I was playing again - what's new? - with emphasizing a subject in a photo. I'm aware of burning in the edges, cropping and other techniques. What I was trying to do was make the subject pop in a different way. I discovered a technique that I think is a good tip to use for those occasions. I took a copy of my image and reduced the size to 10%. I then darkened the entire shot and increased the contrast. I then increased the size 1000% (0.1 x 1000 = 100%) so it was back to the original size. I then cloned the main subject onto the modified copy. This was an overstatement of the modifications so it would better illustrate the effect for this post. What do you think of this idea? I'm pretty sure it is not original just as I'm sure there are other techniques that do similar things to a photo. Comments, good bad and ugly are welcomed. Thanks.
This is the original image...
Here is the modified image...
Thanks for any comments. I appreciate your opinions.
“Amateurs worry about equipment, professionals worry about money, masters worry about light, I just make pictures… ” ~ Vernon Trent
That worked great. Very creative solution. For fun, I tried the Soft Focus feature of Picasa, centered on the main figure, and enlarged the area of focus. Different effect. I'm sure PS has a similar function.
chasrich wrote: Paint Shop Pro has a similar effect but I haven't quite figured it out yet.
I'm reading the Picture Yourself Learning" book on PS Pro right now so I can figure out how to use it.
1. Open image and choose Adjust>Depth of Field.
2. Select the area to stay sharp. Either
a. Draw a circle around the area
b. Draw a rectangle
c. Freehand select
3. In before pane, click and drag the area you want to keep sharp.
4. Adjust the Blur slider
5. Choose either the circular or hexagon shape.
6. Experiment with the Feather Edge settings.
7. Increase or decrease the Focus Range as needed.
8. Click OK
Baydream wrote: That worked great. Very creative solution. For fun, I tried the Soft Focus feature of Picasa, centered on the main figure, and enlarged the area of focus. Different effect. I'm sure PS has a similar function.
That gives the image a kind of Lensbaby focus effect to it.
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