Step 1

Go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. Select Amount 20, Radius 50 and Threshold 0. This is a ‘magic setting’ that instantly adds local contrast enhancement to your images.

Step 2

Now, duplicate your Background layer and change the blending mode to Soft Light.

Step 3

Now, go to Filter>Other>High Pass and select a subtle radius value. We’ve opted for 5.2 in this example. Flatten the layers and you’re done!

When shooting with an external flash on-camera, you will get far better results by bouncing the flash off the ceiling (or a nearby wall) than by simply pointing the flash directly at the subject. Most flash units include a small white card that’s tucked into the flash head. This can be extended to provide catchlights when bouncing the flash.

Step 1

Duplicate the Background layer (by dragging it onto the ‘Create a new layer’ button at the bottom of the Layers palette) and then Go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur.

Step 2

Drag the Distance slider to the right. You can leave the Angle adjustment at its default setting.

Step 3

Click on the ‘Add a mask’ button at the bottom of the Layers palette. Then press ‘B’ on your keyboard to activate the brush tool and paint the sand back into sharp focus. This way, only the water and clouds are affected by the Motion Blur. Tweak the Curves or Levels if the image needs more contrast after Motion Blur has been added.

When you are working in Photoshop, you’ll get better quality results for producing big prints by performing any editing you want to do in 16 Bits/Channel mode rather than 8 Bits/Channel. Shoot in your camera’s RAW mode and ensure that your RAW processing software is set to output your files in 16 Bit/Channel mode.

Step 1

Use the crop tool to tighten the composition. It’s useful to use the grid facility and crop according to the rule of thirds.

Step 2

Create a Black & White adjustment layer in your layers palette and tweak each slider until you are satisfied with the effect. Flatten the image or ‘merge visible’ (in the drop down menu of the layers palette) when you are done.

Step 3

Duplicate the background layer and convert it to Screen blend mode. Hold the alt key on your keyboard and create a layer mask at the base of the layers palette. Press ‘B’ on your keyboard to activate the brush tool and use white as your foreground colour to ‘dodge’ the bridge. Lower the opacity of the layer as required and then flatten the image again.

Step 4

Finally, use the rectangular Marquee tool (hit ‘M’ on your keyboard) and make a selection around the edge of the image. Invert the selection (Select > Inverse) and then use ‘Refine Edge’ (Select > Modify > Refine Edge) to smooth and feather the selection. Press Ctrl/Apple+J on your keyboard to copy this selection to a new layer and change the blend mode of this layer to Multiply. Flatten the image and you’re all done!

Life’s a beach

The beach is a wonderful location for capturing children at play. Their actions will be effortlessly natural and the backdrop can provide an interesting and colourful sense of place, whatever the weather. Avoid shadows and squinting in super-sunny conditions by bringing along a parasol, or improvise with a beach towel and shoot them under the shaded area.

Follow these 3 simple steps to achieve noise free shots in Lightroom 3.

Step 1

Colour noise – Zoomed into 2:1, view a darker area in the image to see any colour noise clearly. Open up the Detail panel and zero out all the noise reduction sliders. Grab the Color slider and drag it to the right, until all colour noise disappears.

Step 2

Luminance noise – Luminance noise shows as dark, speckled grains. Remove this by dragging the Luminance slider to the right. Stop as soon as luminance noise is reduced, without the image becoming too smooth. Use the Loupe View window to check the image.

Step 3

Restoring detail – Use the Detail slider to restore some degree of edge sharpness, but don’t push it too far as you’ll introduce unwanted artefacts. The Contrast slider will restore more detail, but high values will reintroduce luminance noise, so only make small adjustments.

 Step 1

Begin by duplicating your background layer by either dragging it to the base of the layers palette and dropping it over the ‘create a new layer’ icon or by pressing Ctrl/Apple+J.  Then go to Enhance>Adjust Color>Color Variations and tone your image by click on various options available.  You can tone the midtones, shadows and highlights separately if you wish.

Step 2

Click ‘ok’ and then go to the blending modes drop-down menu at the top of the layers palette. Select Soft Light blending mode.  This step boosts the overall contrast of your image whilst retaining the essence of the toning effect that you added previously.

Step 3

Finally, adjust the opacity of Layer 1 in order to perfect the effect! Once finished, you can flatten your image.

Bird in flight

This can be a tricky shot to capture, however if you get the right moment, your image will say it all. Set the camera to autofocus and use the continuous shutter speed setting. Just before take off or landing are the best moments to capture birds in flight.

Follow this quick 3-step tutorial to transform and straighten up your shots in Photoshop

Step 1

Set up the grid – In the Lens Correction dialog box, a grid will be placed over your image. Try to get a line of the grid to line up with one straight edge within your photo. You can increase and decrease grid size at the bottom of the palette, or use the Move Grid tool in the top-left palette.

Step 2

The best treatment – Different levels of distortion will require different techniques to correct them. Slightly warped images can be fixed by moving the Remove Distortion slider. On this extreme case, we have used the vertical Perspective slider set to -36.

Step 3

Last tweaks – The last repair job is the boat’s mast. Hit OK to leave the Lens Correction tool and then go to Edit>Transform>Warp. Move the top-right pointer inwards slightly to see the image straighten out. When done, use the Crop tool to trim the edges.