In an earlier SitePoint article, we talked about the importance of evoking emotion with your imagery choices. I also showed you how to nail those photography styles in Photoshop to create engaging, heartfelt designs.
This time around, I’m going to share four more eye-catching effects that can be achieved in under 10 minutes using Photoshop.
Here are the photography styles I’ll be covering today:
- Purist Effect
- Muted Black & White Effect
- DuoTone Effect
- Targeted Blur Effect
The Purist Effect
As the name implies, “The Purist” effect is at its best when people don’t even notice it’s there – like ‘natural look makeup’ for your photos.
You probably won’t be aware of any special filters or gradients going on in this image. The goal is to achieve a look that is close to SOOC (Straight Out of the Camera), while still bringing out the natural beauty of your photo.
In most cases, you’ll be tweaking the colors on the RGB curve to subtly enhance your work.
Purist effects work well with food and fashion blogs, where the imagery needs to appear authentic. You’ll also see this style used on websites that cater to any form of news (sports, local, technology, current events, etc), where the core aim is to tell a true story, as opposed to a surreal or fantastic version of your story.
Master Class: Doing it by hand
Question without notice: On an RGB screen, what happens when to your blue tones – skies and oceans – when you add more red and green to them?
Answer: They closer and closer they move to pure white. So, by the same logic, slightly reducing the red and green tones in our blue areas will make them appear cleaner and stronger. The same idea applies to the red and green areas. That’s what we’re doing here.
Step 1
First thing’s first, open up your desired image. For each of these looks, I will be using photos taken by Flickr users offering their photos under CC licensing. Photo credit: http://ift.tt/2vT1Erp
[caption id="attachment_157411" align="aligncenter" width="2048"]
Step 2
Add a new Adjustment Layer by either clicking at the bottom of your layer menu or on the side of the layer menu depending on your setup and select Curves.
Step 3
Adjust the RGB curve by setting the Output to 54 and the Input to 76. This will push the overall contrast.
Step 4
Now select the Red curve (in the dropdown) and change your Output to 116 and Input to 133.
[caption id="attachment_157395" align="aligncenter" width="935"]
Step 5
Move to the Green curve and drop the top of your line so your Output is 242 and your Input remains at 255.
[caption id="attachment_157403" align="aligncenter" width="925"]
Step 6
Finish up by adjusting your Blue curve so that your Output is 122 and your Input is 130.
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Before and After
Not bad. Rich and lush not unrealistic.
The Muted Black & White Effect
While Black and White photos will always have a vintage feel, they also often project a sense of dignity and stripped back truth earned through their long history of use in photojournalism. Today we’re going to focus on what I’m calling “The Muted Black and White”. This is the faded black and white image that doesn’t have an abundance of contrast and features a lot of gray tones.
You typically see this look used on fashion based sites including those that fall into the category of art, culture, and education. The look is seldom used in news and food sites but it doesn’t mean it can’t be.
Unlike The Purist look, this one can’t be used for every photo especially given your subject without changing your workflow. For example models and subjects that feature darker hues and skin tones can get drowned out with the muted combination with a black and white application if the background is already dark. If that’s the case you may want to opt for either the muted look or a black and white look with a high contrast.
Master Class: Doing it by hand
Step 1
Open up your image. In this case I will be using an image courtesy of Sima Dimitric via Flickr CC licensing. Photo credit: http://ift.tt/2vSTPSO
Step 2
Create a new Adjustment Layer by either clicking the icon at the bottom of your layer menu or on the side depending on your setup. You will want to select the Black & White option.
Step 3
Depending on your particular image you will adjust the hues to your liking. In this scenario, we will adjust each hue accordingly so that the below image is your final output.
Step 4
To achieve our muted look you will first want to make sure your paint colors are set to default black and white. If not first click (D) on your keyboard then (X) so that black is your foreground color. Next, create a new Adjustment Layer and select Gradient.
Step 5
When the Gradient dialogue box pops up change the scale to 130% and click OK. That’s it, you’re finished. For a more muted look, you can always duplicate your gradient layer and adjust the opacity as desired.
Before and After
Continue reading %4 Photoshop Styles to Lift Your Photos above of the Crowd%
by Alex Walker via SitePoint
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