Cowgirl Wanna Be PP Suggestions

[carseasoncity]

I'm very much a newbie to studio lighting and especially post processing. I just got Photoshop Elements 4.0 yesterday, and it's a little overwhelming. I thought this was a pretty good shot, and all I did in photoshop was remove the color. I would really like some advice on what to do...photoshop technique, lighting, posing... to make this a better picture. Thanks for any help!

Brandi

[KittyKat1982]

If you play with the brightness/contrast it will be a really good picture. I am really pretty good at photoshop. If you ever need any help figuring the program out, just ask me. I will be happy to guide you as best as I can.

Also, if you shoot your pictures in RAW format, it is really simple to change the settings. The menu will pop up automatically when you upload the photo and you can do all your editing with one menu. The one that pops up automatically.

[shung]

just a little bit
http://24.86.102.147/bree.jpg

[carseasoncity]

KittyKat...since you offered ;) ...are you good at photoshop elements 4.0 specifically? I want to get the dragan effect, and downloaded from a website called ATN or something like that, but I can't figure out how to get it on photoshop.

But back to the picture in question, I tried messing with a lighting effect on the first one and contrast on the second one like you suggested. Is it any better? Thanks in advance for any help!:)
Brandi

[DigitalMDX]

Great shot...
Here is my attempt. Raised contrast and levels. Whitened the whites of the eyes a bit, added a catch light to the far eye. Then I ran the photo through the Gorman-Holbert action then lightened the whites again.
Just make a copy of the photo and go to town in PhotoShop, you'll learn a lot. Thanks for sharing this one...

[carseasoncity]

I tried to up the contrast and I whitened the eyes a little. Better?

Brandi

[DigitalMDX]

I tried to up the contrast and I whitened the eyes a little. Better?Brandi

Great job... compare it to the original you posted, you did good!

[carseasoncity]

THANKS! I'm gonna keep trying...yawn...tomorrow. :)

[JCR]

Does PSE 4 have a dodge/burn tool? I have never used it.
If so you can work out the shadows with it.
Adjusted levels, blew out background to pure white and dodge/burned by hand. Small clone tool fixes. Would be better result from raw.

[carseasoncity]

Thanks JCR, that looks really good. I'm gonna try the dodge burn tool, if I have it. :)

Brandi

[bwolford]

PSE has dodge and burn. If you want to pick up some VERY good tips to use PSE specifically, visit www.photoshopelementsuser.com (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com) and check out the forums. You'll find these folks to be friendly and helpful!

Some Photoshop actions won't run in PSE. The only way to know is to try them. Did you use the following steps to download the action? I use folder and directory to mean the same thing.
1. INSTALLING THE FILES

Most actions supply two files:
1) the Photoshop action file (item_name.atn)
2) the effect preview image (item_name.psd)
These need to be placed in the Photoshop Elements\ Previews\ Effects\ directory.
Let's name this folder Custom. PC users must therefore create the following path:

C:\Program Files\ Adobe\Photoshop Elements 4.0\ Previews\ Effects\Custom
Mac users must create the following path:
System\ Applications\ Photoshop Elements 4.0\ Previews\ Effects\Custom

2. DELETE THE CACHE

Each time you add new actions to your effects directory, you need to delete the Cache folder before firing up PSE. The “Cache” folder is located in Photoshop Elements x.0\Previews\ directory. Simply click it and delete the entire contents of this folder. As soon as you launch Photoshop Elements, the program will rebuild the libraries of the Cache folder. This process will take a few seconds to complete. You only need to delete the cache folder whenever you add new actions.

3. RUNNING THE ACTION

Launch Photoshop Elements under the edit mode. Open an image.
To the right of your work area you can see the “Styles and Effects” palette. If you select Effects in the left drop down and Custom in the right drop down, you sould see the new action. Run it. If it gives you an error message, it contained Photoshop functions not in PSE. You are SOL. If it works, you are good to go.

Hope this helps.

Brice