Came across this interesting light show on the side of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
It was actually the morning sun refracting from the angled glass windows of the new section of the Brisbane Convention Centre
Via Flickr:
Light refracted from the new Convention centre section appearing on the walls of QPAC
There are a number of ways to improve the focus on your subject using PS Elements.
I’m going to start with one of my own photos – a Traffic Signal Box.
It would be an OK image but the background is a bit hot, the walkers may be a bit distracting, and the colours are a bit washed out.
I’m going to use PS Elements to make the TSB stand out more, and in a process that is about 5 minutes work.
First I select and copy the main object. Now you know why I chose the signal box – its regular shape. Add that copy back in as a new layer.
Working on just the background, darken the image.
Still just working on the background apply a Gaussian blur.
At this stage you already have the TSB standing out, but it is time to work on the foreground.
First adjust the lighting:
Then increase the colour saturation:
The result – a photo with far more focus on the subject, and worth comparing to the original if you were using it in a story.
I should mention that a lot of the effects added to this photo could have been achieved in taking the image itself – I just didn’t think about it at the time.
( originally posted on Mixed media reporting tumblr )
You can use SSI to select a specific day, and then carry out an action. You can also determine that action to be carried out at a certain time on that day.
This is a good explanation of the use of light when shooting portraits.
While the video uses studio lighting to explain the effects, the same sort of principles apply when you are using natural light.
Similarly while the story is about shooting still photos, the same concepts can be applied to shooting video, using light sources for affect.
(Source: theslantedlens.com)
( originally posted on Mixed media reporting tumblr )
