Photoshop Fun and a Happy Xmas.
11th December 2021
Things have been quiet on the bird front of late and now we are in the darkest time of the year in more sense than one. The threat of further restrictions, although depressing, is a very real possibility. I’m afraid if the current situation escalates the wrong way then the government will have to make a very stark choice, one of allowing thousands of people to die or to collapse the economy. I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision!
On a lighter note Susan and I have been getting ready for Christmas, doing what shopping we have to and buying presents for family. We have prepared the garden for winter, doing essential pruning of shrubs and fruit trees etc. The grass has had its last cut and all the tools have been oiled and greased and put away. The two Ash trees in the garden have now dropped all their leaves and in the winter they will have a few branches lopped off in the interests of safety. This will be done by a professional because it’s just too dangerous for me to climb trees using a chainsaw because it’s very easy to have a bad accident. I use chainsaws regularly to cut up wood and prune low level branches but these branches on trees which look small from ground level are always much bigger and heavier when you are thirty feet in the air.
With regard to photography, I was looking through some mushroom images a few days ago and thought I could see some potential for a bit of digital manipulation. As I have mentioned in a previous blog on this subject, the Photoshop work for these images is fairly straightforward with some practice. The difficulty is finding suitable situations in terms of backgrounds and the images themselves. With this in mind I walked through a local wood and took a few shots of backgrounds – nothing special because they will be blurred out anyway.
However, they must have the right perspective to suit the final image.
I started with the Fly Agaric mushrooms, removing the small one at the front because it didn’t fit the situation.
These Fly Agarics are suitable for a Christmas image because of their colour. I then selected the above background and placed it behind the mushrooms and blurred it out using the Gaussian Blur tool.
It is possible to manoeuvre the background around to find the best position and adjust colour / contrast etc before blurring. Once this was achieved I blended an image of Santa between the mushrooms, a fairy with a few stars and some fairy dust added by me and two small Owls on the top of the mushroom. Again the original image has to be suitable for making these additions.
Then there are a few intricate steps to follow using ‘Light Painting’ in Photoshop to make the mushrooms glow and give the impression of light shining on the grass, Santa and also around the immediate area. The background remains diffused and very dim to give a complimentary effect to the general light on the main subjects.
Another image I found of a Porcini mushroom which I thought might be suitable for a bit of manipulation.
Just a bit of 'Light' relief amidst the dark evenings.
Finally I’d like to wish a happy Xmas and a wildlife - filled New Year to everyone who reads this blog.
Thank you all.
On a lighter note Susan and I have been getting ready for Christmas, doing what shopping we have to and buying presents for family. We have prepared the garden for winter, doing essential pruning of shrubs and fruit trees etc. The grass has had its last cut and all the tools have been oiled and greased and put away. The two Ash trees in the garden have now dropped all their leaves and in the winter they will have a few branches lopped off in the interests of safety. This will be done by a professional because it’s just too dangerous for me to climb trees using a chainsaw because it’s very easy to have a bad accident. I use chainsaws regularly to cut up wood and prune low level branches but these branches on trees which look small from ground level are always much bigger and heavier when you are thirty feet in the air.
With regard to photography, I was looking through some mushroom images a few days ago and thought I could see some potential for a bit of digital manipulation. As I have mentioned in a previous blog on this subject, the Photoshop work for these images is fairly straightforward with some practice. The difficulty is finding suitable situations in terms of backgrounds and the images themselves. With this in mind I walked through a local wood and took a few shots of backgrounds – nothing special because they will be blurred out anyway.
However, they must have the right perspective to suit the final image.
I started with the Fly Agaric mushrooms, removing the small one at the front because it didn’t fit the situation.
These Fly Agarics are suitable for a Christmas image because of their colour. I then selected the above background and placed it behind the mushrooms and blurred it out using the Gaussian Blur tool.
It is possible to manoeuvre the background around to find the best position and adjust colour / contrast etc before blurring. Once this was achieved I blended an image of Santa between the mushrooms, a fairy with a few stars and some fairy dust added by me and two small Owls on the top of the mushroom. Again the original image has to be suitable for making these additions.
Then there are a few intricate steps to follow using ‘Light Painting’ in Photoshop to make the mushrooms glow and give the impression of light shining on the grass, Santa and also around the immediate area. The background remains diffused and very dim to give a complimentary effect to the general light on the main subjects.
Another image I found of a Porcini mushroom which I thought might be suitable for a bit of manipulation.
Just a bit of 'Light' relief amidst the dark evenings.
Finally I’d like to wish a happy Xmas and a wildlife - filled New Year to everyone who reads this blog.
Thank you all.