getting rich and vivid colors in photoshop

Oftentimes, you wonder how you can emulate the richness and vividness of the photos taken on films compared to your dull and lifeless digital photographs. Film pictures radiate more impact. They have more punch and definitely more vivid and richer colors compared to unprocessed digital images taken from a digital camera.

We can fairly get close resemblance of film colors if we process our digital photos in the Lab Color Mode instead of the usual RGB Mode in Photoshop.

First, convert to a different color space (Image > Mode > Lab Color). In Lab Color processing, the colors can be harnessed and controlled much easier because they can be separated based on their lightness in Channel A and Channel B unlike in the RGB Mode where controlling the lightness will also affect either the Red, Green and Blue channels.
Using a Levels Adjustment Layer, select Channel A and change the values of the Input Levels to (55, 0.90 and 200). Do the same to Channel B using the same values. Don't worry if you'll get a highly saturated image.

Create another layer and this time a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer in order to fix the saturation and achieve a fairly natural colors. I prefer fixing the Red color first by sliding it to (-30) value, then the Yellow color by applying a (-20) value, then the Cyan color by sliding it to (-30) value then finally, the Magenta color by substituting it with a (-30) value. The values will of course depend according to your taste and may vary from one photo to another inasmuch as each may have different lightness.

By now, your image should appear like the sample photos I've uploaded. Since you are working on the Lab Color Mode, you can't save your work without going back to the RGB Mode, so go to (Image > Mode > RGB). You can now apply your other post-processing techniques like adding highlights and shadows, sharpening and other fixes you may wish to employ.


Model: Karla Paula Ginteroy
Fashion Consultant: Dexter Alazas

perspective distortion

Perspective distortion occurs when there appears an unusually or disproportionately large part or portion of your subject relative to its remaining parts when shooting a portrait using a wide angle lens at extremely short focal lengths. In this first sample I've posted, you may notice that the head is out of proportion vis-a-vis the entire body which appeared smaller and tapering down in size. The reason for this is that I used a 24mm focal length on my zoom (or in 35mm language, equivalent to 36mm based on Nikon D50's 1.5 crop factor) and I was very near the subject standing right in front of her with my camera slightly above her head.

This kind of distortion is dependent on the distance of the camera in relation to the subject you are shooting wherein the nearer you are as photographer to your subject or model, the greater this distortion would be. Some refer to this as a wide angle distortion which is also accurate in the sense that, you can only get this kind of distortion when you use a wide angle lens. Perspective distortion is often pleasant in landscape photos as they give a wider view of a scene but doesn't hold true in portraits where the nose appears relatively bigger as compared to any part of the face or head which is farther away in distance from the lens. There are instances when perspective distortion even enhances a portrait but most often than not, it ruins what otherwise would be a great portrait.

When shooting portraits, it is therefore recommended to use a short to moderate telephoto lenses with a focal length of 50mm to 125mm. If what is attached to your camera is a wide zoom, you can minimized this distortion on your portraits by moving back away from your subject, thus creating instead a pleasant environmental portrait with any conceivable background of your choice very much seen on the frame.

capturing still pictures on TVs

Shooting a television image is quite a tricky task especially if they are from a CRT screen. In the examples shown here, a high resolution flat screen was the medium and the pictures were shot in available light. When shooting a TV image, bear in mind that the picture takes a little time to form completely on the screen so you must try shooting at different shutter speeds until you finally get a clear picture.

I took these images on a trial and error approach until i discovered that at a shutter speed of 1/60, the images will stabilize without any ghosting and blurring. It is also advisable to use a tripod if shooting an image would entail you to use a shutter speed of less than 1/60. A much more effective apporach would be to freeze the frame if you're viewing a movie played from a DVD Player and from there make your test shots until you come up with a good image. There's no hard and fast rule here so experimention is always an option.

dark tone photography

Dark Tone photography is becoming popular nowadays and it is a broader field in photography, inasmuch as it includes low key portraiture and grungy-feel pictures, which has commonly more depth and drama compared to high key photos. With this in mind, I decided to make an experiment on Ria's photos by using Photoshop to convert them into dark toned portraits. Dark tone images create some kind of a wow factor and draws more attention to the viewers to appreciate the photo and study it more closely.

In these dark tone images, the light which was captured in low key evokes more emotions and the photos sometimes talk to their viewers thru various sensibilities they impart. Using the layer mask in Photoshop, create two layers of curve adjustment with the first layer pushing the curve up to lighten the image while the second curve pulling down the curve to darken the image. Then using the brush tool on the second curve adjustment layer set at less than 50% opacity, you can choose those areas or portion of the picture which you would like to recover or restore to its original colors or contrast.

Another alternative method which I usually prefer would be using the gradient fill in the layer mask mode and by doing the same techniques with the brush tool, you can achieve a similar effect.

Many thanks to Ria Villacarillo for posing as a model in this series.

Michaela

The human face is such an interesting, and perhaps the most explored, subject in photography. This set of portraits is particularly dedicated to Michaela whom i think is gifted with an x-factor and a cheerful smile which can transcend from one mood to another in an instant. Taking a good portrait is not only choosing the right face. Consideration should also be given to selecting the appropriate background and good composition or cropping style as well as the lighting available at your control.

Sometimes a plain backdrop will work best like blank walls and other single color background to avoid stealing the attention of the viewer from the main subject.

If shooting indoors, it's better to use a flash bounced off from the ceiling to achieve a more natual lighting effect, though sometimes shooting with available light can do more wonders if you're projecting a certain mood.

If you want to emphasize the face, try shooting at least from the shoulders and up or just go near or zoom in the face to concentrate on the facial contours. Focus on the eyes as this can to capture the emotion and the enagaging gazes and glances from your subject to create an inviting feeling that draws the viewer into the picture. Positioning the subject in off-center often yields better results than merely placing her in the middle or center of the frame.

Talking to your model before taking the shots should put her in a relaxed mood thus, allowing her to smile sponstaneously to project a certain mood and expression. Take charge and give instructions if what you're seeing is not to your own liking.

light painting

Light Painting is the slowest form of lighting and it is done by taking a photograph with a timed exposure then illuminating the subject using a light source to light up the part of a subject where you wish to be seen by constantly moving the light source during the duration of the time exposure.

how it is done? a complete darkness or a dark environment is a must so that you can paint the light while the shutter is still open in a timed exposure shot. i tried doing my version and here's what i got. this is a 10 second time elapsed shot of a rotating platter of a record player with red strobelight. then i painted a green color using a stick light on the portions of the photo that i wished to be lighted. red and green looks nice...

Bamboo, the Band

Bamboo is an alternative rock band fronted by Bamboo Mañalac, the former lead vocalist of Rivermaya, who founded the group composed of illustrative band members like Nathan Azarcon on bass, Ira Cruz on guitars and Vic Mercado on drums.

Bamboo and Nathan were from Rivermaya, then Nathan fused with Kapatid, worked with Ira Cruz who, together with Vic Mercado, were formerly members of Passage and that's how they came to know each other.

Perhaps tagged as the most popular band in the Philippines today, they have already released two albums, namely "As The Music Plays" and the "Love, Peace, Love". Bamboo won an MTV Pilipinas 2004 Awards for Best New Artist, Best Group and Favorite Song for "Noypi". Lead singer Bamboo Mañalac even managed to win an MTV style Award for Best Rock Style.

On the question on which is the better band, Bamboo or Rivermaya? well, Bamboo's vocal prowess was the key to Rivermaya's success as an alternative rock band.

The talents behind Bamboo is certainly more mature and their songs are livelier than ever although some say Bamboo's popularity is still no match to Rivermaya's more organized management and bigger fan base.

Rivermaya was once fronted by Bamboo along with Nathan on bass, Rico Blanco on keyboards, Mark Escueta on drums and Perf De Castro on lead guitars but Rico took over the limelight as the lead guitarist when Perf left the group due to some musical differences with some members of the band.


When Bamboo left the Rivermaya after releasing the Atomic Bomb album, Rico Blanco took over as the lead vocalist and propelled the band to a new musical dimension.

Rivermaya is presently composed on Rico Blanco on vocals and guitars, Japs Sergio on bass, Mike Elgar on guitars and Mark Escueta on drums.

Rivermaya won the Favourite Artist Philippines award at the recent MTV Asia Awards held in Bangkok, Thailand.

   photos taken during the Fresh capades Summer Escapade concert at the Harbour Square.

sunset photography

Sunset photo graphy fascinates a lot of people because of the rich colors and warm tones they usually offer. One cool rule in shooting sunrise and sunset is to keep in mind that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. We're quite lucky to have our Manila Bay on the west where the sun sets on the bay horizon.

Photo graphing sunsets can be tricky because the scene you may want to capture fades away in a blink of an eye, so an early preparation and set up of equipment is very much advisable. Perhaps, the best lens to shoot with is a tele-zoom lens with a range of at least 200mm on the far end of the zoom if you want to make the sun a bigger piece of object in your photo. When shooting with telephotos, tripod can be useful to eliminate or minimize blur.

With the advent of digital cameras where you can preview your shots, exposure settings can easily be had. I shoot sunsets before, during and after the sun appears on the horizon. In most cases, spectacular sunset shots can be had after the sun had already disappeared in the horizon. A good example of this is my photo of yachts below where the sky casts a visually appealing tone on the waters. Sunset shots taken before the sun appears in the sky are equally magnificent too and a good example of this are the first two photos above.

I occasionally under expose my sunset shots because of the over powering light of the scene. Since the sunlight may become so bright and dominant, don't stare at the sun for quite too long using your viewfinder to avoid any eye problem. I usually meter and adjust my settings in the manual mode with two to three stops underexposure either on the aperture or shutter controls but always choose a small aperture to achieve a more expansive depth of field. To add spice to a sunset shot, it also wise to frame some silhouetted figures such as boats, buildings, bridges, people or trees to impart a better scale, depth and perspective on the photo.

Another cool rule when taking sunset shots is never divide your photo in the middle. Either you emphasize the sky or the foreground but do not place the division in the middle. As you may see on the examples I've posted, emphasis is either given on the sky or on the waters depending on what you want to achieve. Sunset shots should either accentuate the colors of the sky or the reflections on the waters or both.

Photographing the nude

Photo graphing the nude is perhaps one of the most popular branch of photo graphy for the obvious reason that we are all perpetually attracted to the human body of the opposite sex. I had my first experience to shoot a naked woman just recently and to tell you the truth, it's not a worthwhile experience taking photos of the nude body the first time around for lack of knowledge on how to do things smoothly.
A successful nude shot would be that of being able to show the curves of a woman and the shape of the female body and if you can catch an emotion, then it would be an embellishment to the photo. Lighting plays an important factor too and the proper placement of light sources would be critical in creating the right mood. Light and shadows can make or break a nude photograph so you must be selective on your choice of background and decide on where to place your model in relation to your sources of light. A plain black background is always a favored choice and will highlight the natural tone of the female skin. As much as possible, using colorful backgrounds should be avoided unless you want to take away the mood in your photos.
On how I took these shots, I let the model do the posing without much inter vention and according to her choice of comfortable positions and projections that in her opinion and previous experience would exude much of her sensuality. The photo session I attended was held in a studio with four other photographers who are all newbies in this field of photography. Our lack of familiarity of what the rules should be and the seemingly conflict of views on what should be done with the model negated an opportunity to capture excellent nude photography.

Joining a photo shoot with several photo graphers in one session may not be an ideal event to harness one's creativity but nonetheless, it was a learning experience for me on proper lighting and correct exposure settings in a studio backdrop.

Radial Blur

The use of the blur filter in Photoshop can be an effective tool in eliminating distraction while at the same time impressing an abstract effect on your photo. The effect is also applied to isolate a subject or draw attention to a part of a picture. Radial blur can be most effective when your subject is in the center of your image like the two cars shown in my example. The simplest way of achieving this effect are as follows: open your image in photoshop, zoom in to have a larger workspace. select the subject using the polygonal lasso tool or any selection tool. inverse your selection, feather your selection to at least 5 pixels if you're working on a large image, apply the blur, which may either be the spin blur or the zoom blur, and that's about it.

The yellow car above is an example of a zoom blur while the red car below made use of the spin blur to suggest a spinning motion or a vertigo effect. If used on the moving car or any subject in motion, the radial blur can also be an effective way of dramatizing speed.

Corregidor, "Fortress of Freedom"

Also known as the "The Rock", Corregidor is an island fortress built and fortified by the Americans during the

early 20th century when the United States succeeded control of the island from the Spaniards. The island, strategically located on the mouth of the Manila Bay, was the last to fall into the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army during the World War II. After being restored and developed by the Corregidor Foundation, the island is now a memorial of the Pacific War leaving behind ruins of buildings, antiquated big guns, tunnel and tell tales of bravery and heroism of Filipino, American and Japanese soldiers who fought and died for glory during World War II.

Middle Side Barracks, located at the middle sector of the island, these are the ruins of what used to be the barracks of regiments of American and Filipino soldiers who defended the island.

Malinta Tunnel, basically used as a bomb shelter offering protection from artillery and air attacks. it also served as a seat of the Philippine Government and headquarters of the USAFFE Defense Command during the World War II.

The photo on the right is bus replica of a pre-war tram used as a means of conveyance in the island


The Battery Way boasts of four heavy mortars capable of lobbing explosive shells in any direction.

the barrel of one of the four mortar guns at the Battery Way. converted to B&W and added a film grain

the photo on the left was post processed in PS CS2 to get the desired Holga effect

Battery Hearn, this gun emplace- ment hosts the most powerful cannon during its time, capable of firing projectiles reaching as far as Bataan and Cavite. extensively manipulated in photoshop to achieve an old look effect.

Battery Grubbs, is located on an elevated part of the island overlooking the sea. it was armed with two guns mounted on disappearing carriages which will rise up vertically when firing projectiles but will retract back to its normal position after usage under the cover of thick walls beyond the sight of enemy ships.

a stairway in Battery Grubbs leading to an open view of the Manila Bay from the northwest side of the island

Battery Grubbs is situated on the west central part of Corregidor and this gun emplace- ment was intended to fire towards the direction of northwest.

Pacific War Memorial, a tribute to honor the Filipino and American soldiers who fought in the Pacific War. located at the Top Side of the island.

one of the howitzers stationed on the Parade Ground on the Top Side of the island. converted to B&W and added a film grain effect


Pacific War Memorial Museum, located at the Memorial is a repository of relics and memorabilia related to the history of Corregidor.

Eternal Flame of Freedom, located at the rear end of the Pacific War Memorial atop a platform overlooking the panoramic view of the Manila Bay, the Bataan Peninsula and the coastlineof Cavite. It is a large steel sculpture which symbolizes the Flame of Freedom burning eternally. The sculpture commemorates the sacrifices, hopes and aspirations, and the heroic struggle by the Philippines and the United States to preserve freedom for future generations.

Spanish Lighthouse, located at the highest point of the island on the Top Side. The second lighthouse constructed by the Americans to replace the original Spanish lighthouse was destroyed during the Pacific War. This post war lighthouse was built on the same site where the original Spanish lighthouse was erected. If you're on top of the lighthouse, a breath-taking view of Corregidor, Manila Bay, the South China Sea, and the neighboring provinces of Bataan and Cavite, awaits you.

a pole sign within the lighthouse compound showing the relative direction and distance of some key cities.


communication tower beside the lighthouse

Japanese Memorial Garden, located at the tail end of the island, this garden hosts several memorial shrines and markers. The construction of this garden was partly funded by some Japan based private groups.










our group shot in front of Malinta Tunnel