Create a Rainbow in Photoshop

A fun effect here, creating a larger-than-life rainbow on your photos or images.



The tutorial is here and is written for Photoshop CS but I used it with CS3 and there were only minor differences.

I found using the tab stops in the gradient editor a bit tricky, I didn't really know what I was doing, but other than that it's a nice tutorial to work from. Creating a good rainbow shape with the radial gradient tool can take a few goes, but ctrl-z is a lifesaver in this instance!

It's a nice effect and, though slightly tricky, worth a go.

Different Lomo Effect Tutorial

Following the success of yesterday's lomo effect tutorial, I decided to explore other digital lomography tutorials.



I chose this one from digital photography school and, again, produced great results.

In this one, the cross-processing effect of film lomography is more evident, and the fabulous vignetting and colour effects are present.

The tutorial was fairly easy to follow, so have a go!

The Lomo Effect

Lomography, an increasibly popular type of photography, is very much a back-to-basics approach. Cheap film cameras, often toy cameras, are used and there is a lomo aesthetic which is very appealing.

Lomography emphasizes casual, snapshot photography. Characteristics such as over-saturated colors, off-kilter exposure, blurring, "happy accidents," and alternative film processing are often considered part of the "Lomographic Technique." (from wikipedia)

I play with a Holga and other toy cameras, all plastic, to varied effects. One of the joys of lomography is indeed its very complete unpredictability.

The Holga's cheap construction and simple meniscus lens often yields pictures that display vignetting, blur, light leaks, and other distortions. Ironically, the camera's quality problems became a virtue among some photographers, with Holga photos winning awards and competitions in art and news photography. (from wikipedia again!)

The most faithful of lomographers despise digital attempts to reproduce the lomo aesthetic, so I avoided it for a long time. However, the unique beauty of this effect has led me astray and I have, for the first time, followed a 'lomo effect' tutorial for Photoshop. And I don't regret it. The results, above, are just fantastic.

The tutorial I used is here. There are probably hundreds of them but I like this one. Simple and effective.

Lomo links:
lomography.com
Lomography UK
A Guide to Lomography

Classical Art Colour Match

This colour-match tutorial states,

Adjusting your photographs to get the color 'just right' can be a chore. Think about this: The Old Masters of painting spent years of their lives learning about color. Why let all their effort go to waste on the walls of some museum when it could be used to give you a hand with color correction?

I used 'Garrotte' by Santiago Bose to really alter, and improve, the colouring of this photograph of the church in Edale, Derbyshire.



With the tutorial and the Bose image, I created this:



I then used the same technique on this portrait:


and, using the colours from this floral painting, created this quite different mood.

Further Photo to Drawing: Sunflowers.

With further exploration of the Photo to Drawing technique, I edited this image:



and from it created this one:



With help also from here when trying to understand the gradient tool.

Photo To Drawing - Photoshop

Roughly based on this tutorial from Planet Photoshop, I turned this photo:


into this, where the image is the photograph on the left, graduating to a line drawing on the right.



The photograph is of a 'Nicaragua Must Survive' poster. The manipulation could certainly be improved, but am sharing my first attempt at a new technique.

English Tea Can / China Painting Effect in Photoshop

Following this tutorial, with a few minor adaptations to make it work with Photoshop CS3, I created these images.



The originals are this one and this one, taken on holiday in Edale last summer.

Wind Turbines

Rob Walker from NowPublic.com requested use of these two images for an article about wind turbines.

They were taken at the aforementioned Heeley City Farm and were taken at different shutter speeds, the first one to freeze the motion, the second to capture it.

I approved the use of the photos, as even though it is a negative report about harnessing wind power for energy, it is reporting what the Ministry of Defence have said, rather than necessarily agreeing with those criticisms. Indeed, the two comments so far on the article seem to agree that the Ministry of Defence's supposed concerns are nonsensical.