Fun with Photoshop

Fun with Photoshop

By Bev Anne Moynham

After you have learned some of the basics of editing, then you can start to play. One place to start is Blend Modes.

Blend Modes

Blend Modes are useful tools that add creative effects to images. When applying blend modes to layers, creators can control the combination of brightness, colour, and contrast of the layers in an image. The display of the resulting effect of the chosen blend mode can be modified further by using the opacity control of the layer. These modifications to the layers are non-destructive and can be changed at any time.

For the full description of each blend mode, please refer to the Adobe Photoshop help section and search “Blending Mode Descriptions.” The website describes how each mode functions and highlights the complex interaction that takes place between the layers. There are numerous examples of blend mode uses in Youtube as well.

At the top of the layers panel labelled with the word “Normal” with a down arrow beside it. When selecting the dropdown arrow, the menu expands and displays all the different blend modes that can be used within the file.

To begin with, open two photos in Photoshop and combine them within one image file. There are many ways that separate files can be merged into a single file and the Move tool is the most common. There is no limit to how many images can be combined into a single file. All these images will be displayed in the new image as separate layers in the image panel. The order of the layers can be changed by moving them up and down within the document.

In my example I have used a picture of a flower and a texture layer which is just a photo of gravel in a parking lot. The order of the layers is important to maintain. The flower will be the base layer on the bottom, and the gravel texture will be the blend layer on top. Ensuring that both layers are unlocked and visible you can scroll through the list of blend modes on the gravel layer, reviewing each result created by Photoshop. The full screen preview helps to see the effect on the full image. It can be modified further by adjusting the Opacity of the blend which is taking place on the texture layer. When the preview of each blend mode is completed, save the selection in the layers panel. The creative choices with these tools are endless and they are nondestructive. You can come back and change the image at any time by selecting a different blend mode or starting over from scratch, all depending on my tastes at the time.

 

Here are my original photos.

1. buttercup
2. gravel

 

And here are a couple of composites using the blends “Hue” and “Linear Light”.

3. Hue
4. Linear Light

 

Twirling

This is a fun exercise that produces a lovely swirly abstract photo using the colours in your original photo.  To begin with choose a colourful photo. It doesn’t have to be a good photo, in fact, this is a good way make use of a photo that is out of focus or badly composed but contains some interesting colours.  Open the photo in Photoshop and then:

  1. Right click on the photo and choose Convert to Smart Object.
  2. Go to the filter menu and select pixelate and then mezzotint. In the popup window choose Medium Lines and hit OK.
  3. Next under filters choose Blur and then Radial Blur. In the popup window slide the Amount to 100, choose Zoom as the Blur Method and Good for the Quality. Click OK and then repeat this step 3 or 4 times until you get smooth fine lines radiating from the centre.
  4. Duplicate that layer.
  5. On the top layer go to the filter menu, click on the distort Filter, and choose Twirl.  In the popup box choose the angle as 100 and click OK. Hide that layer by clicking on the little eyeball to the left of image in that layer.
  6. In the bottom layer go to the Distort Filter and choose Twirl but this time choose the angle as -100 (minus 100) and click OK
  7. Turn the top layer back on and go to the Blend modes which can be found just above the layers panel where you see the word Normal.  Click on the little arrow and choose Lighten (or whichever blend mode suits your fancy).

Now you have a unique abstract photo.

In my example I took a picture of my favourite ring but when I looked closely I could see all the flaws in the glass stones so I turned in into the second image.

5. ring
6. ring 2

 

These instructions are a place to begin but you can play with both the filters and blend modes to get different effects until you find photos you really like. Here is a photo that combines both techniques:

With abstracts like these there is no right or wrong — just fun!

*All images courtesy of Bev Anne Moynham