onOne Software (of Genuine Fractals fame) is offering a free version of PhotoFrame 4.5. The free version includes 20 free edge & framing effects for Adobe Photoshop. I’m using PhotoFrame 4.5 Free as a plug-in for PS Elements 6 on the Mac and it works like a charm. Check it out – the price is right!
Here is a simple trick for adding a interest to an otherwise ordinary image using Aperture and Photoshop Elements
STEP 1. Open boring image in Aperture
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STEP 2. Add a little pizazz by applying a preset. In this case, I’ve used “Dynamics” by Gavin Seim (thanks, Gavin!).
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STEP 3. Open the image in Photoshop Elements (using Aperture’s “round trip” feature) and add a texture layer.
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STEP 4. Change the blending mode of the texture layer to Linear Light. In this case, I set the opacity to 75%.
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STEP 5. Print and frame!
As the volunteer bench coach, score keeper, and self-appointed photographer for my son’s little league team, I’m flirting with photographic disaster. Last week, I followed my usual routine – balancing camera on scorebook for 6 innings and shooting whenever possible. However, as I began to download the day’s images into my Aperture library, I quickly realized that sometime during the first inning I had inadvertently bumped the control dial on my 40D causing a switch from aperture priority to manual exposure. Almost all of the subsequent images were grossly overexposed. I know what you are thinking – I should have noticed this immediately while reviewing the images on the camera’s LCD…oops!
Rather than send the images to the digital graveyard, I decided to experiment with Aperture and Photoshop to see how much information could be salvaged. After adjusting the exposure and levels in Aperture, I used the Recovery and Highlight sliders to bring some detail back into the image. I then opened each image in Photoshop Elements (using Aperture’s roundtrip feature) and duplicated the background layer twice. The first duplicate layer was converted to black and white and the second duplicate layer was changed to either a Multiply, Color Burn, or Linear Burn blend mode. Here is an example of the results:
While this is not destined for the cover of SI, it does have an interesting pop art feel and it demonstrates the incredible amount of information that is stored in your RAW files.
RAW, Aperture, digital processing
Technorati Tags: RAW, Aperture, digital processing
Here is my (scifi themed) entry in Phill’s “Edit My Photo” contest. The contest ends on March 21, so there is still time to get your entry in! 
Technorati Tags: photoshop, digital, moon, scifi
The “grunge” look is quite popular and it is easy to achieve by using a few Photoshop tricks. Here is an example of the effect:
You can add a grunge effect to your photos by following these simple steps:
**these types of images are all around you – try taking some shots of your stone fireplace, your tile floor, an old door, a sheet of rusty metal, etc.
Technorati Tags: grunge, photoshop, digital, processing
