Simply Beautiful Moments from National Geographic

Silverback Gorilla, Africa Photograph by Ian Nichols, National Geographic

Some photographic moments are memorable because they are so unlikely. It is impossible to look at this wonderful image by Ian Nichols and not smile. The juxtaposition of the giant silverback gorilla holding a delicate leaf is a delightful surprise and a unique moment. —Annie Griffiths

Photo Tip: The phrase “wait for it” must have been coined by a photographer, because it is such an essential part of what we do. When photographing wildlife, capturing the perfect moment is just as important as it is with humans—and requires even more patience. Link here.

African Lion Mother and Cub, Tanzania – Photograph by Mitsuaki Iwago, Minden Pictures

Everything about this photographic moment is tender. The light, the gesture, the color are perfect. But there is also a small detail that completes the intimacy of this scene by photographer Mitsuaki Iwago. It is the small catch-light in the lion cub’s eye. Perfect. —Annie Griffiths

Photo Tip: Capturing the catch-light in a subject’s eye can take a photograph from lovely to sublime. Eyes are the windows to the soul, so when the eye reflects a beam of light, it draws viewers in and makes them feel a greater intimacy with the subject. Link here.

 

Marley as an experiment

Photography by Gracie – © All rights reserved – Texture by NinianLif

Marley texturized – used normal, then opacity instead of overlay and masked out Marley. Second attempt – lots to learn.

 

My first textured piece

Photography by Gracie – © All rights reserved

This is busy – I got carried away with too many textured layers. The best way to learn this technique is by checking out the tutorials in YouTube. This is my favorite: right here.

 

Making a simple border on photoshop

hmm…. here we go again, originally uploaded by *Gracie.

Photography by Gracie – © All rights reserved

On the top toolbar – hit Image – then hit resize – then hit canvas size.

There are 2 choices – width and height with arrows next to the boxes. Change from inches to pixels

There is a little box at the bottom left that says “relative” – make sure that box is checked.

The color choices are at the bottom with an arrow to choose from.

On most of my photos, I use the height only – leaving width empty or 0!

Your picture size will determine how many pixels you will need –

For starters – try using 100 and see if that’s too much or too little – adjust accordingly.

(if you make a mistake or don’t like the results – hit the edit button on top toolbar and click “undo”)

If you want to add more border to the top or bottom, there is a box that says anchor at the bottom with arrows. I push the bottom middle arrow and then use 200 in the height box again – you will have to change from inches to pixels with each step. (same would apply to width, as well)

That will give you the kind of border I’ve been using but experiment.

If you want a regular border all around the picture, just put the same number in both height and width.

 

Replacing background – easy steps – photoshop

Photography by Gracie – © All rights reserved

Different poses and background colors.

Photography by Gracie – © All rights reserved

Here are the steps to replace background:

1 – Open original picture – minimize

2 – Hit control N or (Click File – then new)

3 – Use the magnetic lasso tool by highlighting which areas you want to move. It does have to be continuous on each subject. It doesn’t work well on detailed edges – the subject is key. People are easy with the exception of hair strands, :-))

3 – Click enter – click edit – click cut

4 – Minimize – determine color of your new file (background) and use the paint bucket tool or leave white. (you can do this in step 2 as well.

5 – Click paste – check opacity levels under layers and play around if needed. I didn’t use it in my picture.

6- Use clone tool for touch ups.

I’ve also used the paint bucket tool alone for changing backgrounds but it depends on original photo.

Photography by Gracie – © All rights reserved Original

 

..scrapbooking tutorial – photoshop

Photography by Gracie – © All rights reserved

1 example of a scrapbook page

Photography by Gracie – © All rights reserved

..
You Tube video here.

 

Selective coloring….. 3 easy steps!

Surviving another dog day afternoon….., originally uploaded by *Gracie.
Photography by Gracie – © All rights reserved

3 easy steps:

1.Go under Layer menu, pick new – hit Control J for background layer.

2. Press B to get the Brush tool (medium soft edged) Be sure to change the Mode to Color (on the horizontal menu next to the brush size at the top of the screen.

3. Set Foreground color to Black by pressing D – start painting the areas you want in black and white.

That’s it.

One more

Experimenting with red, originally uploaded by *Gracie.
Photography by Gracie – © All rights reserved