Painting with Light

[Joe M]

The after image was inspired by this tutorial (http://digitalprotalk.blogspot.com/2008/02/technique-tuesday-our-emerging-future.html) video at Digital Protalk.

I would love to see what Elements Village members could do with this technique.

You can do this tutorial in PSE with a plugin that gives you curves and a layer mask.

Before

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1hJUYWrHxcaKAxdNA3f9hPva0M12k_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1hJUYWrHxcaKAxdNA3f9hPva0M12k)

After

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1egkhZ9ieLqGciDNANmlcxDLREoz5_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1egkhZ9ieLqGciDNANmlcxDLREoz5)

[lisabee]

Joe,

thanks - that looks interesting, I've bookmarked the video tut to try later.

Btw I had a look at your B&W gallery images this morning - stunning work!

Lisa :)

[Joe M]

Thank You Lisa.

If you get time to try the tutorial I would love to see your photo.

[JulieM]

Thanks for posting that, Joe. The tutorial is really good and his site looks like it has lots of good info.

I hope I can find time to experiment with the painting with light technique...

[Joe M]

Hey Julie,

Mr Ziser seems like the real deal. It's geared mostly to the professional but he's got a lot of stuff for us amateurs.

It's really nice that he does such high quality tutorials for free.

[JulieM]

My problem is I bookmark all these sites and then forget to go back to them. So, I signed up for his newsletter to help me remember. ;) He provides lots of links on his blog that look like they'd be worth exploring, too...

[Joe M]

My problem is I bookmark all these sites and then forget to go back to them. So, I signed up for his newsletter to help me remember. ;) He provides lots of links on his blog that look like they'd be worth exploring, too...

I know what you mean about the bookmarks Julie. Here is a just a portion of my photography links that would fit on screen. I have another group of bookmarks dedicated to just Photoshop.


http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1N9B1Bt2kdrqPqobIdsZE7vCcbVK9_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1N9B1Bt2kdrqPqobIdsZE7vCcbVK9)

[JulieM]

Oh, Joe, your problem is worse than mine! :eek::eek::eek: Hopefully, your memory is also better than mine! :D

[Joe M]

Oh, Joe, your problem is worse than mine! :eek::eek::eek: Hopefully, your memory is also better than mine! :D

It's not any better, believe me.

[scrappingmel]

Wow, I just loved that technique.'m fery new to this but I thought it was great.

Can this be done on PSE4?
A plugin for curves mask was mentioned earlier..where would I find this?

Thanks,
Mel

[JulieM]

Hi Mel,

SmartCurves (http://www.free.pages.at/easyfilter/curves.html) is the curves plug-in I have.

Grant's Tools (http://www.cavesofice.org/%7Egrant/Challenge/Tools/Files.html) includes a layer mask.

Both these are free and work in PSE4. I haven't tried the tutorial using these yet but am anxious to give it a try. If you have a go, why don't you post your results here for us to see?

[Rock151]

Very cool result...good job and thanks for posting the tutorial link

[scrappingmel]

Ok I have a question about the tutorial. The tutorial, at the beginning says to add an adjustment layer-curves.

Now PSE4 doesn't have these.

I have downloaded the curves plug-in filter.

Do I need to create a layer and then apply the filter?

I did try first without vreating a layer but it didn't seem to work.

Thanks in advance,
Mel

[JulieM]

Mel,

Did you also download the layer mask from Grant? You'll need that too...

And yes, you do need to make a new layer. Do this:

Make sure black is your foreground color and white is your background color first. After you add the first levels adjustment layer and desaturate the image, you'll duplicate the layer. Apply the SmartCurve to that as David shows in the tut, then double click on the layer mask icon to apply the layer mask. Now click on the white layer mask thumbnail and paint on that with your black brush at the suggested reduced opacity to get the lightened layer below to show through the mask.

That should get you started on the tutorial. Good luck!

[Joe M]

Thank You Mel and Rocco, I'm glad you enjoyed the tutorial and I hope see some of your images.

Thank You Julie for providing help and information.