Think of your images as books in a library. Each book is on a shelf somewhere (folders of your hard drive). The books and shelves may be organized in some fashion that may or may not make it easy to locate an individual book.

The catalog is the little cabinet in the front of the library that is full of cards describing each book – who is the author, where is it located in the library, what keywords it has, and so forth. When you look at a card in the catalog, you see a thumbnail of the image, and have a pointer to exactly where in the library that image is located.

A collection is a list of some of the cards in the catalog that meet certain criteria. In a regular collection, you pick and choose which cards to include in a new list (for example, my favorite images). In a smart collection, you pick the criteria to match, and the computer does the work of searching through the catalog for cards that match (all images with keyword "vacation" that were taken in 2011). With Smart Collections, the list is generated automatically.

Catalogs and collections do NOT contain images. They contain the cards that tell about the image – its location, information about the image, even a thumbnail of what the image looks like.

This is why moving images around outside of Lightroom is bad. You move the image on you hard drive, and the catalog of cards is still indicating that the image is located where it used to be. Try to find it there, and you get a big question mark.

When you move an image within Lightroom, the catalog of cards is updated with the new location if the image. And, since catalogs are just groups of copies of the cards, they are all updated too.

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These tutorials don’t cover how to capture an image in HDR – the bracketing process and the merging in the HDR software is well covered elsewhere. I’ve focused more on the overall thought process, and attention to details that get overlooked when you tonemap your images.

The process begins with the raw images, preparing them for the best possible results in the merge process. And, the process continues after the tonemapping – again, the HDR/tonemapping process is just a step on the way to taking your images beyond the ordinary. Enjoy!

Part 1 – What happens before the HDR merging starts

HDR – Beyond The Ordinary (Pt. 1) from Mike Hoffman on Vimeo.

Part 2 – What happens after the HDR merging is over – you’re not done yet.

HDR – Beyond The Ordinary (Pt. 2) from Mike Hoffman on Vimeo.

Part 3 – Post-processing and cleaning up your images is a major part of making the results extraordinary.

HDR – Beyond The Ordinary (Pt. 3) from Mike Hoffman on Vimeo.

Thanks, and I hope you find these tutorials useful!

One of the series I’ve posted deals with Smart Objects in Photoshop – a feature that was added several versions back, and provides a tremendous amount of flexibility and power. Here is a summary of the Smart Object tutorials, I hope you’ll explore them and learn a little more about our favorite pixel pushing program:

• Smarter Editing with Smart Objects
• Smart Objects, Raw Flexibility
• Picture Package with Smart Objects
• Exposure Blending with Smart Objects
• Smart Objects, Smarter Filters
• Nested Smart Objects (Part 1)
• Nested Smart Objects (Part 2)
• Max Stacks with Photoshop Smart Objects
• Noise Reduction with Smart Object Stack Modes
• Creative Stacking Diversions with Smart Objects
• Automatic Tourist Remover – Smart Objects at Play
• Lightroom to Photoshop and Back – Another Way

Get to know Smart Objects; they will become an essential part of your tool box!

Lines can be interesting or boring, and when they are plain horizontal or vertical, they can fatigue the viewer. When angled and especially when asymmetrical, they can really add depth and perspective to a photo. Consider the way the offset lines draw you right into these images:

Sometimes the lines can be curvy or wavy, but the effect remains – grab your attention and pull it into the scene:

Within nature, we find the same organic trend towards perspective and symmetry.

But, by breaking the symmetry, we impart greater tension, interest and impact with our images:

Take note of the lines in your photographs. Strive to break the symmetry, shoot to add perspective and draw the viewer in. Give it a try!

You can find my series over at the TipSquirrel blog – where we’re nuts about Photoshop! Pop over and check out my tutorials, as well as those of quite a few other excellent instructors and artists!

My blend modes series includes:

Blend Mode Basics Part 1 – Screen Blending for Lightening
Blend Mode Basics Part 2 – Multiply Blending for Darkening
Blend Mode Basics Part 3 – Layer Styles and Blend Modes
Blend Mode Basics Part 4 – Overlay Blending for Contrast
Blend Modes Part 5 – Overlay Blending for Sharpening
Blend Modes Part 6 – Overly Blending for Softening
Blend Modes Part 7 – Refining Masks with Overlay Blending
Blend Modes Part 8 – Image Alignment and Analysis with Difference Blending
Blend Modes Part 9 – Creative Difference Blending
Blend Modes Part 10 – Introducing Luminosity Sharpening
Blend Modes Part 11 – Luminosity Sharpening Three Ways
Blend Modes Part 12 – Creative Luminosity Techniques

I hope you find these tips and tricks to be helpful and inspiring!

Hoffman Art Design has teamed with some exciting partners to provide a stream of high quality tutorial information, starting Tuesday, April 13, over at the TipSquirrel blog. I’m proud to join Tim Shelbourne, Janine Smith, Justin Seeley and A.J. Wood in providing a suite of education to help ease your migration to the latest Adobe platform!

Stay tuned!

If you’re using Photoshop, and aren’t familiar with the Blending Modes available for use within this powerful program, you are missing out! Blend modes can apply to layers, but can also be used in conjunction with various tools, layer effects and other parts of Photoshop.

I’ve been running through a series of tutorials on the Photoshop Blend Modes over on TipSquirel.com, and I encourage you to drop by to take a look at the possibilities that Blend Modes can bring to the creative party! Head over now to see what you’ve been missing:

My series on Photoshop Blend Modes:

Blend Mode Basics – Part 1(Screen)

Blend Mode Basics – Part 2(Multiply)

Blend Mode Basics – Part 3(Layer Styles)

Blend Mode Basics – Part 4(Overlay)

Blend Mode Basics – Part 5(Overlay Sharpening)

Blend Mode Basics – Part 6(Overlay Softening)

Refining Masks with Overlay Blending

Image Alignment and Analysis with Difference Blending

Creative Differences

Introducing the Luminosity Blend Mode

Luminosity Sharpening 3 Ways

And of course, today’s lesson on Creative Luminosity Techniques

While you’re there, be sure to check out the many other great tips and techniques offered by the other contributors to this excellent site!

So, join me as we apply a little bit of makeup, mascara, and maybe even (gasp) a little plastic surgery as we retouch our bird portrait – and take it from good to great.

We’ll start by looking at this American Egret, who was nice enough to mug for my camera on a recent visit to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

All in all, a “nice” picture – good, but not great. What do we do with it? This is a nice, sharp image, properly focused and exposed, nice color – but it doesn’t reach out and grab me. Well, let’s change that.

We’ll start with a radical crop. I don’t particularly care for the leafy debris on the tip of his beak… we could clone it out, but cropping may be easier. Plus, his image has a nice sharp eye (very important in any photography) and we want to take advantage. So, let’s crop really tight and get right in his face!

Now we’re talking. I like the composition, a little unorthodox but with much more impact than the original. However, now we start to see the blemishes that weren’t as noticeable in the first shot.The image above is reduced for the blog, but if we zoom in to look at his face and head we see quite a bit that could use a good makeover.

We can see that his feathers are looking a little rough this morning, perhaps it was a late night last night down by the river. He’s got a few blemishes on his beak that are distracting as well; we can apply the clone stamp tool to clean this up quickly.

Start a new layer above the original (always do your retouching on a separate layer) and select the Clone Stamp Tool. Set the tool’s opacity to 50% and make sure “Sample” is set to “All Layers.” Alt-click in a clean area and paint away the blemishes in the feathers and beak. Use a relatively small brush and you should be able to leave no visible trace of your retouching.

Now, how about that eye? Nice and clear, but not dramatic enough. Let’s add some “mascara” and a catch light to make it pop:

Start with the Brush Tool, set to 50% opacity. Set your color to black by pressing “D” then “X” and, using a soft round brush setting, brush in the “eyeliner” around the bird’s eye. You want to cover all the rough and uneven areas, even it out and create as much drama as possible – just as with eyeliner on people:

Looks good. Now, using the same black brush, go over the pupil of the eye to add a little density an remove any variation in the color. We pretty much want solid black. Then, switch to white color (again by pressing “X”), and, with the opacity still at 50%, brush in a small curved catch light. Be careful not to overdo this; a little bit goes a long way.

Now, let’s step back and take a look at the before and after.

Before:

After:

I think you’ll agree, a little make-up and mascara can go a long way towards taking your bird photograph from good to great!

Merry Christmas! I hope you’ll enjoy this!

My method uses the capabilities of the brush engine, and so it is important to understand a few things about the brushes panel and some of the settings there. We’re going to start with the brush from the standard set called "Dune Grass." Notice its default size is 112 px, and notice all the boxes that are checked along the left side? We will dig into these to get a sense of what is going on.

First we’ll start with the Shape Dynamics. As you highlight that setting, you can see that Size Jitter is set to 100%. This means that as you paint, although the nominal brush size is 112 px, the actual size of the brush will change, or "jitter," up and down as you paint, so that all the instances are not identically size. Additionally, you can see that the Angle Jitter is set to 9%; this will cause each brush imprint to be slightly askew from every other one. The combination here provides some randomness, as seen in the stroke preview window at the bottom.

Next, let’s look at scattering. Highlight that setting and you can see that scattering is set to 56% and "Both Axes" is checked. This will offset the components of the stroke from each other, left and right, up an down, so instead of a uniform row of shapes, you get a whole bunch of individual objects in the shape of the brush tip scattered about. Note also that "Count Jitter" is set to 4, which will make an uneven number of individual prints – more in some areas, less in others. All in the name of randomness, which is good for our purpose.

Now, let’s take a look at Color Dynamics. This is very important to the look and feel we are seeking with pine needles. Note that Foreground/Background Jitter is set to 100%, which means that the color you are painting with will shift randomly between the foreground and background colors – it takes TWO colors to make this effect work properly, and you should choose both foreground AND background colors before using this brush. For our tree, we will be using a foreground of dark green (25,64,34) and a background of white, and the colors will range between the two providing a very pleasing effect.

Finally, let’s look at the Brush Tip Shape. For our tree, we will reduce the size ("Diameter") to 40 pixels. That is not all, however. We will grab the Angle arrow and spin it around (click and drag on the arrowhead) to set the angle to -98 degrees. This will give the brushed needles the appearance of hanging down and towards the right.

So, what about the left side of the tree? We will simply select the "Flip Y" checkbox, and the brush shape will be mirrored in the other direction for the left side.

Now that we’ve got our brush set the way we want it, let’s save it. Select the menu in the upper right of the Brushes panel, and choose "New Brush Preset…" and let’s name it "Pine Needles." Click OK to save the brush for later.

Now, let’s begin a new document. I used 1600×1200 RGB, white background as my starting size, so if you’re following along, and want to use the same settings, you’ll want to start with the same size. Press "D" to select the default foreground and background colors, then change the foreground color to Dark Green (25,64,34).

Create a new layer above the background, select the Pine Needles brush from before, and paint the rough shape of the tree. Be sure to keep the Brushes panel open, and use the "Flip Y" feature to change back and forth for the left or right side of the tree. In this step, we just want to rough out the basic shape of the tree, so be loose and keep it simple.

Now, let’s add the trunk and some branches. Start a new layer, and call it "Trunk." Choose a different brush, I selected from the standard set the brush called "Chalk 36 pixels." This brush also has foreground/background jitter, so lets set both colors. I used a foreground of Darker Warm Brown (61,46,21) and a background color of Light Warm Brown (125,109,72). Using the Chalk 36 brush, paint in the trunk of the tree, changing to a smaller diameter as you go up. Use a smaller diameter to paint in the shapes of some branches. Keep in mind that Christmas pines have layers of branches, so it is OK to make the left and right side somewhat symmetrical (but not exactly!)

Now, turn off the visibility of your original rough tree outline layer. You won’t need it any more.

Next, create a new layer and call it "Branch." Pick your Pine Needles brush once again, and press "D" to reset the default colors, and once again set the foreground to Dark Green (25,64,34). Paint in one side of the lowest set of branches.

Now, "Flip Y" again and paint in the other side of the lowest branches. When you’re done you should have about 90% coverage, leave some holes and be sure to let the branches and trunk peek out here and there.

Looks good, but we’re going to kick it up a notch. Click the stylized "fx" icon to add a layer style, and click on Drop Shadow. Change the Distance to 10 and the Size to 15. Then, click on "Bevel and Emboss" (leave the default settings).

Now, let’s move up the tree. Add a new layer, call it "Branch 2" and repeat the painting technique to add in the next layer of branches. Make sure the new layer hangs over the previous layer in some areas, covering it up a bit.

What, you can’t see the overlap? Not to worry. Simply select the original Branch layer, right click, and choose "Copy Layer Style." Then choose the Branch 2 layer, and click "Paste Layer Style" and all the settings will be duplicated. This should help you see where the upper layer overlaps the lower.

Continue working your way up the tree. Add a new layer, paste the layer style (you don’t have to hit copy every time, it will be remembered), and start painting the next layer. Remember to leave some gaps and let some of the branches show through. I used 10 layers to work my way up the tree.

OK, let’s add some snow!!!

I selected a brush from the standard set called "Sampled Tip" (90 pixels) and reduced the diameter to about 25 pixels. This brush has color jitter as well, so I set the background to white and the foreground to a very light cyan color (232,241,254). Go all the way down to the original bottom Branch layer, and add a new layer just above it, calling it "Snow." Gently pain in some fluffy blobs of snow along the branches.

Doesn’t look really fluffy yet, right? Layer styles to the rescue again! Add a layer style of Drop Shadow and Bevel and Emboss, using the default settings for both. Then, add a "Pattern Overlay." For the pattern, select the bubbles image, set teh blend mode to "Luminosity," Opacity to 50%, and Scale to 80%. The luminosity blend mode will just provide a sense of texture without adding the blue color of the bubbles image.

Using the "Copy Layer Style"/"Paste Layer Style" technique that we used on the branches, add a new Snow layer above each Branch layer, paste the layer style, and scribble in some blobs of snow. Work your way from bottom to top, and we are just about there!!

After looking at the snow, the shadows were too intense. So, I went to the bottom snow layer, and adjusted the settings. As you can see, I reduced the opacity of the Drop Shadow to 55%, reduced the opacity of the shadows of the Bevel and Emboss effect to 50%, and reduced the opacity of the pattern overlay to 35%.

Now, "Copy Layer Style" from the bottom snow layer, and work your way up the layer stack, using "Paste Layer Style" on all the Snow layers. The effects are updated immediately, no muss, no fuss.

Here is the final image, ready for presents, critters, whatever scenery might be needed to set your Christmas stage. I hope you enjoyed this!

Happy Chrismas to all, and to all a good night!

As with most other areas of the program, there are many ways to create a selection: ranging from the selection tools themselves (lasso, marquee, quick select, etc), to brushing on a layer mask or quick selection using any of the brush tools (brush, pencil, eraser, stamp, smudge, gradient, dodge, burn, etc) to even alt-clicking on a layer’s or channel’s thumbnail to load it as a selection (opt-click for you Mac users). However, I’m going to set all that aside today, and focus on another way to create complex selections – using paths and the paths panel.

For creating smooth curves and complex geometries in your selections, nothing can beat using paths. Paths are vector objects, and can be created using the pen tool, the shape tool, the type tool, or by importing from another program such as Illustrator. Once you have a path, how do you use it? You most likely will need to convert it to a selection! We’ll take a look at several methods for that here.

Let’s consider a Photoshop document in which you’ve drawn a couple of paths using the shape tool (with the tool set to create work paths). Open the Paths panel (Window > Paths) and click on one of the paths in the panel. The path outline shows up in your document (Side note: click anywhere off the path in the paths panel to deactivate the path so it is no longer visible – this tends to confuse people).

Once you’ve clicked on the path, look to the bottom of the panel. The icon at the bottom that looks like a dotted circle is used to “Load path as a selection.” This hides the work path and leaves the familiar marching ants in the shape of the path.

Now, if that were all there was to it, this would be a short article! But, there are a few hidden features with this one small button that allow some creative solutions when you create a selection from a path.

If you Alt-click (Opt-click) the “Load path as a selection” icon, you get a small dialog box. This will allow you some interesting options as you create your path – the first section being “Feather Radius” and “Anti-aliased.”

Feather radius will allow you to give your selection a soft edge rather than a crisp hard edge. The number of pixels depends on the size of your document, and how soft you want the edge. I tend to adjust this later with the Masks panel.

The second option, “Anti-aliased,” will help to smooth out the selection border by a slight softening of the edge. This helps to avoid the “jaggies” in a low resolution document.

Notice the second section of this dialog box (Operation) is mostly grayed out? This comes into play when you combine multiple paths. For example, let’s say we’ve loaded the flower design above as a selection. Then, we click on the other path while the selection is active. We have this:

Now, Alt-click (Opt-Click) the “Load path as selection” icon. The other options are now available:

At this point, we can choose to combine the ribbon selection with the flower selection by adding, subtracting, or intersection the two areas. Here are the results of each of those operations:

As you can see, there is far more to this than meets the eye… Get out there, create some paths, and start experimenting. By combining paths into complex selections, there is no limit to your creativity!