did up until that point will still be visible, just the Adjustment Brush edits will all be hidden. When you’re done, click it again to toggle the visibility back on.

and after you get a little bit into it, you’ll start asking things like,

Is there a way to see my image full screen without having to hide all the panels manually?

“Where’s the Dehaze feature,” or “Why can’t I sync my images

Yes, there is. Just press the letter F on your keyboard and Light-

to LR mobile,” or “Where’s the Pano Boundary Wrap feature?”

room will hide all of the panels for you and take your image full

People get pretty upset that Adobe doesn’t go back and add

screen. Press F, again, to return back to normal.

already pretty outdated software (missing all the latest features),

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How can I find the images in my Library that don’t have my copyright info embedded into them and, once I do, how would I add it now after the fact?

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to the Catalog panel and click on All Photographs, so you’re

In the Print module, I’m working on some pages for a wedding album, and I want to backscreen an image so I can put some text over it. I know there’s a way it can be done in Photoshop (everything can be done in Photoshop, right?), but is there a way to do that in Lightroom?

searching your entire photo catalog. Then, hit the \ (Backslash)

Absolutely, and it’s easier than you’d think. First, I’d recommend

key on your keyboard, so the Filter Bar appears at the top of the

making a virtual copy of the image you want to backscreen

thumbnail grid. Click on Metadata, and then click directly on the

(press Command-‘ [apostrophe; PC: Ctrl-‘]) so the original is

title at the top of the first column (it probably says “Date”) to

separate. Then, go to the Develop module, to the Tone Curve

It’s a simple two-step process: (1) In the Library module, first go

bring up a pop-up menu of choices. Choose Copyright Status from this pop-up menu, and now in that first column it displays how many images you have, how many are copyrighted, and how many are unknown. Click on Unknown to have just your images that don’t have copyright embedded into them visible. Next, (2) press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to Select All the images, then go to the Metadata panel and, from the Preset pop-up menu, choose your copyright. Instantly, all those selected images now have your copyright info embedded right into them.

panel, and click on the little icon in the bottom-right corner until you no longer see the three triangles under the curve grid. Now, click on the bottom left of the curve and drag straight upward (as shown here) and it backscreens the image. The higher you drag, the lighter the backscreen becomes. Now you can take that backscreened image over to the Print module and add text

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over it there. ■

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TipsTricks

SEÁN DUGGAN

The metadata associated with our images can be a powerful tool for working with our image archive. Although cameragenerated metadata can provide interesting ways to search your image catalog, it’s the metadata that you add to your images that has the most meaning in terms of the value that you attach to images (i.e., star ratings and flags), as well as

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how they might be useful for future projects (keywords and

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collections). Keywords can be some of the most important

on the card. Then, once the images are imported into your cata-

user-added metadata and this issue, we’ll take a look at some

log, you can add additional keywords to further identify specific

essential keyword strategy and functionality in Lightroom.

locations and events.

in the beginning: basic keywords

post-import keywording

At the most basic level, keywords can help you find images, so

Once images have been imported, you can then apply more

you should think about what words or terms come to mind for

image-specific keywords. Let’s say you have a card full of

an image or group of photos and use those as a starting point. At

images taken at several locations in California. The basic loca-

a minimum, you should add keywords for the location where an

tion keyword of “California” would have been applied on

image was made, the event it portrays, or, if you’re photograph-

import. Now you can apply more specific location keywords to

ing people, the name of the subjects. You might also consider

the rest of the images. Start broad, with keywords that can be

tagging files with the client name or job number if that makes

added at the same time to larger groups of images, and then

sense for your business.

narrow the focus, working with progressively smaller groups of

The number of keywords, and what type of keywords, you apply to your photos depends on how you use your images. Wedding and portrait photographers might only need the names of the clients, or the location of the event venue. Stock photographers, or those who supply photos for editorial purposes, or use their images for illustrations, may find that more detailed keywords add more value to their image catalog. This value can be measured in personal terms (i.e., keywords make it much easier to find the images you want), as well as potential future financial value (a keyworded image is more likely to be found in the future if you’re searching for a specific type of shot for an assignment).

images. The idea here is to apply a keyword to as many images

apply keywords on import

as you can before moving on to the next group of images and the next keyword.

batch apply keywords in grid view In Grid view, select all the thumbnails that are from the same place, such as San Francisco, for example, and then use the shortcut Command-K (PC: Ctrl-K) to activate the keyword field in the Library module’s Keywording panel. Type in a relevant keyword, and that single keyword will be applied to all the selected images. Then, move on to the next batch of images taken at a different location. For some locations, you may be able to enter several keywords at once to both identify the location and describe some of its primary characteristics (i.e., Golden Gate Bridge, landmark).

Good keywording practices can be implemented at the very

Once the different locations have been keyworded, you can apply

beginning of the Lightroom workflow by applying keywords in

any other relevant keywords that might help you both identify

the Apply During Import panel on the right side of the Import

and find the images in the future (i.e., San Francisco Bay, ocean,

dialog. There are likely to be only a few keywords that will work

shipping, transportation, etc.).

for all of the images you’re importing from a single card, such as those that reference a general location or an event, but any

keywords for future use

information applied here can be useful in locating photos down

As previously mentioned, how you use and search for your

the road. Even if there are several locations or shooting days on

images (or how potential clients might search for them) should

the card, you might be able to apply a couple of very general

be something to keep in mind when it comes to how detailed to

location keywords (i.e., city, state) that work for all the images

get with your keywording. If you photograph for stock, or just

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want to be able to find an image based on the content or activ-

working with the keyword list

ity pictured in the scene (i.e., hiking, skateboarding), then you’ll

Below the Keywording panel is the Keyword List panel. This

likely want to get much more specific with your keywords.

displays an alphabetical list of all the keywords used in your

the “while i’m in here” keywording strategy

catalog, as well as a count of how many images are tagged with a specific keyword. But, it’s not just a list, it’s also a way to apply keywords, and at the top of the list you can filter them by

Whenever I find myself working in a folder of images that have

searching for a specific term.

not been keyworded, or that have only minimal keywords, if

You can also filter images by keyword by clicking on the number to the right of a keyword. This will display all the images with that keyword (even if you’re not currently working in the folder where those images are). To add or remove a keyword in the list to or from selected thumbnails, simply turn on or off the checkbox to the left of a keyword (use Grid view when you want to apply changes to multiple images). Right-click on a keyword and you’ll get a drop-down menu with additional keyword options.

the time allows, I’ll take a few minutes and add more detailed keywords to those images. Sometimes, this inspires me to add keywords to images in some of the nearby folders. And it feels so good once it’s done!

take advantage of the “without keywords” smart collection Lightroom provides a handful of smart collections to get you started with a very useful way of automatically organizing images (smart collections are populated when certain metadata criteria are met). One option is for images that do not have any keywords. If you have some extra time, and want to spend it by showing some keyword love to your image archive, this is a great place to start!

use keyword sets for common keywords Keywords Sets are a great way to create a set of nine frequently used keywords. To get you started, Lightroom already has three sets for outdoor, portrait, and wedding photography in the Keyword Set drop-down menu in the Keywording panel. If you press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, you’ll see numbers appear next to the keywords in the active set. These numbers reference the keyboard shortcut that can be used with the Option (PC: Alt) key to apply the keywords. To create a new set,

create your own keyword groups Try to think of how keywords can be arranged in logical, nested groups that make sense. To create a nested keyword group, simply Right-click on a keyword and choose Create Keyword Tag Inside “Keyword.” The most common way that many people chose to implement nested keyword groups is for locations. As with other keywording approaches, the “start broad and then narrow the focus” strategy works here. For instance, my keyword group for Oregon locations is arranged like this: North America>USA>Oregon>Place Name>More Detailed Place Name. For an image taken in the Japanese Garden in Portland, the nested keyword group looks like this: North America>USA> Oregon>Portland>Japanese Garden. ■

choose one of the existing sets, and then choose Edit Set from › › k e l b yo n e . c o m

the drop-down menu. In the Edit Keyword Set dialog, enter new keywords, as needed, and then choose Save Current Settings as New Preset from the Preset drop-down menu. Now, select an image(s), and then click on a keyword in the Keyword Set section or use the shortcut of Option-1–9 (PC: Alt-1–9) to apply it to the selected photo(s). ALL IMAGES BY SÉAN DUGGAN

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Product Reviews  SC Labs D ChromaMatch Pro Color Reference Charts Provide High Dynamic Range and Easy Viewing on a Vectorscope Review by Erik Vlietinck

DSC Labs’ ChromaDuMonde color charts are the industry standard for color reference charts in the video and movie industry. The company has a new range of less expensive and easy-touse ChromaMatch Pro and ChromaMatch Lt charts. Instead of a rectangular ordering of the color chips, the patches on these charts have an outward radiating arrangement and come with a digital reference PNG image file. Even if you have no experience with color calibration for video, ChromaMatch charts are quite

the color patches precisely in the corresponding boxes of a stan-

intuitive to use. I had a chance to try a ChromaMatch Pro Handy

dard vectorscope, saving a lot of time.

size chart ($560).

the gloss creates reflections that may hinder the correct record-

stringent needs for quality and durability, and the ChromaMatch

ing of the colors. By closely following the guidelines of the

charts are made to the same specifications (calibrated to Rec.

included data sheet and experimenting a bit, I managed to get a

709) and with the same color pigments. In contrast with other

perfect shot when using video lights. In daylight, you’d need to

reference chart brands, the larger models of these charts have

find the right angle for the chart to face the camera in order to

an aluminum frame where the color patches sit behind a glossy

avoid most reflections.

laminated layer, while the smaller charts are made of black

DSC Labs also makes white balance and focus charts, as well as

acrylic. The glossy laminate is not there just for show: glossy colors

smaller charts, such as the acrylic ChromaSelfie ($95) to calibrate

have a bigger dynamic range and color gamut.

still cameras and smartphones. This pocket-sized chart has a color

The ChromaMatch Pro has more colors and is made to tighter

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tolerances than the ChromaMatch Lt. Just like their ChromaDu-

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Shooting the chart proved to be challenging at first, because

The ChromaDuMonde charts fulfill videographers’ most

side that’s specifically tuned for skin tones, and on the flip side, a so-called Fiddlehead Focus that lets you focus your camera.

Monde siblings, these charts come in a large range of sizes. The

Another novelty is the Print-a-Match color wheel to evaluate

Handy size I tested is about the same size as a large model X-Rite

and adjust color printers. The Print-a-Match comes with a digital

ColorChecker. The acrylic ChromaMatch Pro Handy features

reference file that you print, and then you visually compare the

11-step modified EIA grayscale levels, true black chips, 18 evenly

printout to the reference chart. Differences can be corrected in

spaced intermediate ChromaDuMonde vector colors, four skin-

the printer settings.

tone reference patches, and six wide-gamut colors. You could

One problem with the latter is that the evaluation of a print-

theoretically use these charts to calibrate photo cameras as well,

out can’t be more than approximate, because you don’t know

but they’re optimized for video and film shooting. They include

the expected RGB values of the reference chart. For office print-

16:9 (1.78) and 4:3 framing bow ties, and motion-picture fram-

ers, that’s okay; but for serious photography, I’d stick with a

ing lines for 2.35, 1.85, and 90% of 1.85.

spectrophotometer. Interestingly, these small charts have the

The ChromaMatch Pro comes with a digital reference color

same layout as the ChromaMatch charts. ■

wheel, which is a PNG image of the color wheel in the center of the actual reference chart. The image file has an alpha layer so you can display the PNG on top of a shot of the actual chart, then you can easily correct colors by matching the two with the help of a vectorscope. Both the ChromaDuMonde and the Chroma­ Match charts have a color arrangement that automatically places

Company: DSC Labs

Price: from $320 (Pocket size)

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ Hot: 18 ChromaDuMonde & 6 vector colors; 4 skin-tone reference patches Not:

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 ffordable Cyc A Wall Systems Install a Custom Cyc Wall with Lightweight Modular Components Review by Michael Corsentino

What in blazes is a cyc wall and why do I even want one? Cycloramas, Cycs, Cyc Walls, and Infinity Walls are different names for a rigid, super-smooth, curved radius that seamlessly connects a studio’s walls and floor without revealing any corners, thereby creating a sense of infinity. These are traditionally painted white or green for chroma-key video work. In addition to a supersmooth background, they provide considerably more width to work with than rolls of seamless background paper. They can also be constructed in myriad shapes that incorporate coves in their corners. With a cyc wall, you’re limited only by your space and budget. I’ve wanted a cyc wall in my studio for years; however, having one built for me was a costly proposition and building one myself seemed like a gargantuan task. Without the tools, time and expertise, you’re looking at a costly investment (for tools) and a steep learning curve. As I learned (watching countless DIY videos on YouTube), there’s very little room for error in a properly constructed cyc wall. Happily, I found a great prefab solution manufactured and offered by Affordable Cyc Wall Systems Inc. This solid polystyrene

system is modular, arriving in sections that can be installed easily and quickly by one or two people with minimal DIY skills and tools. Better still, the entire install and finishing process takes just a few days. This system also differs from traditional wood and drywall cyc walls in some important and significant ways. First and foremost, the system is as tough as it is lightweight. No one is breaking or cracking this solid polystyrene cyc by stepping on it—a big issue with traditional cycs. Properly installed, the Affordable Cyc Wall System can also be uninstalled at a later date to use elsewhere. Again, none of this is possible with traditional cycs. ■ Company: Affordable Cyc Wall Systems

Price: From $2,000

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ Hot: Easy, fast install; tough & lightweight; can be removed & reused Not: May be price-prohibitive for some

Epson SureColor P400 Printer Versatile Wide-Format Inkjet Printer Epson’s SureColor P400 is a 13" wide-format printer that uses eight cartridges: five color cartridges, a matte black, a photoblack, and a gloss optimizer cartridge to reduce gloss differential. It uses UltraChrome HG2 inks, a different pigment ink formulation than used in the other SureColor printers. Its ink formulation and archival properties are similar to Epson’s R2000 printer. The SureColor P400 ships with high-quality ICC paper profiles, and switches from matte or photo-black ink based on your paper profile selection. The results were impressive when I made test prints using a standardized reference test target. Colors are vibrant, saturated, and accurate; flesh tones are subtle; gray tone patches were distinct; and the P400 produced a deep black. With a maximum print resolution of 5760x1400 and a variable droplet size down to 1.5 picoliters, prints are full of detail, and produce smooth gradients. The P400 is designed for color, not black-andwhite printing. Using a single black cartridge necessitates using the color inks to create neutral tones resulting in occasional colorcasts. The P400 has four reliable paper feeds. The top-loading automatic sheet feed has a sturdy telescoping support and holds more than 100 sheets, depending on stock. A rear singlesheet feed is for thicker fine art papers up to 1.3mm. It also has

a rear roll-paper feed and a front manual feed for heavy stock such as poster board. Because of its design using built-in paper guides, rubberized paper grips, and well-devised paper paths, I didn’t experience a single paper skew. The front telescoping output tray is sturdy. The P400 can handle sheet paper from 4x6" to 13x19" and rolls up to 13" wide. The P400 will also print panoramics up to 129" long, and it has Ethernet, USB 2.0, and Wi-Fi connectivity. Epson’s SureColor P400 A3 might be entry level, but its color print quality is strictly high end. ■ Company: Epson America, Inc. Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ Hot: P aper handling; print quality Not: Not for heavy production situations; no LCD

Price: $599.99

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Review by Steve Baczewski

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REVIEWS

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 hase One P 100MP Digital Back It’s the Details That Count! Review by Michael Corsentino

I recently had the opportunity to shoot Phase One’s brand-new 100MP digital back during a fashion shoot in Los Angeles. I can tell you first-hand that the files are nothing short of stunning. You just can’t argue with 100 megapixels of detail, a full-frame CMOS medium-format sensor, 15 stops of dynamic range, and 16-bit color. Combined with Phase One’s also recently released XF Camera body (reviewed in Photoshop User, September 2015), this system represents the pinnacle of drool-worthy gear. This full-frame, CMOS-based, medium-format digital back is a first-of-its-kind in many respects: resolution, sensor size, and ISO. One might expect that capturing and writing 100-megapixel files would make for potentially sluggish performance, but in my experience that was anything but true. The Phase One 100MP digital back is positively zippy! I certainly never had to wait around for it to catch up with my fast-paced shooting. Because the 100MP is CMOS, it enjoys all the benefits and modern digital capture conveniences we’ve come to know and love with DSLRs. Except now they’re in a medium-format body with a sensor nearly twice the size and the phenomenal image quality that medium format is known for. The ISO range is an amazing 50–12,800, another first for a medium-format digital back, while capture, buffer, and write speeds are all lickety-split.

You might question whether 100 megapixels is overkill, but it’s kind of like being too rich or too skinny. Whether you need it or not, everybody wants it. What I do wonder is where Phase One goes from here? Does anyone really need more than 100 megapixels? Moreover, are the available lens optics up to snuff once the 100-megapixel threshold is crossed? Knowing Phase One, they’ve got it covered. It will certainly be interesting to see what’s next. I’m hopeful in time that we’ll see 50-, 60-, and 80-megapixel options from Phase One to round out their fullframe CMOS offerings. ■ Company: Phase One

Price: $48,900 (body with Schneider Kreuznach 80mm LS lens)

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ Hot: 1 00 megapixels; ISO from 50–12,800 Not: Pricey tool; however, you can finance or rent

VAIO Z Canvas Tablet Windows PC

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Review by Daniel M. East

098

Sure, an all-in-one tablet and computer combination device may be a great idea for some design and photo professionals who work in the field, but to be useful, it requires a balance of the most appropriate size, features, weight, and durability. Most importantly, it requires an accurate and easy-to-see display to ensure that your images look their best. Enter the VAIO Z Canvas (formerly from Sony) that boasts a lot of power and features, but with a heavier weight and a higher price tag. While performance is impressive, it’s on par with other Intel i7-based systems running Windows 10. Its Iris Pro graphics chip stands up well to CC applications, and the display has the superior Sony quality that’s a favorite of many professionals. Unfortunately, in spite of the wide HD 3:2 aspect ratio, the 2560x1704 resolution on this 12.3" display is only that of a small laptop. The only real difference is that, like a tablet, the keyboard is removable and it has a touch screen. Another stumbling point is that, in spite of having many ports (SD, HDMI, USB, etc.), the network RJ-45 port requires a flimsy pull-down hatch that doesn’t feel at all secure with the cable. The upside is impressive Wi-Fi reception from the Canvas Z. Also,

the power cable connector is large and doesn’t sit well in the power port, and you’ll find that you’ll need to charge this powerhouse PC more frequently than most tablets. At what point is the hybrid PC better than a small laptop? They’re nearly the same. If you need the full power of a PC, you may find that this display size, in spite of its quality, is not adequate for professional applications. The VAIO Canvas Z is as heavy as many full-size laptops and the responsiveness of the touch screen isn’t as good as the competition. ■ Company: VAIO Corporation

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ Hot: Screen clarity; performance; connectivity Not: Bulky; small screen for design/photo

Price: from $2,199

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 pson PictureMate PM-400 E Personal Photo Lab Compact Photo Lab

Review by Steve Baczewski

The Epson PictureMate PM-400 is a compact portable printer that delivers quality color and black-and-white photos on glossy and plain paper. It’s a little bigger than a box of cigars, weighs 4 lbs, and produces borderless 3.5x5", 4x6", and 5x7" prints. The PM-400 uses a single four-color (CMYK) dye ink cartridge. It can print via Wi-Fi from your computer, smartphone, or tablet, and directly with its built-in SD card slot and USB port for a flash drive. I downloaded Epson’s iPrint app to my iPhone, took some pictures, and within 40 seconds had my first postcard-size print. Its mobility and spontaneity make it ideal for events like family gatherings and holidays, and to fill family photo albums, refrigerator doors, and scrapbooks. The instant gratification is seductive but also very practical as a tool for professional photographers to quickly assess composition and lighting in the studio. In the 1970s, professional photographers commonly shot a 4x5 Polaroid before committing to 4x5 film on a shoot. Sadly, the PM-400 has no carrying handle or an optional battery pack, which would extend its mobility to make prints in the field, and it requires AC power. Two other warnings: When printing from a flash drive or SD card, the 2.7" tiltable LCD is too small for ideal previewing of images; and the image-editing features in the PM-400 are limited to red-eye reduction, sharpening,

cropping, and auto picture enhancement. Printing times varied within a range of 35 seconds to 1 minute for borderless 4x6" prints. Images from USB drives and SD cards printed faster than over Wi-Fi. Epson’s PM-400 is well designed for spur-of-the-moment printing, and it delivers beautiful prints; however, at a cost of $199.99 and 40¢ per print, this convenience is expensive. ■ Company: Epson America, Inc.

Price: $199.99

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ Hot: C ompact mobile printer; photo quality Not: Expensive; no battery option

Strata Design 3D CX 8.1 Fast Render Speed & Stage Modeling Save Time Strata Design 3D CX 8 is focused on animation and 3D model design. The latest version (8.1, the Winter 2015–16 release) has Intel’s Embree Raycasting Technology to speed up rendering by 800%, and a template system based on predefined stage settings. With Strata Design 3D CX 8, you can create beautiful 3D objects and scenes, architecture, and even interior design; however, some functionality that you’ll find in heavyweights is lacking. For example, a script language, such as Python, isn’t available. Also, there are no sculpting or effects like particles that you can create within Strata Design 3D CX 8—and that’s part of its appeal. Focusing on modeling makes Strata Design 3D CX 8 incredibly fast and the new Embree Raycasting Technology, which has been integrated directly into the Strata rendering engine, provides an overall speed increase of up to eight times that of the previous release. The new engine is also credited with improving image quality through better anti-aliasing. With the Winter 2015–16 release, Strata was also able to refine how Design 3D anti-aliases images by going into darker and broader color areas. My own favorite new feature is the Stage Model, which really makes it easy to take a finished model and stage it without first having to create a complete environment for it. The Stage Model

has close to 30 professionally created templates. To view your model in one of them, all you need to do is select a menu item, choose the stage, and set two configuration options. You can tell Design 3D whether you want to have your model automatically scale to the template and if you’d like it to rotate to face the camera. The Stage Model includes templates for retail shelves, but you can also create your own environments for use with future projects. ■ Company: Strata 3D Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ Hot: Speed; rendering quality; Stage Model Not:

Price: from $595

› › k e l byo n e . c o m

Review by Erik Vlietinck

099

BOOK REVIEWS

PETER BAUER

› ›

The Simple Guide to Great Photography: Easy Tips & Tricks for Photographing Children, Family, Pets, Cars, & More!

Maximizing Profits: A Practical Guide for Portrait Photographers

› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › m a r c h 2 0 1 6

By Lori Nordstrom

100

By April Bryant

Nicely illustrated with many of the author’s own photos, mostly of children, this book is definitely aimed at portrait photographers. That’s not to say that an architectural or landscape photographer won’t find some good common sense advice here. Much of the book is devoted to establishing relationships with clients and marketing. Repeat business as children grow depends almost entirely on your relationship with the parents. On the same side of the coin, having a great relationship with a real estate agent is critical for a real estate photographer to count on repeat business from that client. The author also has some specific advice on pricing and budgeting. This book is best for photographers just starting out and for those having trouble maintaining profitability. (The Kindle version was read for this review. Kindle books can now be read on Apple iPads and computers, using an app from the Apple App Store.)

A very short, quick read, the author touches on and briefly explains most of the basics of photography. This is a great book to give to someone just starting to make photographic images or someone who has been taking images for years, but never takes the camera setting off Auto. The author writes in a clear and comfortable voice, never making any subject seem too complicated. (Some subjects probably could have used an additional sentence or two, but nothing is really left hanging.) The author has also included a link to a website that includes a downloadable PDF that contains the 36 summary points from the eight sections (I can’t quite call them “chapters”) of the book. The PDF “Quick Reference Guide” can be printed or loaded onto a smart phone for easy, portable access to the author’s advice. (The Kindle version, which I recommend, was read for this review.)

Publisher: Amherst Media

Publisher: HPP Media & Design

Price: $34.95 (paperback); $13.49 (Kindle, Nook)

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Pages: 128

Price: $14.99 (paperback); $4.99 (Kindle)

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Pages: 72

photoshop

user

›

›

MARCH

2016

POP QUIZ! Test what you learned in this issue

Take Quiz

| fuel for creativity

COLUMN › ›

From The Advice Desk › ›

Answers to Photoshop and gear-related questions BY PETER BAUER

I photograph a lot of groups, mostly kids and teens in groups of a half dozen to twenty something. No image has every element perfect—someone’s eyes are closed or another is yawning. Any advice?—Larry

› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › m a r c h 2 0 1 6

To: Larry From: KelbyOne Advice Desk

104

Use a tripod and set your camera to shoot in burst

likely not have to scale the fix much—if at all—because

mode, using the highest number of shots available.

both shots were taken from the same distance.

And, shoot several times, as quickly as your camera

If the working image has multiple flaws, you can add

can reload (save the images to the card and be ready

fixes from a variety of other images—you don’t need to

to shoot again). In one of the shots, you may have

find one specific secondary image that has repairs for all

everything just right. Or, far more likely, you’ll find

of the flaws in your working document.

the image that has the fewest things wrong and elect

Keep in mind, too, that if the final destination for

to use it as your working document. Remember, that

the image is a relatively small print or the Web, you

since you’re using a tripod, you can work with the best

might want to shoot video. If your DSLR (or even cam-

(or “least bad”) image, along with one or more images

era phone) can shoot high-definition video, you have

that don’t have the specific problems you see in the

even more images to choose from than you do when

working document.

shooting in burst mode. In Photoshop, you can open

You can, for example, use the Clone Stamp tool (S)

the video, view it frame by frame in the Timeline panel,

to copy open eyes from another shot over closed eyes

and then select a frame to use as your working docu-

in the working document. Option-click (PC: Alt-click)

ment. One way to create that working document from a

on one eye in the second photo, switch to the working

selected frame is to use File>New to create a new image

document, add a new layer, and then drag the Clone

measuring 1280x720 pixels at 72 ppi, select the Move

Stamp tool over the closed eye. You can even copy/

tool (V), then Shift-drag the frame from the video file to

paste or clone entire heads between images. Put each

the new document.

eye or other fixes on separate layers in order to manipu-

Assuming you have a good camera and lens, and

late them individually. Or, assuming the pixels on the

the original video is properly focused, a single HD video

new layer don’t overlap, you can fine-tune the adjust-

frame can be cropped as large as 8x10" at 250 ppi. Keep

ments using the Lasso tool (L) to select the element on

in mind that 1280x720 natively scales to 10x5.625"

the layer that you need to tweak.

or 14.222x8", so some of the image will need to be

If a head in either the working document or the

cropped to create an 8x10 print. If you know you’ll want

image from which you’re adding a fix is turned or tilted

to create an 8x10 (or 4x6) print from a video, make sure

slightly, use the Edit>Transform commands to properly

to allow excess imagery around the subject, so that you

align the fix with the problem area. Using a tripod, you’ll

can crop to the desired size. ■

The KelbyOne Member ADVICE DESK

Are you taking advantage of the Advice Desk at the KelbyOne member website? This is the place where you can get all of your Photoshop and Lightroom questions answered by our Advice Desk experts. Not only that, you can get photo and computer gear help and advice, as well. What are you waiting for? Visit the Advice Desk section under My Account on the KelbyOne member site today! ■

Photoshop User magazine is the official publication of KelbyOne. Each issue features in-depth Photoshop tutorials written by the most talented designers, photographers, and leading authors in the industry. As a KelbyOne member, you automatically receive Photoshop User delivered digitally ten times a year.

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