How to create a fake HDR using Photoshop

The fake in my fake HDR is the fact that I didn't use 3 or more images. The fake consists of me showing you how to make an HDR with just 1 image. 

The way to do this is to use Apply image

1. Start with opening an image in Photoshop.
   
   
   
2. Make 2 new layers and rename them to Shadows and Highlights
   
3. Fill the Shadows layer with white and the Highlights layer with black
   
4. Add a layer mask to both layers
   
5. Make both layers inactive and select the layer mask of the Shadows
   
6. Go to Image > Apply Image and use the setting of the picture underneath. Make sure you've checked Invert
   
   
   
7. Make the layer active and set the Blending mode on Soft light
   
8. Now select the layer mask of the Highlight layer and choose Image > Apply image
   
   NB: Now make sure Invert is not checked.
   
   
9. Make the layer active and set his blending mode to Soft light. With the opactity of a layer you can make the effect of the layer less strong. 
   

Voila, this is the end result. It's not a proper HDR image, but with the techniques I explained in this post you can manipulate the shadows and highlights to create this ' Fake HDR effect'. 

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How to create an action in Photoshop

If you're doing more complicated things in Photoshop, like for example Frequency Separation it's makes sense to create an action. Because with an action, you can use the action  over and over again to do your complicated Photoshop work for you. 

Let me take you through it: 
For the sake of this post, I'm creating an action that I'm going to use for making 'fake' HDR images out of a single image. (I'm using the Apply Image technique) 

First open the Actions under Windows > Actions. Then go to the bottom of the screen and click on New Action. 

Give it a name and press Record to record all the actions you need to get the effect you want. In this case a 'fake' HDR.

When you're done, click on the Stop button in your action panel

Under your newly created Action you can see all the steps.

So next time you want to apply this technique, just open your Action panel and run the action. It's as easy as that! 

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Why shoot in RAW

I get that question quite a lot: why would I want to shoot in RAW instead of JPEG. Well, this post is my very personal opinion on why I prefer to shoot in RAW. I won't say that you have to follow my advice, I'm just listing a few of the reasons why I shoot in RAW: 

1. I get to decide all the camera settings for each and every image, it's not the camera that decides. The camera might have different settings for what you have in mind. 
2. Exposure (amongst other things) can easily be corrected in Lightroom or Photoshop when you shoot in RAW. 
   
3. Same goes for white balance, temperature and the tint of your image.
   
   
   
4. What I really value about shooting in RAW is that I'm able to do non-destructive editing. Every time you edit a .JPG image, a tiny part of the image/information is lost. With RAW you keep all the information each time you edit a picture.
5. When you shoot in RAW you have access to the sharpness algorithm of Lightroom. Which gives you more and better details. When shooting in JPEG, the camera sharpens your image for you.

So there you have it. My main reasons for shooting in RAW 99,9% of my time. I guess the overall conclusion is that it gives me all the possibilities to make the images exactly like I want them to come out. 

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How to add metadata in Adobe Bridge

Besides adding metadata in Lightroom or in Photoshop you also can do this using Adobe Bridge, the free file browsing software of Adobe. 

Open Adobe Bridge. At the top of the screen, on the right side you can find the metadata tab.

When you click on it, you get an overview of all the metadata of the images in that particular folder

Go back to the essentials tab and click on a picture. Right click and choose File Info

A new screen opens with your metadata.

Notice that there is also a lot of metadata/ information presented underneath the picture.

When you filled in all the fields you can export the data as a template for future use as just that, a template. 

Once you have a template available in Adobe Bridge it's very easy to add metadata to pictures. Just select the images and go to Tools > Append Metadata and choose your template.

Adding Metadata to your files is not very exciting but it does make your life a lot easier when searching for images and, adding to that, your images are more protected with your own metadata. 

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How to work with Long Exposure in cycling images

So I'm really happy in our new home country Sweden. The only thing (besides moorkoppen en kroketten) I miss are the Amsterdam city scenes. So when we had the chance to visit Holland just a couple of weeks ago, I was excited to have the opportunity to shoot some city images again, especially some bike shots. 

As a sports photographer it's pretty easy to make a panning shot of a bike and have everything pinsharp. Just use a very fast shutterspeed  (in this case 1/2500) at something like F4.  

But this time I wanted something different. I wanted to see the movement of the biker in the city environment. So I needed a slower shutterspeed. I tried shutterspeeds of around 1/30. And because I used lower shutterspeeds I went with a diafragma of F10 or smaller (F22).

I tried it on several locations in the city and I have to say I'm pretty happy with the results

In Lightroom I did some post processing. It's important that the face is sharp. Adding a vignette and removing strong colours in the background can be a great help to get (more) focus on the biker.

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How to create a watermark in Photoshop

Every now and then it can be useful to add a watermark to your images. Let me tell you it's real easy to make a watermark in Photoshop. 

Start with making a new document with a transparent background. I went with 500 by 500 pixels.

Create your design. I just quickly made one for this tutorial. Took me less than 30 seconds. 

Next is to make the letters white and crop the watermark. Then save it as a .Png file

Voila! Now your newly created watermark is ready to be used! 

Open the picture you want to use. Move the watermark with the move tool (V) to the new image (hit the white when you move it).

You can now find your watermark in the picture. You can move it around and make it bigger or smaller using the Free Transform tool (T)

When you'd like the watermark to be more visible, you can for example give it a black background by making a new empty layer and moving it under the watermark layer. Then make a selection around the watermark with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) and fill it with black (or any color you like). Easy right? 

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How to compare pictures in Lightroom

In Lightroom you can compare two images. This can be very helpful for example if you want to pick a similar image but want to know which picture has a better composition or is sharper. So how does this work? 

Start the library module, select an image and then press C on your keyboard.

Lightroom then shows the selected image (Select) and the right image next to it in the filmstrip (Candidate). With your arrow keys you can 'browse' through your filmstrip to select another picture.

You can change the selected image by clicking on another picture in the filmstrip

Instead of using the arrow keys of your keyboard you can use the arrows direct under the candidate to select another candidate.  

With the zoom option you can zoom in on both pictures. This can be very helpful to see if one picture is for example sharper then the other picture.

Under the Candidate are 2 more buttons, one to swap the Selected and the Candidate and one to make the Candidate the Select.

The compare view in combination with rating can be very useful to select the image you want to develop. To quit the Compare View just click on C of your keyboard.

I always use this when doing my post processing, it's part of the workflow. 

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