Category Archives: compositing

Kaleidoscope effect

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Geoff Shaw

Repeating patterns catch the eye, and the Kaleidoscope effect certainly provides plenty of repeating patterns. Kaleidoscopes use angled mirrors to produce repeated patterns (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaleidoscope), but this effect is easily achieved also in software like Photoshop or GIMP. There are lots … Continue reading →

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Geoff’s Photo Doodler

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Geoff Shaw

The notes below should help get you started using my “Photo Doodler” program. First there is some background on what got me started on this project, then I give some examples, and then some brief instructions. Programming credits are at … Continue reading →

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Triptych making in Photoshop and Lightroom

Posted on October 29, 2021 by Geoff Shaw

Geoff Shaw’s suggestions For some general comments on triptychs see HERE. This post will give a couple of approaches using Lightroom and using Photoshop. I use an example with the three images below (screen grab from my LR catalog). Lightroom. … Continue reading →

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Feathering

Posted on October 28, 2021 by Geoff Shaw

Feather. This does not refer to plumage of birds, but the fuzziness in a selection or mask or brush. If you will forgive the visual pun, the image right illustrates on the left panel a hard selection (low feathering) with … Continue reading →

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The making of an intentionally blurred image (VIcki Moritz)

Posted on July 25, 2021 by Geoff Shaw

So you spent years learning how to shoot images in focus? Just for a change here is how to make an intentional blurred image such as the one below Source images- demonstrating you can make something out of not much! … Continue reading →

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Face in the clouds How-To (Stephen Hilton)

Posted on July 25, 2021 by Geoff Shaw

This How-To covers Stephen Hilton’s approach to create his image Face in the clouds. Start with a sky as your background layer (below). If the clouds are little dull, brighten them up with a curves or levels adjustment. Tip: I … Continue reading →

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Select Subject tool

Posted on July 25, 2021 by Geoff Shaw

Adobe’s select subject tool (and some other applications have similar functionality) is becoming remarkably good, using AI approaches to make sometimes fiddly selections automatically. Here is an example. This is a particularly challenging image – the background is mottled, not … Continue reading →

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Displacement Map Example

Posted on July 24, 2021 by Geoff Shaw

The displacement map filter is found in Photoshop under the menu items: Filter >> Distort >> Displace. A displacement map moves the pixels of an image by an amount that varies depending on the brightness of another image. I will … Continue reading →

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Blend If

Posted on October 24, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

Blend if is a powerful tool in the layer properties in Photoshop (other software may have similar functionality – explore your documentation). Open the layer properties and you find an Advanced Blending block and Blend If block in the central … Continue reading →

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Creating realistic shadows

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

When compositing it is not enough to simply paste an object onto a background. If you do, it will look artificial and pasted. Shadows are what link the pasted object to the background. Creating realistic shadows requires some technical skills, … Continue reading →

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