Category

Post Processing

Mar 26
0
post processing with janice sullivan live

Post-Processing Live with Janice Sullivan

By | Post Processing | No Comments

Post-processing with Janice Sullivan

Would you like to see live post-processing behind the scenes? I know I say Twitch and Periscope in the video, but I’m going to give YouTube a try to see if any of you like it, plus, I always do post work with music in the background, so I’m not sure if YT is going to let this happen?

I will always hang out on Twitch for sure because the music isn’t a problem with them since it’s background stuff. If YouTube isn’t working out, I’ll jump on Periscope. I haven’t had any problems with Periscope and music.

I want you to know that this isn’t a tutorial….it’s about true life post-work. This is a great way to learn because you’ll see failure too and it’s good to connect with other Macro, Nature and Landscape photographers.

If you have ideas for me to try live, go for it and share it with me and I may just play with your technique. 🙂 So, let’s cross our fingers and hope that YouTube works out… Join me on Twitch here: https://www.twitch.tv/sullivanjphotography

If you would like to check out Periscope: https://www.pscp.tv/SullivanJPhotog

If you’re new to my website, you may not know about the Photography Live Chat Show. This is an amazing live show that I have every other Thursday on YouTube. It’s a fun place for Macro, Close-up and Micro photographers to get together for an hour and chat about what we love. Yep, photography. Below is just a tiny bit of what we do on the show.

Cheers to live streaming with you 🙂
Janice

Jan 16
0
how to use the marquee selections

How to Use the Marquee Tools in Photoshop

By | Photoshop, Post Processing | No Comments

PUSH YOUR LIMITS – USE SELECTION TOOLS

Push your limit by using selections.   You can do so much when you select an area in your photograph to express yourself with your work.  If you have a vision but just don’t know how to change it…try using a selection to get you started.  Let me show you how.

Marquee Tools

~~~~~~~~~

You’ll learn about the various selection tools.

Rectangular Marquee Tool

Drag your mouse on the image to make a rectangular selection, then let go of the mouse.

Square Marquee Tool

To make a square selection use the rectangular marquee.  Hold your shift key and drag your mouse on your image, then let go.

Elliptical Marquee Tool

Drag your mouse on the image to make an elliptical selection, then let go of the mouse.

Circular Marquee Tool

To make a circle selection use the elliptical marquee.  Hold your shift key and drag your mouse on your image, then let go.


Specify one of the selection options in the options bar above when using the marquee tools.  See below for more details on what you can do here.

Selection Options

This is where you’ll add, remove or intersect selections.

Style Options

Normal style will give you the freedom of making the selections you want.

Fixed is when you set the size of your selection using pixels.

Ratio is good to use when you want to select a common print size.  You’ll be able to ‘see’ how the print will be cropped.

Anti-alias

Select Anti-alias to soften your edges when you use the elliptical or circle marquee tool.

 

I learned to express myself with selections. Make your photography work special too, so your 1000 word makes a difference.
CLICK HERE TO TWEET

If you have questions feel free to ask, I check every comment.  This is part of a mini-course I did for our membership program.  They also received a PDF and images downloads for them to practice with.  It’s a detailed selection course that one of our members ask for.  This is what we do to help photographers to move forward in their photography journey.

If you’re interested in our membership program you can check it out HERE.

before i made selections in photoshop marquee tool

Before I used the Marquee Tools

before i made selections in photoshop marquee tool

After I used the Marquee Tools

SJPmembership Program's Mini-Course

Topics we discuss in this Mini-Course:

Lesson 1: Rectangular Marquee tool, Elliptical Marquee Tool, Single Row Marquee Tool and Single Column Marquee Tool

Lesson 2: Lasso Tool, Polygonal Lasso Tool, Magnetic Lasso Tool

Lesson 3: Quick Selection/ Magic Wand

Lesson 4: Quick Mask / Bonus Lesson

MORE ABOUT MEMBERSHIP HERE

Have questions ask below, I’m here for you!

Cheers,

Janice

Oct 09
0

Focus Stacking – Helicon Focus

By | Helicon Focus, Macro & Close-up | One Comment

Helicon Focus Basics

The closer you get to your subject the less in focus your subject will be. If you want to get up close and personal and have all of your subjects in focus you’ll need to focus stack.  What that means is that you’ll take several images overlapping what’s in focus and merge them together. There is a video below to help you if you need it. It is a 3 part series but all you need is the first video for this article.

If you’re ready to dive into the software watch the video below. I show you how to start using Helicon Focus from the very basics. If you want a little more than that you can check out my Helicon Focus Mini-course. Now, you can use Photoshop and Lightroom to merge your images together but they only can handle basic photographing stacks.  When you need 50 or more stacks together I recommend Helicon Focus or Zerene Stacker.

 

Daisy on black plexi and processed in Helicon Focus.

Daisy processed in Helicon Focus

If you have any questions feel free to ask below.  I’m also sharing my focus stacking mini-course if you would like more details on that too. If you purchase any of my courses, updates are for life. If you change your email please go into your account and change it.

I’m excited to see your stacked work. If you share your images on social media please mention me so I can see them.

Cheers,
Janice Sullivan

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Aug 15
0
how to blur your photo background in photoshop

How to Blur your Image with Your Awesome Subject in Focus

By | Photoshop, Post Processing | No Comments

Tips on how to blur your image keeping the focal point in focus.

In this video, I share a question I had from Debbie about blurring my background in the flower shot below.  I share the Gaussian blur tool but this technique can be used with any blur tool you’d like to. Before we start you’ll need to be able to work with a program that has layers and masks. Today I’m using Photoshop.

Steps:

Make a copy of your layer with the image on it. Duplicate the first layer 2 times.

Rename layers so you don’t get confused.

Use your favorite selection tool and select the main focal point or everything that you don’t want to have a blur.

Go to layer>layer mask>reveal a selection.

Double click on your mask and click on ‘Select and Mask’.

Clean up the mask.  Take your time this is important.

Before you click ok make sure that you have the output settings on Layer Mask.  See the video above for more details in this area:


TIP: Fix any spots in your mask (if needed).  Only have the layer selected that has the mask on it.  Click alt/option use your brush tool to remove white spots that you missed, click alt/option to get back to where you were.


If you do the steps above make sure you add all of the eyes back to each layer so we can use them.

Now select the Blur layer by clicking on it.  You’re going to select your main subject again.  This doesn’t need to be perfect.

Click Edit > Fill > Content Aware Fill

 

 

Now it’s time to play with your Blur Tools

Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur  (but again you can use any of the blur tools)


Adjust your radius in the popup and push ok.

Next, deselect the marching ants control/command “D” if they’re still around.

Now click on the top layer and BAM! You now know how to blur your image with your awesome subject in focus! Congratulations you did it!  I knew you could 😉

If you have questions feel free to ask below.

Cheers,

Janice

 

Apr 25
2
Process Images for Feeling Bonus

How To Process Your Images to Express Your Feelings

By | Photoshop, Post Processing | No Comments

Express Your Feelings with Your Images

One of the biggest complaints I get is that people are frustrated because they “see” an image in their mind and they can’t or don’t know how to process to get the image from the mind to computer and printer.  So I decided to do a series to help you really focus on expressing yourself.

It takes time and persistence but you can learn if you really focus and play with your work. So let’s get started!

Tulip of the Angles

Tulip of the Angles

Take pictures of what you love.

You must really love the subject and how you took your shots.  If you’re not really digging the actual photograph then you won’t take the time to focus on details in post-processing.

Homework from the video: Photograph your main subject in a variety of ways. Work on your lighting and what’s in focus…pick images that you like. Merge them together (if needed) and clean them up. NOTE: Make sure your negative space isn’t too busy.

You don’t have to have several images to merge together but again you must have a shot that you’re really excited about.

Process your work to the extreme but always remember what you feel about it.

Homework from the video: Work on your image using the tips I’ve given you from this video. Remember what you do to your work must give you a feeling within yourself. It’s easy to forget what you really want to express when you’re experimenting.

NOTE: If you need textures you can get them free from me click below. https://app.monstercampaigns.com/c/cq…

Process your work in Layers and use Masks to make it feel.

Work on your image using the tips I’ve given you from this video. Remember what you do to your work must give you a feeling within yourself, don’t lose that.

Bonus video… It’s time to take your work to the next level.

How to Process Your Images to Express Your Feelings Bonus video is for those of you who want to be professional, who wants to take the time to really dive into your feeling with detail.

It would be good to keep this blog post link in your calendar so you can come back to the steps.  You won’t be able to do this in one day for sure.  I put this up on youtube and gave everyone two weeks to do their homework. I know these videos will help you think and feel your work with the steps I’ve talked about in the videos.

If you have questions please ask!  I’m here with you…and I always check my comments. 🙂

Cheers,

Janice

Jan 10
0

Learn how to Stack your Images with Zerene Stacker

By | Macro & Close-up, Post Processing | 8 Comments

Learn how to Stack your Images with Zerene Stacker

Today I’d like to share with you an amazing program called Zerene Stacker. This software will merge a variety of images that are in focus to have one complete single image file in focus. Oh yeah… too much fun!

As we get closer to our subject, we lose focus… frustrating I know, but that’s ok because we have Zerene to help us.  Just photograph your subject from the front of your subject and you continue to shoot until you get to the very back of your subject.  You may have a couple of images all the way up to hundreds.  It really depends on how close you are to your subject.

Below are some photographs I shot by stacking images.

daisy flower, white daisy, daisy stem

Stacked the stem to get details.

drop refraction Hawaiian style

100mm with extention tubes at f8 with 29 stacks to get the drops to be in focus.

purple macro flower

Stacked the center of the flower to be in focus.

Below is a video for you to help you get started with Zerene Stacker.

Dead leaf with reflection, black plexiglass

Stacked bottom reflection and top leaf to be in focus.

silk flowers, stacked image, macro flowers, yellow silk flowers, dramatic flowers,

Silk Flower Stack

beautiful daisy, black plexiglass, water drops,

Wanted to get waterdrops in focus so I had to stack several images together.

Want to get to know the person who developed this wonderful program?  Check out the video below, I had a wonderful time chatting with Rik Littlefield, the developer of Zerene Stacker.  It’s a show so worth your time.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section. Here or on Youtube.  🙂

Stacking your work is soooooo much fun!  It’s a blast to use Zerene and fun to see your work pop in front of your eyes.

GRAB YOUR EASY TO USE ZERENE STACKER STEPS + NOTE AREA TO ORGANIZE YOUR STACK MERGE Click Here.

Happy Stacking,

Janice Sullivan

Dec 14
3
post-processing webinar

See Your Photography Vision – Post-Processing Webinar Replay

By | Post Processing, SJP's News and Updates | No Comments
Remove Frustrations of Post-Processing WEBINAR Replay

For a short time, I’ll have the replay of my webinar available so it can help you while you post-process.

So let’s focus on YOU… My hope for you is to find your vision, I created this Post-Processing Webinar specifically to help you find it!

I know it can be frustrating when you see your image on your computer and it just doesn’t look the way you thought it would…

So watch all of the webinar from the beginning to end, it’s a little over an hour and definitely worth it!  This is what I do when I’m frustrated with my “vision”.

photography road map, sjp road map
HURRY! SIGN UP HERE THIS WEBINAR GOES DOWN DECEMBER 31st
SIGN UP HERE ASAP...IT'S FREE AND OUT ONLY FOR A SHORT TIME
no preset used on utah image utah image processed with janice sullivans preset
Before and After - Wild Yellow Poppies

In this webinar, we will touch on the Learning stage an the Pushing your comfort stage on the photographer roadmap in SJP’s Membership Program. 

Get Ready It’s going to be a lot of fun!

 

I love to post-process my work, but at first, I was frustrated.  I get it!  I’ll share with you some tips to really help you “see” your vision.

This is what I’ll cover:

Learning Stage

  • RAW Processing
  • Lightroom Sliders – How I push them
  • Lightroom Presets – To help you see

Pushing Comfort Zone

  • Photoshop the Power of Layers & Masks
  • Using Texture – You’d be surprised at what they can do
  • Adding Other Filter Software – Pushing yourself
SIGN UP HERE

Here’s what people said about the webinar.

“Thank you for everything! Such a lovely webinar.” Julie 

“This was fantastic thanks you very much!” Arnim

“I just renewed! Looking forward to another year of fun and education!” Kim

Three yellow poppies 3 dramatic yellow poppies
Before and After - Wild Yellow Poppies

A bit about me…

Hi!  I’m Janice Sullivan and I am a Macro and Landscape photographer that loves to help others to think out of the box and challenge themselves.

I know how it feels to be stagnant with my work,  to want more for my photography.   Been there done that!

So I created SJP membership for those of you who want to push further with your skills and to tell your story to the world.  I want to help you step out of the box so you’re not stagnant and help you continue creating and really focus on expressing yourself.  

I have worked with magazines, art buyers, interior designers, and licensed images to the hospitality industry & art printing companies. My work is on EnLive Smart TV app on Google TV, Samsung Smart Hub, Yahoo TV and ROKU devices available to 91 million Internet streaming devices.  I have taught at Curious.com and I am Master Photographer at The Arcanum mentoring fine art macro and landscape photographers.  I have been in photography art shows and through all of this I know how hard it is to be noticed within the sea of other photographers out there,  but if I can do it…so can you!

So let’s rock it together!

Zion without a preset zion with preset
Before and After - Wild Yellow Poppies

More About Me

SIGN UP HERE BEFORE IT SHUTS DOWN - THIS WILL HELP YOU TELL YOUR STORY!

YOU ALSO WILL RECEIVE A PDF DOWNLOAD

Download presentation will have links of what was discussed in the webinar.

Happy Holidays!

May 24
0
about page, dandelion

Photography Emotions Do You Feel Them

By | Post Processing | 4 Comments

Do you feel emotion in your photography?

As I work on my images my emotions become apparent.  If I feel structured and focused I’ll work on an image like this chrysanthemum.

Do you feel this too?  You should, because this is how to express what YOU really love and feel in your photography work.

 

purpleflower_8413

Feeling Structured

 

You can see below that if I feel like going with the flow and life is what it is, I’ll produce work like the image below.  So just go for it…don’t say to yourself, ‘That’s not what I normally shoot, or what I normally post process with my work’.  How will you grow if you don’t really feel your work?  You won’t… so do me a huge favor….pay attention to your emotions and just go for it.

Feeling your photography work

Feeling of going with the flow.

 

These are great examples of stepping out of the box and playing with your emotions but what if you want a set portfolio and feel like you just can’t get that going?

Here is a tip for you…

Try putting on your favorite music, make sure it’s the same… Classic, Country, Rock n Roll, Disco?  Did I say Disco, LOL!  Well, if it floats your boat then keep that playlist going every time you work on your images.

This is what I did to make my Macro Lens Paintings and my Flower Floods.  I’m sure it will help you too.  You can also check out my blog post on 10 Tips for Creatives and 5 Creative Macro Techniques if you need a bit of a push for ideas.

 

Macro Lens Painting

Macro Lens paintings by janice sullivan

Part of my portfolio Macro Lens Paintings.

Flower Flood

one of a series of flower floods by janice sullivan

Flower flood portfolio.

Always feel free to comment…I’d love to know if you listen to music or if you can see your emotions in your work?  And of course a share wouldn’t hurt either 😉  Spread the 1000 words of emotion.

Thanks and Cheers,

Janice Sullivan
Find me on Google+

Apr 19
3
adding lightroom presets to help you post process pictures

Adding Lightroom Presets to Your Work

By | Lightroom | 4 Comments

Add Lightroom Preset to Your Work for Creativity

When you feel a bit stuck on what to do with your images once you’ve loaded them into your computer, do yourself a favor and play with presets.

Grab 8 of my favorite presets and…  Enjoy! 🙂

Presets are ways to change up your work globally (meaning the whole image).  Even if you don’t like the presets, it will show you the different ways that your work can feel and look.  It starts your creative juices flowing.

The Quick Dive video shares how to upload your presets to Lightroom with a couple of examples.  I know it will help you push your work to the next level…so let’s get to it 😉

A lot of people give them for free if you join their email list, so if you haven’t grabbed some of these..you should go for it. You can join our membership group and get my Presets plus waaaaay more goodies to enhance your work. 

~~~~~~~~~

Here are a couple of before and afters that I had fun with.

Dehaze That Shadow Preset

Zion without a preset zion with preset

Brighten It Up Preset

no preset used on utah image utah image processed with janice sullivans preset

Don’t forget to Grab 8 of my favorite presets here!

 

Have questions? Feel free to ask and if you’re up to it, share this with someone you feel it will help…that would be awesome!

Cheers,

Janice Sullivan

Subscribe Now!

Apr 05
1
internet images, pictures for internet

How to Change Large Image Files for the Internet

By | Lightroom, On1 Photo Raw, Photoshop, Post Processing | 4 Comments

How to Change Image Files for the Internet using Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop and On1 Raw

 

I’ve had some questions asked about how to get your high-resolution JPEG images ready for the Macro Chat Live Show.  That’s a good question and to tell you the truth I also thought this would help you prep for Social Media sharing.  That can be confusing too.

In this Quick Dive video I share with you easy steps on how to change your large image file into files for the Internet using Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop and On1 Raw.

I also found a helpful site so you can see what sizes works well with various social platforms.  Check it out at the bottom of this article.

Adobe Lightroom

00:27

Click on Export on the bottom left in your Library Module

Click on where you want the file to go too once completed

Change to JPEG and sRGB in the File Settings

Image Size for High Resolution Files uncheck the Resize to Fit and change resolution to 100

Image Size check Resize to Fit and add what you want the file size to be.  Check ‘don’t enlarge’ and change resolution to 100

Click Export

Adobe Photoshop

02:00

Click on File on the top left area

Go to Export > Save for Web (Legacy)

Bottom right Image Size leave alone for High Resolution jpegs or change size for social media

Keep Percent to 100 for High Resolution JPEG

Under Preset click on small arrow for drop-down to select jpeg if you don’t see it and quality to 100

Check Convert to sRGB

Bottom left click Preview if you would like to see it on the internet.

Click Save

On1 Photo Raw

02:55

Click on Resize on the right

In Document Size change resolution to 100 and don’t change file sizes for high-resolution files

In Document Size keep resolution to 100 and change file sizes for social media and/or your website dimensions

Click bottom right on Export Icon

Set your Location on were you want the file to go after you’re done

In File Type click on small arrow if you don’t see JPEG.  Select JPEG

Bottom right-click on Export

My example image

joshua tree rocks

Joshua Tree Rocks – Light painting during Blue Hour

Story behind this image:

I shot this during the blue hour.  I took a large flashlight to highlight the beautiful rocks in the desert of California.  I love to photograph desert landscapes (if you couldn’t tell 🙂 ).  We had a great time camping!  Kevin helped a Swedish couple with their RV and they gave us a bottle of champagne.  I love Swedes 🙂 What an evening….I had champagne, enjoyed a nice camp fire and I shot this image playing with light painting.  Yes, I was one happy lady.

I want you to know that when I share on social media I don’t change all the sizes that the link below gives us.  That would take forever…I see what’s the minimum and go from there.

Click here to help you see the various sizes for Social Platforms. It really is a great reference.

Feel free to ask questions below or just say Hi…I read every comment.

Cheers,

Janice Sullivan

Mar 22
1

Change a Drab Landscape into a Beautiful Landscape

By | Lightroom, Photoshop | No Comments

Take your Drab Landscape photograph and change it into a Beautiful Landscape

Have you been with family and friends in some great places and just don’t have the time to set up your tripod and camera? Or you’re learning how to bracket exposures but don’t have the time to really understand how it works?

As a photographer or photographer novice. It’s frustrating! I know this has happened to most of us…so when Julie Miller asked me how do I take a drab looking photograph and make it pop I knew this would be great for a mini dive! BTW, check out her beautiful jewelry here.  She is one of our members…crazy happy to have her with us!

 

So here is what I do and I hope it helps you-

My favorite way to fix these shots is in Adobe Photoshop but if I just want to add a bit of fun I’ll Split Tone in Lightroom

Lightroom

Develop Module > Increase the Shadows > Decrease the Highlights > Play with Contrast and Clarity

> Split Tone play with highlights and shadow squint my eyes just a bit I move the slider Saturation to %50…move to see what I like. Do the same thing to the Shadow area.  I next play the amount of saturation in both highlight and shadow and if I need to, I’ll adjust the Balance to more of the Shadow or more of the Highlight color.

Last part I usually add a bit of vignette.

Now to my favorite…

In Photoshop – this has more steps but is my go to workflow.

fix your landscape pictures

Before and After taking a drab landscape to a pop landscape.

Copy your layer > Bottom Layer is highlighted > Command J

Image > Mode > LAB Color > Don’t Flatten

Image > Adjustments > Curves

In the Channel area click on the drop-down to “a”

Drag the Dark and Light tabs to the next Vertical line see below.

lab adjustments

In LAB adjust your channels.

 

Now click on the same drop-down and choose “b” and do the same steps as you did for the “a” channel.

Click OK

Go back to Image > Mode to change back to RGB

If the color seems too much change the Opacity a bit. I notice that sometimes the reds maybe too much so I will isolate in:

Filter > Camera Raw Filter> HSL/Grayscale to reduce the saturation in the reds/oranges if needed.

If your sky needs more pop, in your Camera Raw Filter area:

Graduated Filter > drag down the filter line > Dehaze

Take a couple of these quick steps and put a huge smile on your face seeing the fun times you had while photographing landscapes that just didn’t work for you at the time.

Cheers,

Janice

Nov 16
2
photography software, plugins

What Software Should You Use Oh My!

By | Post Processing | No Comments

What Photo Software to use…so many to choose from?!

John asked a great question on what I felt was the best photo software programs out there to choose from.

There are amazing companies that know we want our work to pop and make a statement.  The video below explains everything…

Yes, it can be frustrating when you see so many great deals and then you see the beautiful work they show us so we think if I buy this photo software and plug-ins…my work will look like this too!

It’s good to push your creations and yes, buy software that will help you…but, be mindful of what you really need.

photography software, what software to buy,

So many software programs to purchase? Yikes!

 

Have any questions software and plug-ins?  I’m a junky so I’ll probably have an answer for you, hahaha!  Just ask below 🙂

 

Janice

Sep 21
0

Rock’in Social Media – 10 Fast Steps using Lightroom’s email.

By | Lightroom | No Comments

Rock’in Social Media with Adobe Lightroom’s Email!

We just started to get into Instagram, so I was looking for a variety of ways to figure out how to share my images to Ashley’s phone that I have processed from my camera.  When right in front of me (because I’m on Lightroom all the time), Lightroom was saying, “Hey, I’m here  – use me!”

I did a deep dive on how important it is to really focus on at least one Social Media site to help you connect with others to build relationships.  If you’re using Adobe Lightroom, you really need to dive into the email part of this software.

It’s so easy and fast that how can you not use it?  Many of us use our phones to work nowadays and Lightroom knows it.  Send your images from one email to another, grab it from your phone and bam…Instagram here you come.

Let’s share the fun and how easy it is to set it up.

Ok…if you just don’t have time for the video, here are the steps.  Make it easy so you use it.

  1.  Set up a Gmail account.  It’s the easiest to work with.
  2.  Pick an image & take it to your development module, right-click on it.
  3.  Click on ’email photo’
  4.  Click on the small drop-down arrow in the ‘from’ area of the pane.
  5.  Click on ‘go to email account manager’
  6.  Click ‘Add’ your email info and verify
  7.  At the bottom pane, you’ll see (Preset)- click it to ‘create a new preset’ when done click export.  In the video, I share my Instagram settings.
  8.  In the ‘To’ location add the email address that you use on your phone.  Add additional info if needed.
  9.  Press send…whooo hooo, you’re almost done.
  10.  Check your email on your phone and ‘Reply’ to email to access the image.  The image will be at the bottom, tap on that to access.

Now you’re ready to download the image to your phone and/or send to your favorite social site.

lightroom email, social media

Image from my iPhone.

 

Always remember to tell your story…a thousand words DO make a difference! So send your images to your phone and share them on your favorite social site!

 

Do you use Lightroom?

 

If so, are you using the full potential of the program?  I’d love for you to share your feedback with us!

Oh yeah!  Our membership is almost done and ready to go up for presales!  So crazy excited to share it with you, but for now join our Membership Updates and receive FREE treats and discounts!

Hope to see you there!  🙂

Cheers,

Janice Sullivan

Nov 03
3

Add Water to Your Photo Work

By | Photoshop | 4 Comments

Today I wanted to share with you how to add water to your images. As always I like to push the limits to see what you can do with plugins and various software programs. I make so many mistakes, or I’ll call them trial and errors. 😉   Sometimes I’ll spend hours on an image while playing with software (digital darkrooming) and then after a day or two come back to the work and ask myself, what the hell I was thinking while processing that image. I really do laugh out loud! But even when I don’t like what I’ve done in post work, I know that I have learned something new from it.   With that said I wanted to share the tools of the flood program that I had fun with working on my 2017 Calendar.

This is a detailed video explaining each slider. If you go to the YouTube video, I broke up the time slots if you just want to watch a segment of the video. The plugin is only $33! You can also receive 30% off that price until the end of November using: SJPFLOOD

This is the completed work from the video:

Flooded Flower Fun!

 

I know you’ll have fun!

~~~~~~~~~

Cheers to plug-ins!

Janice Sullivan

Jan 14
2

Sharpen your Image with a Photoshop Action

By | Photoshop, Post Processing | No Comments

We all need to sharpen our images after we’ve cleaned them up so today I would like to teach you how to sharpen your images in a faster and easier way.

It can be so monotonous, but not when you record an action in Photoshop! So let’s get to it and talk about how to sharpen your images with Photoshop actions.

Tip: I always use the search tool in Photoshop if I can’t remember the tool location.

 

searchPS

Photoshop has pre-made actions for you to play with, but when you find yourself continually completing the same steps on your images, then it’s time for you to record an action! Click on Window>Actions, you’ll see this:

default-Actions

 

Now that I’ve shown you all of that, let’s record a sharpening action:

Open any image in Photoshop to get this started.

bottom-Action-Panel

 

As you can see, there are several icons. Hover over them with your mouse to see what they are. This basically is the area where you will make a new action, record it and save it. Click on the second to the last icon (next to the trashcan) to start your action.

NewAction

Name the new action, “Sharpening”.  You can set defaults, assign a color & function key, but today I left all of that alone.

name-action

Now click on the record button.

click record

 

You will now see a red bottom at the bottom of the action panel.  This means you are recording every step you do in Photoshop.

 

red button

Next duplicate layer:

duplicate layer

 

Name that layer Sharpen High Pass press OK:

sharpen highpass name

 

Make sure that layer is highlighted:

highlight layer

Next, click on the area in the red circle and click on Insert Menu Item:

insert-menu

You will see this pop up…don’t do anything yet:

insertmenu1

 

 

Go to Filter > Other > High Pass…after this, click on the OK button.

 

filter-other-highpass

 

instert menute

Click on STOP the button in the red square:stop-action

 

Now you are ready to use the sharpening action. Open any photo and go back to actions. Highlight your Sharpening action and click on the play button and you’ll see it run.

highlight action

play button

 

Here is a sample of the high pass layer. A good place to start for sharpening is in the 3ish area but it really depends on your image. If you have a small file you will use less Radius and if you have a large file you’ll increase the pixel radius amount.  You only want to see an outline of where you want to sharpen.  The example below has been sharpened to much and hallowing will be a problem.

sharpen sample

.

Now add a quick mask to the layer so you can change your adjustments with the mask and change your layer to soft light. You can also use hard light for more sharpening or overlay.

mask

What I like about this is that you can use the mask to adjust areas of your choice instead of adjusting the entire image.

 coffieCups
A huge thank you to Allan Guzak for making this for me.   I enjoy his photography, his creativity, and how he always makes me laugh!  Another amazing person from The Arcanum.

~

It’s been raining here in Southern California.  I’m hoping the poppy field will pop this year.  I’d love for you to do a rain dance for us.  🙂

Click here to see a couple fun pics in Antelope Valley.

Cheers,

Janice Sullivan

Find me on Google

 

Sep 10
0

Make Photos New with Textures

By | Post Processing | No Comments

New Photographs with Textures

At the end of this post, I’ll share how to receive free textures from me.

 

I have talked about adding textures to your images in previous posts, but this time I want you to look at old images you have processed and play with those. When time or the weather is not your friend and you can’t photograph, go back to old images to give them a new creative spin with textures.

Below is the new image.

powerLines_8635

Electricity – Texture

This is the old image.

Electricity Wires

You also can receive free textures from me once you signup for my challenges. I give you a video on how to use them on your pictures.

photography software, what software to buy,

Post-production work.

If you join our membership you’ll receive at least 73 textures.  It’s one of our bonuses only for paid members.  More will be added so check out the fun here.

You can never have enough textures! Bring out your creative spin and play, play, play in post-production and make photos new with textures.

Texture added for fun!

 

So here you go…play with my freebie textures.  At the top of this page you’ll see my bar.  Sign up there and grab them.  🙂

Cheers,
Janice Sullivan

Find me at Google+

Dec 17
0

Adobe Lightroom Basics Course

By | Post Processing | No Comments

Do you want to learn more about Adobe Lightroom Basics? I’m excited to announce that my course “Adobe Lightroom Basics” is now available for purchase. This new course includes quick tips, plus more fun goodies to help you easily learn this awesome program.

Purchase as a gift for yourself or for someone else who would like to take their images to the next level.

Click here for details about the course

adobeLightroomBasics

Learn the Basics of Lightroom’s Modules plus more!

 

If you don’t have Creative Cloud, I suggest you try it.  It’s only $9.99 a month for Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.  You can also try Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for free, click here for more info.

I always enjoy receiving your input about my courses. I have a blast making them, but I want to make sure you’re learning new techniques about the software. Feel free to send me your feedback. Jot me an email at [email protected]  I appreciate your ideas.

Click around to see all the details about this product. I know you’ll love this course and I guarantee it will help you learn Adobe Lightroom Basics!

Cheers,

Janice Sullivan

Find me on Google+

Mar 12
1

How to use the Export tool in Lightroom

By | Lightroom, Post Processing | 8 Comments

This was one of the images in the video and one of my latest Macro Lens Paintings. To see more of my fine art work click here.

 

Today I want to talk to you about how to use the Export tool in Lightroom.  I feel that most people don’t use this tool to it’s full potential.  The export area is, I feel, one of the best options that Adobe Lightroom has to offer.  You can take your original photo file and export it to a jpg, png, psd, tiff and also change it’s color space with ease.  You can export many files at once making it an amazing time saver.  In this video I show various ways on how to export your images and get into detail with the following:

  • export to
  • export location
  • file naming
  • file setting
  • image settings
  • output sharpening
  • metadata
  • post production

daisy-055

Have a great day and utilize the export tool in Adobe Lightroom.

Janice Sullivan
Find me on Google+

Feb 28
0
Macro Cactus

Adobe Camera Raw: White Balance Tool

By | Adobe Camera Raw, Post Processing | No Comments

Sometimes we just don’t have the time to custom white balance our cameras or we accidentally set the camera on a wrong preset.  For example, you had your camera setting on Fluorescent and it should have been set on Daylight.  When that happens your images will have the wrong temperature / wrong color giving it a color cast.  Check out this kelvin link to help you understand the technical side of color and temperature.  To fix this problem you can use Adobe Camera Raw’s White balancing tool and or Adobe Lightroom color temp picker.

In this video, you’ll learn about Photoshop Adobe Camera Raw’s White Balance Tool.  Some of the main points in this video are:

  • Correcting Color Cast
  • RGB info
  • What is Neutral
  • Fun tips to make a creative image

 

Photographs in this video:

Cactus-1807

Cactus Top – f18 @6.0s ISO 125 100mm Macro lens

 

joshuatree_sunset_2142_HDR2

Sunset at Joshua Tree – 50mm – HDR – 100 ISO

You can also use the White Balance Tool in Lightroom the same way.  So play and have some fun correcting or changing up your images with the White Balance Tool!!

Cheers,
Janice Sullivan

 

Nov 27
0

How to use Adobe Camera Raw’s Snapshots

By | Adobe Camera Raw, Post Processing, SJP's News and Updates | No Comments

If you’re like me and love experimenting in post production then Snapshots is a perfect tool for you to use in Adobe Camera Raw.  Snapshots let you save different versions of the same file without duplicating the file so you save your hard drive space, and remember… they are non destructive to the image.  🙂   So don’t forget the snapshot area in ACR.   I promise you’ll be very happy with this tool!

Here are a couple of images I used in the video.

 

iphone ice plant flower~~

ashley_8173bw

If you haven’t read the post from last week and want to know what I’m thankful for…click here.  🙂

 

Janice Sullivan

Find me on Google+

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