Digital Diversity

My latest creation “Eat with caution” was created using Photoshop CS4. It is possible to create this image in Photoshop Elements as well, you will just have to use the alternative masking method which you can learn on the layers and their masks tutorial on this website.

Other tutorials that may help you are cloning and healing, Texture blending, The liquify filter (contained within the tutorial linked) and adjustment layers (contained within the tutorial linked).

If you already have an understanding of these tools / techniques then carry on reading.

I have seen images created using food and giving then mouths before but I wanted a slight twist. I wanted to have someone actually holding the food. This would make it more of a challenge to find the right starting image but would give the image more impact. The final image has 2 ravenous cherries being held a safe distance at arms length. You wouldn’t want to get to close to these guys after all.

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A common question I get seen asked is about how to adjust skin tones in a photo. This can be anything from someone coming out looking a bit overly red to hiding a rash that isn’t normally there.

There are many ways to fix these things but the method I will show you is simple and fast. A few adjustment layers with some masking can fix all sorts of issues like these in no time at all.

The most common people to ask this question are people photographing newborns. The Reason for this is that newborns often have bruising or skin discolouration when they first arrive in the world. While some people happily include such things in there photographs, others prefer to hide them. Because of this, this tutorial will use a new born picture to demonstrate this technique. The picture is owned by ‘New Beginnings Photography’ and you can find her on Flickr here.

For this tutorial you will already need to understand:
• Layers and masks
• Adjustment layers

In this picture the baby has had some bruising to the face during delivery. This has caused it to go very red and also dark in comparison to the rest of its skin tones. The idea here is to use adjustment layers and masks to make the face match the rest of the body.

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1. This tutorial will go through the making of my image “Too much TV”. I named this image after the old wives tale that watching to much TV will turn your eyes square.

This tutorial can be done in both Photoshop Creative sweat (CS) and Photoshop Elements

It will cover colour correcting the image, reshaping the eyes with the Liquify tool and adjusting the light on the subject With adjustment layers and textures.

You will want to already know how to do the following:

• Layers and Masks
• Cloning
• Adjustment layers (related tutorials here and here)
•  Layer blend modes

Finding an image to create this from was fairly tricky. There are plenty of images out there of people staring at the camera with eyes wide open but that wasn’t enough for the idea I had in my head. I needed a subject that not only was staring but had an almost transfixed expression on their face.

I searched several free stock sites to find the image and did eventually get exactly what I was after.

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