Photo editing: photo effects

In our other guides (see right), we look at the range of editing features available and describe what they can do. Here, I’ll take a closer look at some of the key image editing options you’re likely to use most often and show you how they work.

Before you can begin, you’ll need a photo software program. In this guide, I’ve used the free Windows Live Photo Gallery (see How to download Windows Live Photo Gallery for more information). However, you’ll find that other programs such as Photoscape and Paint.net follow a very similar process.

You’ll need:

• A computer
• Any photos you want to edit saved in a folder on your computer or to an external storage device.

Now open Windows Live Photo Gallery and try out some of the effects.

Exposure

The ‘Exposure’ editing tool lets you correct an image that may be too dark or too bright. In the traditional darkroom, this used to be quite time-consuming, but Windows Live Photo Gallery makes it very simple.

Follow these step-by-step instructions to adjust exposure

Step 1: Ensure that you’re on the ‘Edit’ tab located at the top left of your screen. Select the image or group of images you’d like to edit. To select one image, click on it. To select a group, hold down Ctrl on your keyboard as you click each photo.

Step 2: When your photo or group of photos is selected, there are two ways you can correct the exposure. If you simply click the black/white circle icon shown on the ‘Exposure’ button, Windows Live Photo Gallery will assess your photo and make an automatic adjustment.

Step 3: If you click and hold down the small arrow at the bottom of the ‘Exposure’ button, you’ll see a drop-down list of various exposure adjustments. Each adjustment option offers a mix of ways to alter brightness, shadows, and highlights – for example, the first option provides low brightness with your original shadows and original highlights.

Click on the ‘Exposure’ option that you think looks best. Windows Live Photo Gallery will make this adjustment to your photo.

NOTE: If you don’t like the way your photo looks after making the adjustment, don’t worry. Just click Revert to original at the top right of the screen and Windows Live Photo Gallery will undo any changes you’ve made.

Color

Many people also like to change the color in their photos. This is because cameras can often be fooled by tricky lighting (particularly electric tungsten lighting) and produce unnatural looking green or red tones in images.

Follow these step-by-step instructions to adjust color

Step 1: To correct your color, click Edit at the top left of your screen. Select the image or group of images you’d like to edit (as described above).

Step 2: Much like the ‘Exposure button’, if you click the rainbow icon on the ‘Colour’ button, Windows Live Photo Gallery will assess the color in your photo and make an automatic adjustment.

Step 3: For a more tailored adjustment, click and hold down the arrow at the bottom of the ‘Color’ button. A drop-down list will offer you a range of options combining different color temperatures and tints.

Click the ‘Color’ option that looks best. As before, any change can be undone by clicking Revert to original.

Noise reduction

‘Noise’ is the name for the little specks you sometimes see throughout an image taken in low light. This occurs because your camera is trying very hard to compensate for the lack of light. If you want to make prints of your photos, noise can prove quite annoying.

Follow these step-by-step instructions to reduce noise

Step 1: Again in the ‘Edit’ tab, select your photo or group of photos.

Step 2: Next, click Noise reduction at the top of your screen. Windows Live Photo Gallery will then assess your photo and automatically try to smooth over any noise in your photos.

Straighten

Another key photo editing option is the ‘Straighten’ tool. How many times have you taken a picture that’s crooked? This is particularly obvious in shots taken at the beach where a clearly defined horizon may look horribly wrong.

Follow these step-by-step instructions to straighten an image

Step 1: Select the photo or photos you would like to straighten as per the method described above.

Step 2: Now click Straighten, the icon for which is a crooked picture frame.

Windows Live Photo Gallery will automatically straighten your image according to where it believes the horizon to be.

Fine tune

While many of the other editing tools rely on Windows Live Photo Gallery’s judgement, the ‘Fine tune’ option gives you total creative control.

Follow these step-by-step instructions to use the ‘Fine tune’ tool

Step 1: In the ‘Edit’ tab, double click on an image to make it larger.

Step 2: You’ll now notice a slightly expanded range of ‘Adjustment’ tools. Chief among them is the ‘Fine tune’ tool. Click Fine tune.

Step 3: On the right side of your screen, you’ll now see four options: ‘Adjust exposure’, ‘Adjust color’, ‘Straighten photo’, ‘Adjust detail’. All but the last of these options we’ve previously been able to achieve automatically. But if you think Windows Live Photo Gallery’s automatic adjustment went too far or not enough, now is your chance to make it better. Click on the adjustment you’d like to make.

Step 4: One or more slider tools will appear allowing you to, for instance, sharpen detail or increase contrast. Simply drag the slider to the left or right until you get a pleasing effect. Windows Live Photo Gallery will show you a preview of the effect on your photograph as you drag the slider.

In the ‘Exposure’ adjustment, for instance (see below), you can fine-tune brightness, contrast, shadows and highlights. In the ‘Color’ adjustment, you can affect color temperature, tint, and saturation. ‘Detail’ lets you sharpen or reduce noise. And ‘Straighten’ offers you a single slider which rotates your picture as you drag the slider back and forth.

All adjustments aren’t final, of course. Clicking Revert to original will undo any undesirable changes.
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10 Editing Techniques That Changed My Photography

In the digital age, you as a photographer are expected to be familiar and knowledgeable with Photoshop. It can be argued back and forth if this is right or wrong and whether Photoshop is ruining photography. But I see Photoshop as a tool, just as the darkroom was a tool to manipulate images. I have put together this list of 10 techniques that helps me get the most out of my images.

As my photographic skills grew so did my curiosity for better images. The more I observed the photographers I looked up to, the more I noticed the images they took were not straight from the camera. Post processing plays a big role in today's photographic society. Whether it's used subtlety, or for major composites, it's definitely an important skill to know. Over the last few years, through experimentation and taking bits and pieces of what other photographers have shown me, I built a workflow that I use for my post processing. This list is an overview of how I edit my photos. There are thousands of post processing methods; this is just what I have developed and what has worked for me. This is not a beginners guide to Photoshop. This list is in order of my workflow. 

1. Flattening out the Image in Raw

This is the foundation for my editing. You can't build a house without a solid foundation; well you can't edit a photo without one either. It is in Camera Raw where I set up my image to be edited in Photoshop. The first thing I do when I open my images in Camera Raw is adjusted color temperature or exposure if I need to. I will then set the highlights slider between -30 to -80. I then set the shadows slider between +30 to +80. I want my highlights to be a little dull and shadows to be very flat and almost in the same tonal range as my midtones. This flattens out the image quite a bit (the image will look pretty boring and ugly). I want the image to be really flat when going into Photoshop. I flatten the image out because when I open it into Photoshop, all of the toning and techniques I use will give it the right amount of contrast I need. If the image has a lot of natural contrast going into Photoshop my techniques will ruin the image and give it way too much contrast. 

(images exported from camera raw with my adjustments)

2. Using the Healing Brush

I like the healing brush rather than the spot healing brush because I like to pick my own source points.  I will use the healing brush to remove any pimples, inconsistencies on the skin, or any distractions in the background. I use this on landscapes or sports shots as well. I go through and get rid of any small distractions with this. It's amazing what a difference this can make when getting rid of distractions on backgrounds. Attention to detail is important here. 

3. Using the Clone Stamp Set to Lighten or Darken

I frequently will use the clone stamp set to lighten. I will use this on backgrounds and sometimes even skin. Now before everyone goes crazy, I use it at around 15% opacity. I use it on areas that already don't have much detail. I also usually only use this with natural light shots since they tend to not have much detail. I will only do this when I don't find it worth the time to use frequency separation. It can be very helpful to blend transitions in the sky or on patterns that don't have a lot of detail. 

4. Learning How to Dodge and Burn

I love dodging and burning. I love shaping the light a little more to my liking. There are many ways to dodge and burn. To be the least destructive, I will use one curve adjustment layer set to a brighter exposure and one set to a darker exposure. Then using the layer mask and brushes I will dodge and burn where I see fit. Sometimes I will also use the actual dodge and burn tools in Photoshop. I like these because I can set them to affect the shadows, midtones, or highlights. When dodging and burning there are several things I like to keep in mind. I try to make my subject pop, I try to even out skin tones or other parts of the image, and I often will darken or lighten one side of the image. I try to create a sense of depth by having a transition from dark to light in some of my images. I also dodge my shadows a bit in preparation for the contrast that I will add later.

(Image after dodging and burning)

5. Frequency Separation

This is a great technique that is used for smoothing out skin. This is something to use sparingly and in moderation. I have also been using frequency separation on clothes, skins, backdrops, or anywhere I need to even something out. 

(Images after frequency separation)

6. Black and White Layer Changed to Soft Light

This is my favorite post processing trick. It's an awesome technique a friend showed me that I have been using on almost all my images. I open a B&W layer, and then I change the blending mode to soft light. Now the image will probably look like it has too much contrast. This is why I'll drag the opacity to around 20-60%. I love the sharp commercial look this effect does to my images. I also love this because I can now control the luminance of each color with the sliders on the black and white layer. By adjusting the reds and yellows you can get some really beautiful skin tones. 

7. Toning Using the Color Balance, Levels, and Hue/Sat Adjustment Layers

After my B&W adjustment layer, I use these three adjustment layers to tone my images. I have them set in a specific order to get the look I want. I will have the Color Balance adjustment layer open first. Generally, I will add some blues, cyans, or magentas to the shadows, reds, greens, or yellows to the midtones, and red or yellows to the highlights. This will usually keep colors more realistic. But this is where you can experiment and get some really cool looks. I will then add a Levels adjustment layer. With this, I will add blues and greens on top of my shadows using the output sliders. Since the levels are on top it fills in the shadows with the colors and almost gives the shadows a film look. I will then use the Hue/Sat to fine tune my colors. I will adjust the hue, saturation, and lightness of each color. This is where I have the most fun with editing. I love experimenting with different tones to get different looks. 

8. Crushing Highlights with Curves

I will add some contrast with a curves adjustment layer. I usually just have a small S curve with several points. I personally like crushing my highlights. This is when you bring the top point on the right side down a little bit, and then add a second point near it reducing the highlights' tonal range. Now this will give the image some weird color shifts sometimes, I don't do this to every image. I often will do it to more high key images. 

(Example of where I crushed my highlights)

9. Using Layer Masks

I can't stress enough how important it is to learn layer masks. When I am toning or editing the image I don't want the effects to always be global. I often will tone, dodge and burn, or edit different parts of the image using layer masks. For example, I always am using layer masks with the Hue/Sat adjustment layer. I do this because of usually hands, ears, legs, etc. are often different colors. I will change the Hue/Sat of a color on a certain body part, and then mask out where I want it to affect. I will also tone the background differently than the subject sometimes. Remember: white reveals, black conceals. 

10. Using Different Blending Modes

This is an area that is commonly overlooked. Besides changing the B&W layer to a soft light blending mode, I will sometimes change my curves layer to luminosity. By doing this you affect just the contrast of the image instead of affecting the contrast and saturation when it is set to normal. I also will open a blank layer, set the blending mode to color, use a brush at a very low opacity (5-15%) and even out colors of skin or clothes by sampling a color I like and painting over a color I don't like. There are 26 different blending modes. Try them out, experiment, and get creative. 

(Final image after toning- Flare was added with a white soft brush on a blank layer)

Remember: use these techniques with care. I am always adjusting the opacity to my adjustment layers. All images shown were shot with natural light only.
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Here are some of the awesome features:

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* Focus and blur function.

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* Color Balance

* Cute, sleek filters, Highly customizable filters let you make your photos look just how you like.

2) Cool drawing feature

* Stickers for applying on your masterpiece.

* Draw line, shape, hand write

* ID Photo Cam, Effect Cam, Selfie Cam, Easy Cam, Scene Cam, Funny Cam,

* Tilt-shift Cam, Color-shift Cam, Audio Cam, Video, and more are available

* RGB panel.

* Multiple pan option with different width size.

* Erases object etc.

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* Picture size adjustment.Resize photo with the ratio (16:9/4:3/1:1) while shooting.

More parameters are available when the device supports. Find them by sliding from the right to the left on main shooting interface.

* Crop, Flip, Rotate & Straighten

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* Adjust image color and brightness to bring out the natural beauty in your photos!

* Adjust brightness, contrast, color temperature, saturation.

* HD Camera to Take Photos

* Import and Export High-Res Images

4) Faster and better Photo management

* Easily from the gallery or camera import photos.

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* Edited pictures saved to my gallery, allowing you to edit and view again.

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* Acne.

* Eliminate stains and whiten teeth.

* Red-eye reduction.

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Note:

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