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Watch this image evolve in Photoshop

Wednesday, August 15, 2012 Posted inPHOTOGRAPHY,PHOTOSHOP


I posted this photo last week as my new Facebook profile picture and the response was phenomenal! The photo was originally created back in April to celebrate my 23rd birthday, and it’s turned out to be one of my favourite self-portraits ever.

Someone in the Facebook comments asked how it was edited, so I thought I’d let you into the step-by-step process. This is one of those images that I spent a lot of time editing, so I unfortunately can’t go into full detail on what I did because it would take such a long time.

Here’s a quick summary of the edit:

  1. I first extended the photograph to turn it into a square.
  2. Then I added taller flowers to replace the phone pole and create an “alice in wonderland” feel to the image.
  3. I added additional clouds for atmosphere.
  4. I added extra hair for volume and drama.
  5. The main photoshop action used on the colour was “Scarlet Love“.
  6. After that, it was subtle colour changes here and there to create the purple tones in the flowers that I was looking for and also the additional colour in the sky. The secret here is the use of opacities and layer masks!
  7. To finish it off I used Alex’s Sharpy as the final sharpen.

Here you can view the changes step-by-step:

You can buy “Scarlet Love” and “Alex’s Sharpy” in The Inspired Store today!

Posted inPHOTOGRAPHY,PHOTOSHOP

  • http://teagannicholle.blogspot.com Teagan

    Alex, thank you SO MUCH for sharing stuff like this. It’s so important to us photographers who are learning in a “self-taught” manner to have experienced editors like you turn into mentors when they’re willing to share their process.

    Just a quick question/clarification if you don’t mind – I’m currently using a free editing program but gearing up for the switch into the photoshop world. When creating this image, did you do anything in lightroom or was it primarily photoshop? Would photoshop elements have sufficed for everything you did here?

    Again, thank you to the max!!

  • http://delicatedots.com Jaclyn C.

    So helpful and SO gorgeous!!

  • http://www.wendywillsphotography.com Wendy

    One of my all time favorite photos of yours! Thank you for sharing – I have still yet to tweak photos in this way but want to start practicing soon. It’s amazing what you can do. Before I just thought – “wow how lucky she had some great wind that day!” (referring to your beautifully wind swept hair). Photoshop – duh! I’m still easily fooled :)

  • http://www.alexbeadonphotography.com Alex Beadon

    Hi Teagan!

    Wow, thank you so much for such an amazing comment! It is so rewarding to hear that photographers are appreciating the behind-the-scene posts I have been working so hard on lately! Thank you for the encouragement!

    To answer your question, you are NEVER going to regret your switch to the Photoshop world and I am beyond excited for you! When creating this image I only used Photoshop CS5. Honestly, I’m not sure what the differences are between Elements and CS, but I’m sure that Elements doesn’t allow you as much precise control as CS does. Also, Lightroom is very good for batch editing (for things like weddings) where as Photoshop is geared more (in my opinion) towards fine tuning individual images!

    I hope that helps!
    Big hugs and GOOD LUCK with your Photoshop transition :)
    xoxo

  • http://www.alexbeadonphotography.com Alex Beadon

    Hey Wendy!

    Thanks so much for your comment. Yes, Photoshop does wonders for my hair haha ;). I’m glad you enjoyed the evolution of this image, it’s just a lot of small tweaks that in the end make a huge difference! You should definitely start practicing and experimenting with the power of Photoshop. It’s creatively life changing :).

    Big hugs!
    xoxo

  • http://teagannicholle.blogspot.com Teagan

    awesome – that is exactly the kind of insider-info I was looking for :):) THANK YOU!!