Today’s eye-opening Photoshop tutorial is super interesting for a couple reasons: First, you’ll learn how to use an unfamiliar tool that can deliver spectacular results. Then there’s our grumpy instructor who’s miffed because he didn’t know about this transformative technique until recently.
Stephen is a creative photo artist who prides himself in thinking outside the box and using unique shooting and editing techniques that really make his work stand out. This episode begins with an unexpected rant which we won’t describe because it’s amusing to watch. Let’s just say it has something to do with artificial intelligence—commonly referred to as AI.
The topic of this episode is a Photoshop technique called Style Transfer, and once Stephen calms down he explains everything you need to know. He illustrates the method with some very convincing imagery, and he introduces the process with some important notes on resampling—including how working at a lower resolution can prove to be beneficial.
The Style Transfer mode is activated by enabling a button in Photoshop’s Filters panel. Once you do that there are a couple of options—one known as “Image Styles” and the other called “Artist Styles.” There are a variety of effects within each category, and Stephen’s goal is to illustrate how the technique works so that you “can run with it and do a bit of creative experimentation.”
Once you choose a style that suits your fancy, Photoshop goes through a rendering process and there’s a status bar slider under the image for keeping track of the progress. He then takes a closer look at the various styles available so that you’ll have a better idea of which ones perform best for different types of photos and understand what to expect.
As you’ll see, there’s a dialog box with basic sliders that enables you to adjust and refine whatever style you choose. This post-processing method is not only remarkably effective, but it’s also a lot of fun to use. The only problem you’re likely to encounter is that Photoshop’s Style Transfer tools can be very addicting once you get started.
Be sure to visit Stephen’s instructional YouTube channel to find more tips and techniques for adding a unique flare to your images
We also suggest watching the tutorial we featured recently with another image-editing expert who demonstrates five pro techniques for avoiding blown-out highlights when shooting and editing outdoor photographs if challenging light is the name of the game.
Experienced Lightroom users frequently turn to the versatile and easy-to-use Lens Correction and Transform tools when processing their images. If you’re not up to speed we’ll fix that today day with this comprehensive beginners guide from the folks at Eastern Shore Photo Instruction.
As you’ll see, these two tools offer powerful features for correcting chromatic aberration and barrel distortion—two common problems that will easily spoil an otherwise great shot. You’ll also learn a few straightforward techniques for straightening photos and correcting color aberrations.
Instructor Mickey covers a lot of ground in this 13-minute primer, so we encourage you to jot down a few notes as you watch him demonstrate a bunch of powerful tips and techniques. Don’t be confused if Mickey’s Lightroom workspace looks different from yours because he explains how to customize the Develop Module panel so that your most-used tools are where they belong; namely, right at your fingertips for quick and easy access.
The episode kicks off by describing the many benefits of Lightroom’s Lens Correction tools, the first of which involves removing chromatic aberration. This problem occurs when there’s a misalignment of colors that results in “a green or red tinge around areas of high contrast— usually near the edges of the frame, rather than in the center.”
Fortunately, this unsightly distraction is very easy to correct. The automatic approach simply requires clicking on the appropriate button, and Mickey says doing so works great 99% of the time. For those rare instances when you’re displeased with the results, there’s a manual technique that will definitely save the day.
Next on the list is a tab identified as “Enable Profile Corrections” and Mickey explains when this adjustment is necessary and he walks you through how this works. In basic terms, this tool is helpful for correcting whatever unwanted effects a specific lens makes to an image. One example is the barrel distortion that occurs when shooting with a wide-angle lens.
And once again, there’s a Manual option if you don’t like what you see. You’ll also learn how manually select a specific lens profile. The second half of the video is all about using Lightroom’s Transform tools, with simple tips and techniques that will quickly and effectively accomplish a variety of common tasks.
After the video concludes take a look at the Eastern Shore Photo Instruction YouTube channel where there’s much more to learn.
We also suggest watching the tutorial we featured recently with another post-processing expert who demonstrates how to give landscape photographs an eye-catching glow effect with a single Radial mask in Lightroom.
