Dealing with 'red-eye' from flash

What causes red-eye?

Simply put, red-eye is caused by the camera flash reflecting off the back of the eye, which results in the eyes appearing red.

How to avoid it

The old method is to ask your subject not to look directly at the camera. Many modern cameras have a red-eye flash setting which activates the flash just before the shot is taken - this makes the eyes accustomed to the light first.

Using software to eliminate red-eye

There are a few different ways to fix red-eye on digital photograghs. Using Adobe Photoshop is one of the most common ways.

Method 1) Highlight the red by selecting it with the elliptical tool on you tool pallet and desaturate it. The use the Sponge Tool, set to Desaturate, to dull down the radiancy of the red into a darker brown.

Method 2) The most recent version of Photoshop (CS2), has a very clever tool which makes this process very easy indeed. Select the red-eye option on your tool pallete (see picture) and simply click on the red area of the eye on your image, and if by magic the eyes should appear as they shoud without that nasty 'Terminator' red eye look.

Method 2 is far easier

Note: iPhoto on the Macs has a very simple red-eye elimination button too.

Sharpening blurred images

Possible reasons for images appearing blurry

An image can appear blurred if its size has been altered.

How to sharpen the image

Sharpening an image in Photoshop is a simple click away, but first you'll want to flatten the image (if there are other layers to flatten of course). You do this via the layers pallet as shown below. Once the image is flat (1 layer only), then navigate with your curser via the top menu to Filter > Sharpen. You may find a few sharpen option with which to experiment with.

1) Flatten image (if it's not flat already)

2) Sharpen image.

3) Result

Working quickly with Photoshop Layers for maximum impact

1) Beefing up light washed-out photo images

1) Layers can be used to make effective lighting and colouring adjustments to photographs. Open a photo, duplicate the background layer and change the blending mode to Multiply. Multiply works by darkening the base layer where the base layer is dark, having less effect where the blend layer is light. This is great for boosting light or washed-out images.

2) Screen blending for images that are too dark.

Screen blending has the opposite effect from the above, that is only lightening where the blend layer is light. Use this method on dark images. Note that Screen and Multiply are parts of two groups of blending modes that have the general effect of lightening and darkening images in various ways, so experiment with your images to get the desires result you want.

3) Overlay blending

The overlay blending mode is a clever technique as it combines screening and multiplying, so that dark blending pixels darken the base, and light ones lighten. This is great for increasing overall contrast. The Soft and Hard modes work in a similar way. The other Light modes are a little harsher, and therefore should be used sparingly. Hard Mix creates a posterised effect in the base layers.

"The Overlay bending mode combines screening and blending"

4) Hue blending

Hue imposes the Hue value of blending pixels on the base layer, and colour tints using the Hue and Saturation values, as if with a coloured gel overlay. Saturation and Luminosity impose those two parameters respectively.

Making a contact sheet for your prints

Keep a visual record of all your photos quickly and easily

If you've been out on a shoot and come back with lots of photos, of which your family, friends or client may choose five or six to print out or whatever. You could show them each image separately, but it would be more efficient to put lots small copies on an A4 page. That's where making a contact sheet in Photoshop comes in handy. What's more, it's easy!!! Here's how to do it...

1) Put all the images into one folder on the computer desktop (or wherever).

2) Select File in Photoshop.

3) Navigate down to Automate.

4) Select Contact Sheet (see below).

5) Set source images to the folder with your images in it. Leave the dimensions as they are, but set the resolution to 300 pixels/inch for a good quality A4 page. The Thumbnails can also be set up as you wish. Tick Use Filename As Caption. This is whoever is picking the images will have a good identifying name to use.

6) Hit OK and Photoshop will do the rest.

Joining panoramic landscape photos with photomerge

If you've ever tried to join two adjacent compositions to create one image, you'll know just how tricky it can be to line them up and make it look seamless. In Photoshop CS you can use the Photomerge feature to do all the hard work for you.

1) Open the relevant photos first and check that similar elements match such as skies, lighting, landscape etc. Match them up as best as you can.

2) Select File > Automate > Photomerge, and click OK when the images are listed.

3) Use the Move Tool to line and overlay the photos. You can also Rotate them if necessary, or try out a Perspective Photomerge, in which you can set a vanishing point.

Adjust depth of field with Lens Blur

Photoshop CS features a new filter that is part of the Blur family, the Lens Blur. This can be used to apply 'depth of field' effects to your photographs, so that only your foreground subject is in focus, and the less-important background features are not.

So...

1) In your photo layer, add a layer mask and paint black into the mask to mask out the subject that you want to bring into focus.

2) Then select the image thumbnail (not the mask thumbnail) and do Filter > Blur > Lens Blur.

3) Set Depth Map > Source to Layer Mask so that the Mask is used to keep the subject in focus.

4) Check the preview of the image so far, but don't touch anything else unless you really feel that you need to.

Note: The Iris > Radius setting is used to adjust the blur's strength.