Last summer I challenged myself to get a good photo of a kingfisher that passed by the RV many times every day. In years past the kingfisher has always eluded me as it wizzes by at record speed, coming to a sudden halt and hovering for quick second (never long enough to find it in my frame), then doing a high-speed dive into the water. It took hundreds of tries, but … [Read more...]
Getting Started with Digital Art
Making digital art is a ton of fun if you go about it the right way. It's a very experimental process, so you have to give yourself the freedom to try new things and just play without any expectations. The pieces are probably not going to fall into place immediately. It takes awhile before you get just the right combination of textures, blend modes, overlays and colour … [Read more...]
How to Load and Use Photoshop Brushes
There was a time when I only ever used the soft round brush in Photoshop to paint on a layer mask to define where I wanted a particular effect to appear. But since I’ve been exploring digital art, I’ve discovered so many more ways to use brushes. Not only can you put a paint stroke on your image, but you can use different colours, you can paint inside the stroke with … [Read more...]
Enhance Your Photos with Textures
Do you ever have a photo that you really like, but you want it to be a little … more? Or maybe you just want another version of the image that is a little different? Perhaps more dramatic and artistic looking? Adding textures is a fantastic way to get that extra depth and create a really unique look in your images. In this video I'll show you how easy it is to add … [Read more...]
5 Reasons Why Your Photos Aren’t Sharp
It is a disappointment all photographers face at some point. In fact, it is a disappointment most photographers face on every shoot! There are so many things that can go wrong, so many mistakes that can be made to cause a photograph to be blurry. It's inevitable. Here are 5 common reasons why your photos are not as sharp as you want them to be: 1. Your shutter speed is … [Read more...]
Create a Soft Dreamy Effect (the Orton Effect)
The Orton Effect is a simple technique you can use to add a soft, dreamy look to your photos. I love this effect because it has a way of making a photo magically soft and sharp at the same time. In this video, I'll show you how to create the Orton Effect using Photoshop, Lightroom, or Luminar. https://youtu.be/PWvdlYd2Blo Click here to watch the video larger on … [Read more...]
Creating Unique Photo Effects with Topaz
When it comes to post-processing, my goal is usually to enhance a photo’s best qualities while maintaining a natural look. After all, nature is stunning just as it is! But sometimes I want to take my images a bit further; I want to go beyond the natural look, maybe add a painterly effect, some texture or colour grading. That’s when I turn to the plugins from Topaz Labs in my … [Read more...]
Photo Editing Case Study: Shanghai
I'm not big on cities. But photographing cityscapes makes it all worthwhile! And Shanghai must have one of the prettiest skylines I have ever seen. When I visited China a couple of years ago, I had an extra day to explore Shanghai and get used to the time change. It was hot, muggy and raining. So when I processed this photo I decided to make an abstract impressionist version … [Read more...]