Stock Exchange Photography Tutorials

[webchyck]

I found thes neat tutorials on a Stock Exchange blogs today. (They were featured in the newsletter that came out this week.)

This one shows you how to make a real ray of light in sky/sunlight photos.
http://www.sxc.hu/blog/post/373


Here is how to get a really nice white background on object shots:
http://www.sxc.hu/blog/post/133

Here is a great trick for getting keen sharpening on a photo (I am SO trying this!)
http://www.sxc.hu/blog/post/411

Photo restoration tips at another site:
http://www.graphics.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=385

Just had to share in case you don't get that newsletter!

[Vania16]

Thanks for the links! Looks like some great info - that sharpening one looks especially good!

[webchyck]

Really weird, but I can't get back to the first link, and that's the one I just did. It's saying the blog post does not exist, but I think I can walk everyone through it if you want. It was pretty easy.

While in Photoshop, you take a nice sunlight picture and duplicate it. On the copy, you move the gray Levels slider all the way over to the right to where the white slider is. Next you apply a Radial blur to the copy, using the Zoom and Best options, set it to 100. You can play with contrast, too, if you need to. Then you apply a Screen blending mode, and the rays appear! It's very cool. You can increase the "density" (? or maybe it's saturation?) of the ray effect by copying the copy layer a couple of times. Merge all the layers when you're done, and you've got a fantastic photo. I also played around with color variations.

http://www.digitalartquirks.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=1246&cat=504

[webchyck]

Just found another tut for using the High Pass Filter and blending mode to sharpen photos.

http://www.sxc.hu/blog/post/411

Thought you'd like this for photo work!

[kygirl]

Thanks, Becky, for the great links. I just wish there were more time so that I could practice all these neat techniques.