You can't always choose the lighting you shoot in, and sometimes it's just so flat that your pictures don't have any depth or intensity. It doesn't help that most digital cameras lean slightly towards overexposure in these conditions too. That's why I wanted to have a go at 'relighting' some shots I took in Paris a few years ago on a basic Nikon Coolpix compact, and I'm … [Read more...] about Try this five-second fix with a gradient and color burn blend mode in Elements
Photoshop Elements
Did you know you can save and combine selections in Elements?
Photoshop Elements is usually seen as the poor relation to Photoshop itself, but it offers many of the same high-end features if you know where to look! Photoshop has alpha channels, but Elements has 'saved selections'... You can get by perfectly well most of the time just working with one selection at a time, but there are situations where you need to combine them to create … [Read more...] about Did you know you can save and combine selections in Elements?
Three things you can do with a Photoshop Elements Gradient Map
Photoshop Elements Gradient Maps can create a wide range of effects from black and white conversions to sepia toning and colour tints, so how do they work? Gradient maps take the brightness values in the picture and 'map' them on to any gradient you choose, and this is actually rather useful. Let's say you pick a straightforward black-white gradient – the tool then maps all … [Read more...] about Three things you can do with a Photoshop Elements Gradient Map
Create a mist effect in Elements with blend modes and masks
Have you ever used a 'mist' filter with your camera? These are pretty weak – they usually produce an overall hazy glow to your pictures that doesn't look that realistic. But there is a way to create 'mist' effects in Photoshop Elements that's a lot more realistic. It uses adjustment layers, masks and blend modes, and while that might sound pretty complicated it's actually quite … [Read more...] about Create a mist effect in Elements with blend modes and masks
Get greener landscapes with an Elements adjustment layer
What I like about Photoshop Elements is firstly that it's a fraction of the price of Photoshop (and available as a 'perpetual licence') and secondly that it's quite capable of carrying out almost all the image adjustments I want to do. This is one of my favourite techniques for enhancing colours and I use it the same way in both programs. It's a common problem with … [Read more...] about Get greener landscapes with an Elements adjustment layer
Better Shadow/Highlight adjustments in Elements
Elements does have some limitations compared to Photoshop. One of these is the difference in the Shadows/Highlights tools. So is there a workaround? Yes there is... The Shadow/Highlights tool in Photoshop is designed to even up the tones in high-contrast pictures. It lightens the shadow areas and darkens the highlights by selecting these regions separately (though you don't … [Read more...] about Better Shadow/Highlight adjustments in Elements
