First You See It and Then You Don't
(Photoshop Tip - Spot Healing Brush Tool)

Photoshop’s Spot Healing Brush Tool is easy to use and indispensable. If you look at the BEFORE photograph you will notice a leafy branch hanging over the statue.  And, in the AFTER photograph along with same additional post-processing the offending branch is gone.  To remove an un-wanted element form you image in Photoshop, just open your desired image. Then, select the (Spot Healing Brush Tool) from the left-side icon menu or press the (J) key on your keyboard. You will then see the Spot Healing Brush Tool options at the top left-side of your screen. Out of the available options I find that I use the (Content-Aware) option the most. You should make your brush-size optimal to the size of the object you wish to remove from your image. Sometimes you may need to remove items in small sections. Even though the Spot Healing Brush Tool seems like magic sometimes, it is not necessarily the right tool for every situation. If the object you wish to remove is large or there is a great deal of detail around the object, the Spot Healing Brush Tool many not work to your satisfaction. The Spot Healing Brush Tool is one of those tools you must use for yourself to learn it limits.  Remember, you can always use the (Step Backward – Alt+Ctrl+Z) command in Photoshop to undo any changes that do not work for your image.

 

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Technical Data: Nikon D3 with a Nikon NIKKOR AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G lens, Exposer: 1/200s at f/8.0, IOS: 200, Focal Length: 300mm, Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority, Exposure Bias: 0.00 EV, Metering Mode: Pattern, Filter: Ultra Violet, Subject Distance: 7.5 meters, Lighting: Natural Daylight, Date: 07/02/2012 at 12:25 pm, Post Processing (AFTER image): Adobe Photoshop CS6 & Nik Software – Color Efex Pro 4

Copyright © 2012 Windows of Photography, All Rights Reserved

Shades of Gray

Botanical photography is mostly recognized for the stunning colors and textures that flowers and plant-life in-general produces. But, I find that sometimes even flowers can look exceptional in a monochrome format. The above photograph was processed using Adobe’s Photoshop CS6 and Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro 4. The original RAW image from my camera only required modest adjustments in Photoshop CS6. I used two Presets in Color Efex Pro 4 to further enhance this image. The first preset I selected is called Big Sky. This preset is a somewhat high contrast preset, I then chose the B+W preset. The B+W preset is exactly what you would expect it to be, an excellent black and white preset which complimented the Big Sky preset nicely. Nik Software’s Presets allows you to try preconfigured setting and then you can make further adjusting from the selected preset. You can also combine presets for even more creative imagery. Nik Software brings value to Adobe’s Photoshop and Lightroom products.

To learn more about Nik Software’s Presets go to: Nik Software

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Metadata: Nikon D3 with a Nikon AF-S VR Micro NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED lens, Exposure: 1/250s at f/7.1, ISO: 400, Focal Length: 105mm, Exposure Mode: Manual, Metering Mode: Spot, Filter: Ultra Violet, Subject Distance: Unknown, Lighting: Off Camera Speedlight (Nikon SB-800), Post Processing: Adobe Photoshop CS6 & Nik Software – Color Efex Pro 4, Date: 8/16/2012 at 4:42 pm

Copyright © 2012 Windows of Photography, All Rights Reserved