Photoshop Tutorials

Brides and grooms alike are now enlisting the expertise of professionals to get the best digital wedding photography for that special occasion. And why not? They would surely want to have the best photo taken so that the memories will be preserved as long as they live.

More and more people are now shifting to the use of digital cameras to take pictures of their wedding. One of the reasons for this is that the quality is better compared to the traditional camera. Another reason is that the photos can be stored not only in their hard-bound albums but also on albums online.

Today, people are more dependent on their computers than ever before. With computers, they can easily upload their wedding pictures and share them with family and friends all over the world. You do not have to rely on snail mails just to send your pictures. They are being sent and viewed the minute you have them in your computer.

This is one of the many advantages of digital photography. If taken properly, you are assured that you and you partner will never regret having used digital photography for your wedding pictures.

Below are some of the tips to get the best digital photography for your wedding.

1. Choose the right background.

Photos can really look great once they are shot with the perfect background. You can use the decorations in the church and in the reception areas as a back draft for your photos. Be sure to fix some scattered decorations so that they will appear simply perfect on photos.

Always remind the photographer to check if the view is good when taking pictures. It does not mean that you have to stand on the same corner or place. The best photographer is able to make even the simplest of background look great on photo if it is taken in the right angle.

2.  Look out for any kinds of glass.

Glasses tend to cause reflections in photos. May it be an eyeglass, window or wine glasses.  One way or another, they will cause a reflection or brightness to reflect back on the camera it is included in the picture.

To avoid this, the position of the camera can be altered so that it will not directly hit the glass. The photo can be taken sideways or downwards but never on eye level.

3. The perfect timing.

Persons being photographed should not always be looking at the camera. And they do not have to be smiling at the lens too.

One way of doing it is to wait for the right moment so that you can have a candid shot at them. You will see that catching persons on film when they are in their candid state is much better than having them wearing a fixed expression. Candid moments make photos look real and natural.

4. Review each photo.

To maximize the memory that your digital camera has, it is best to review every shot taken. There might be duplicates that can be removed so that you can free more space for a different shot.

You will probably want the best and the maximum number of digital wedding photography shots so you need to make the most of the capacity of the digital camera.

The best wedding photography is made even better now with digital cameras. This is one thing that you definitely should have on your special day.

Mount Revelstoke National Park, originally uploaded by Don Guindon.

Balsam Lake at the trail head in ‘Meadows in the Sky’ parkway. Located in Mount Revelstoke National Park

Adobe Photoshop software has many masking applications in its program. These masks allow you to make changes to the image you are working with and add various effects to certain areas of the image, without changing or adding the effect to the whole image. Experts liken masking to putting masking tape around your room when you paint to protect areas of the wall you don’t want to paint. Masking software in Photoshop works on the same idea.

Layer masks and selection masks are two popular masks used within Photoshop. Many people use layer masks exclusively, and they are certainly the most commonly used mask. Selection masks, however, are an important and under used part of the program. Instead of just masking and editing your layers, selection masks allow you to control the selections you make and elect to only edit or protect the parts of the image you have specifically selected.

One type of selection mask that is easy for new users to try out is a so-called “quick mask.” When using a quick mask, you can make selections on your image using your paintbrush tool or pencil tool instead of using your lasso tool, which can be unwieldy when working with small portions of an image.

To get started, select an image to work with, and open that image within your Photoshop program. Now, open your marquee tool and select part your image.

Now, it is time to open your quick mask tool. It is in your toolbox, near the bottom right side - it has a white circle on a gray background. When that is done, everything that you have not selected should turn red - make adjustments to your selection if necessary.

Now, it is time to open your pencil tool or paint brush tool; whichever you choose to use. With that open, change your foreground color to black in your tool box and draw around the image. This will make the mask larger while unselecting the image at the same time. This will give you a larger are to work with while get your mask to exactly the right size, without damaging anything around what you have selected. Now zoom into your masked area and change the foreground color to white. White will make your mask smaller and re-select your image. Using your pencil or paint brush again, carefully remove the edges of the mask that go outside your image and cover areas that you do not want to be covered. When you are satisfied that your mask is adequately covering what you it to cover, and not covering anything else, click the “standard mode” button in your tool box - right next to the quick mask button. This will seal your mask, and your image should be protected.

Some people prefer to change the way their quick mask works. If you want to change the setting, double click on the quick mask icon to open up a dialogue box. In here, you change the opacity of your mask. You can also change which area is highlighted in red when you first select your object - if you want your select to be highlighted, rather than everything NOT selected, then change the “color indicates” box from “masked areas” to “selected areas.”

There are plenty of other functions for selection masks, like alpha channels, but the quick mask will allow you to get used to using the utility and seeing how it best works for you. Like many Photoshop applications, it requires some trial and error to master it completely.