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Posts Tagged ‘Background’

This background removal tool just got a fancy new Photoshop plug-in

07 May

The online background removal utility Remove.bg has now made its way directly into Adobe Photoshop in the form of a plug-in.

Until now, the only way to use Remove.bg was to open up the web app in your browser and upload an image. Now, after downloading the plugin through Adobe Exchange, you can easily remove the background from a portrait, product photo or any other image with the click of a button or two.

Based on a past experience with the web-based version, Remove.bg isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s impressive considering how quickly it removes the background and it serves as a nice starting point at the very least, as it can create a layer mask of the cutout.

The Remove.bg plugin relies on the Remove.bg API, meaning pricing and usability is anything but simple. Even with the free plan, you’ll need to sign up for a Remove.bg account, which in turns provides you with an API key. With the free account, you’ll be limited to 50 background removals with images no larger than 625 x 400 pixels (0.25MP) and a single 2500 x 1600 (4MP) ‘HD’ image per month with the plug-in.

You’re still free to use the web app version of Remove.bg free of charge, but the convenience of the plug-in is going to cost you if you’re planning on working with larger images. Remove.bg offers monthly subscription plans, as well as pay-as-you-go plans, each of which have different tiers depending on how many images you plan on processing and how large the files are.

A screenshot of the pay-as-you-go pricing options for Remove.bg

Below are a few example images provided by and processed via Remove.bg:

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_3469250141″,”galleryId”:”3469250141″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

You can find more information regarding pricing on the Remove.bg pricing page and download the Photoshop plug-in via Adobe Exchange.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Seven Steps for Post-Processing a Pure White Background

21 Mar

The post Seven Steps for Post-Processing a Pure White Background appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Photographs with clean, white backgrounds are extremely popular with

Stock agencies
Amazon
Graphic Designers
Magazines and websites

Seven Steps for Post Processing a Pure White Background Three Mangoes in a Bowl

The original background with a white border around it to clearly illustrate the contrast between pure white and off white

Producing pure white backgrounds is imperative. A background that’s not quite white looks terrible on a white page.

In this article, I will walk you through one method of post-processing I use to isolate subjects and give them a white background.

Choosing your photos carefully

Some photos are far more difficult to work with than others when you want a white background.

Any subject that’s fuzzy or hairy will be problematic. As will any blurred subject. Whether it’s focus or motion blur, you will have difficulty in obtaining a good clean transition with the background.

Smooth, clean edges are the easiest to work with. So if you want to sell wigs on Amazon, you are in for a tough time. It’s better to make sure you have a pure white background that requires no post processing with such subjects.

Seven Steps for Post Processing a Pure White Background Chicken Nerd

Step # 1

Choose your subject and photograph it against a clean, contrasting background. If the background is too busy, it will make isolating on white more difficult.

Keep your subject a good distance from the background. Use an aperture setting that keeps all your subject in focus, but the background is out of focus.

If your subject happens to be moving, make sure to choose a fast enough shutter speed to stop the motion. Making sure your subject is sharp will make post-processing much more straightforward.

Step # 2

Open your file in Photoshop. Make sure it’s the highest resolution jpeg file it can be. Working with low-resolution images is more challenging, but larger ones will slow your computer down.

You need to find a balance here. If you start working through these post-processing steps and find your computer is not handling it, downsize your photo and start again.

Choose the Select and Mask tool. You’ll find this in the Select Menu at the top of your window. Change the View Mode to an option that allows you to see your changes easily. I prefer the Overlay Mode.

Seven Steps for Post Processing a Pure White Background Select and Mask Menu

Choose the Select and Mask option from the drop-down menu.

Step # 3

With the Quick Selection tool, draw around the inside of your subject. Do this slowly, so Photoshop has time to render your action.

Pay careful attention to the areas you are selecting. You do not want to have any part of the background selected. If parts of the background are selected, paint over them with the Refine Edge brush.

Zoom in so you can see what you’re working on more clearly.

Seven Steps for Post Processing a Pure White Background Overlay Mode

Step # 4

When you’re all done and are satisfied your subject is masked, it’s time to output again to the main window in Photoshop.

Select New Layer with Layer Mask from the Output options and click OK.

Step # 5

Add a white background by clicking on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers Panel. Choose Solid Color and set it to pure white.

Step # 6

Check around the edges of your subject. Can you see any of the old background?

If you can, select the mask on your main layer in the Layers Panel. Choose the Brush tool and make the color Black.

Make sure the mask is selected.

Paint carefully over the areas where you can still see the old background. You may need to lower the opacity of the brush and adjust the feathering to achieve the best results.

If you have not done this before it can be challenging. However, don’t worry, if you erase parts of your subject, switch the brush color to white and paint back over them. They will re-appear.

There are various other methods and tools for erasing unwanted backgrounds. This is the best way I have found for images which are not too complicated.

Seven Steps for Post Processing a Pure White Background Clean Edges

Step # 7

Crop out any extra white space and save your new photo with your subject isolated on white.

Seven Steps for Post Processing a Pure White Background Clean White Background

Conclusion

This is one way to achieve a white background. As with most post-processing procedures, there is more than one sequence of steps which will provide an acceptable result.

Practice and experiment to find the workflow which works best for you.

Are you experienced in creating clean white backgrounds using other methods? Do you have any tips to share? Please share them in the comments section below.

The post Seven Steps for Post-Processing a Pure White Background appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

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Seven Great Ways to Control the Photography Background

29 Oct

Much thought goes into photographing an interesting, compelling main subject. In concentrating too much on the main subject though, it’s possible to neglect an equally important part of the photo – the photography background. The background needs to be controlled to achieve a great photo, and in this article, you’ll learn the various ways to do this. So let’s look at the various strategies you can employ.

1. Look to the light in the photography background

The creative use of light is what makes a good photo. That means you need to be in control of this key element. Control this, and your photo should be better for it. In the majority of cases that light is daylight though, of course, there are artificial light sources as well. Those looking to know where the sun is can use a great website called Suncalc, which is also available as an app. So how does this relate to your background? Well knowing where the sun is rising and setting means you can plan for sunset and sunrise skies in your background. Equally, you’ll know when the sun is in the optimum position to light up your main subject properly. Having a poorly lit subject often impacts the background, which is overexposed to compensate for an under-lit main subject.

Seven Great Ways to Control the Photography Background 1

One option for the background is to underexpose it. This woman is lit by a strobe to the left of the camera.

Low key photography background

A great choice to control your background, especially for street photography, is to underexpose it relative to your main subject. To achieve this, you’ll need to find somewhere that lets a beam of strong sunlight in, like a gap in the roofing at a market. Now the aim is to photograph your subject in that sunlight, and in so doing underexpose the background by -2 to -3 EV.

2. Things can change with the seasons

The position of elements in the sky, such as the sun, the moon and the milky way, all change with the seasons. Knowing when to visit a location so that the background lines up with your photo requirements is another crucial step to make. Once again, Suncalc can help you here, or for astrophotography, Photopils is a great resource. Good landscape photography takes planning. Some photos are only possible for a few days per year, and you’ll need luck with the weather on those days.

Seven Great Ways to Control the Photography Background 2

The Milkyway appearing behind Durdle Door during Spring.

3. Change the angle

Photography is the art of subtraction, and a busy background is an easy way of adding more elements to your frame than you need. A simple change in the angle can avoid such elements as wires or unwanted people in the background of your image. Keep your photo as simple as possible, with your background often needing to be a minimal element of the frame.

Seven Great Ways to Control the Photography Background 3

This photo is effective because the background and angle chosen help to frame the model.

4. Use leading lines

Closely related to changing the angle of your photo is using leading lines to your subject from your background. Those lines are a great way to bring the viewers eye to your main subject, thus, making that background an essential element of your photo. A photographers favorite is the use of tunnels, where lines lead from an infinity point to your main subject. Using this gives you more control over your frame and results in a photo with real impact. A shallow depth of field isn’t always necessary when using leading lines, as the lines hold the background together.

Seven Great Ways to Control the Photography Background 4

Leading lines and tunnels are a favorite of photographers.

5. Line up foreground and background elements

It’s not just about lining up leading lines and avoiding distracting elements in your background. Particular elements in your background can be lined up to compliment whatever you have in the foreground. An example of this is when your background is blurred out with bokeh. In that background, there can be lighter and darker portions. You can also position your main subject in front of a patch of brighter background to highlight this area, and provide a natural frame.

Seven Great Ways to Control the Photography Background 5

The center of the Japanese flag in the background makes and excellent frame.

6. Aperture controls the background

One of the most effective controls you have over the photography background is aperture. What this does is controls the depth of field, allowing you to blur out the background if you wish. Bokeh is the term given to the out of focus portion of an image, often in the background. You can produce bokeh by opening up your aperture, usually on a prime lens. It’s also possible to produce bokeh with a long focal length, as long as the background is some distance from the object you’re focusing on. So controlling the aperture is one of the easiest and most effective ways of controlling your background.

Seven Great Ways to Control the Photography Background 6

Background bokeh can be an attractive element of a frame.

7. Textured backgrounds

Another option available to photographers is to use a textured background. Find a background, like a wall, that has a pattern or texture to it. Photography backgrounds that work well include: brick walls, old decaying facades that have one color, or metal shutters that shops use when they’re closed. Chances are, you’ll be photographing a model in this situation, and a clean background works well for this style of photo.

Seven Great Ways to Control the Photography Background 7

A natural photography background can also work well. In this example, the grass in the background is blurred out.

What do you look for in a background?

There are many ways to create an excellent background in your image. Which of the suggestions in this article do you like to use? Is there a different way of controlling the background that you like to use? This article aims to make you think a little more about the background of your photo, the next time you go out with your camera. So please share your thoughts, and comments with us. Let’s see some of your fantastic photography backgrounds in the comments section!

The post Seven Great Ways to Control the Photography Background appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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8 Beginner Tips for Images with a Better Background

16 May

Are you taking too many photos where the background is distracting from your main subject? It’s a common mistake for beginner photographers to pay attention only to their main subject and not what’s in the background. You also need to carefully look at what’s behind your subject when you are composing your photos, and a better background is part of better overall images.

Here are 8 tips to help new photographers achieve photos with a better background.

1. Choose Plain Backgrounds

statue against the blue sky - better background

By getting down low and looking up at your subject, the sky can make a great plain background.

Look for plain backgrounds and avoid strong patterns or clutter behind your subject. A single subject against a plain background will stand out better and make a stronger image. If what’s behind your subject is visually imposing it will distract attention from your subject.

By taking your photo from a low angle the sky will make a good plain background, especially on a cloudless day or at night. Get up higher, above your subject, and a nice lawn or large paved area can work well. A long fence or the side of a building with no windows will provide you with an effective plain background as well.

2. Give your Subject Some Distance

Two people throwing water during Thai new year - better background

Having some distance between subject and background you can blur the background so it’s not distracting.

Don’t place your subjects too close to the background. If your subject is too close to the background you will have too much in focus and your subject will not stand out. By putting some distance between your subject and what’s behind it, your subject will be sharp and what’s behind can be blurred out, (if you use a wide enough aperture setting.)

But you don’t always need to completely blur the background. Sometimes it’s good to still be able to see what’s going on behind your subject by having it only somewhat out of focus. This can work particularly well with environmental portraits where you want the background recognizable, but not be imposing.

3. Crop in Tight

Chilies at the street market - better background

Cropping tight to this pile of chilies has eliminated the distracting background.

Move close or zoom into your subject to avoid seeing most or all of the background. This will mean attention is given totally to your subject because there is nothing else in the photo.

Coming in super close might mean not including the whole of your subject in the photo. This is okay. Cutting off part of your subject could be better than including the whole subject and some distracting background.

4. Create a Balance

vegetable vendors at a street market - better background

Using the person and objects in the background, a balance has been created in this composition.

When you find yourself in situations where you have no control over the background or how close it is to your subject you need to get creative in other ways to make the most of what’s there.

Looking at the objects, shapes, and lighting in the background you might find you can use part or all of these things to help balance your composition and complement your main subject.

5. Change Your Point of View

Market vendor selling cooked sausages - better background

The bright background here is unattractive and adds no meaning to the photo. It is just distracting from the subject and draws the eye away from the vendor.

Market vendor selling cooked sausages taken during a Chiang Mai Photo Workshop

By moving my camera position, now the background is darker and adds meaning to the photo because you can now see it’s in a street market.

Sometimes to achieve a better background you will need to move your camera position.

If you are setting up to compose a photo and are seeing distractions in the background, try moving your camera to the left or right, or get up higher or down lower. As you do, watch what happens to the background in relation to the subject. You may see that as the relationship between objects changes you create a balance in your composition.

You might be able to hide distracting objects behind your subject or something else in your frame just by moving a little. Coming in closer can also help.

6. Use a Longer Lens

Street parade girl in costume - better background

Here, using a long lens allowed me to only see the girl’s costume and nothing else in the background.

Using a longer lens and moving back from your subject (rather than using a wide lens and being close) will greatly affect what you see in the background.

A lens with a wider field of view will naturally take in more of what’s in the background. Changing lenses or zooming in can eliminate much more of the background. It will also help blur your background if that’s what you want.

7. Frame Your Subject

The out of focus entrance behind my subject frames her nicely.

Find some element of a background that can enhance your photo by framing your subject.

If you want to use a natural frame for your subject it does not need to be in front, it can be quite effective if it’s behind them as well. Be careful though, if it is too strong it may visually overpower your main subject.

8.Use Contrast

market porter Thailand - better background

Using the large indoor space as a background for this market porter standing in the street has created a good dark background.

Look for backgrounds which are brighter or darker than your subjects. With careful exposure, you will be able to isolate your subject just because of the difference in lighting. This is one of my favorite techniques to really draw attention to my subjects, especially when I am photographing people.

Whether I am working with a studio setup or making portraits on the fly, I love to work with a dark background. Be careful to make an exposure reading from a person’s face, if the background has significantly less light falling on it then it will be underexposed and darker than your subject. If the background is a dark color this will help also as it will reflect less light than your subject. This is more difficult to achieve with people who have dark complexions.

Karin hill tribe woman taken during a Chiang Mai Photo Workshop

Using my outdoor studio I am able to easily have a plain, dark background.

Conclusion

Next time you are out and about with your camera, remember to pay attention to what’s happening behind your subject as well. The background can make or break a picture. It can support a subject or be a total distraction. Practice using these tips to create better backgrounds and I am sure you will begin to see an improvement in your photos.

The post 8 Beginner Tips for Images with a Better Background appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to Control Your Background Tones by Manipulating Light Fall-Off

04 May

In this article, I’ll show you how to control your background by manipulating light fall-off.

When using studio lighting, one of the most frustrating things to deal with can be backgrounds. Sure, if you have space, time and the money, you can just stock up on seamless backgrounds covering white, black and everything in between. But if you are on a budget, or are already taxing the limits of your storage space, that’s often not a viable option.

The good news is that it’s entirely possible to take a white or grey background, whether it’s a wall or a seamless backdrop, and manipulate your light so that the background appears black or any shade of grey you can imagine.

The method discussed in this article is quite easy.

How to Control Your Background by Manipulating Light Fall-Off - portrait with black background

Understanding how the rate of fall-off effects your lighting will grant you great control over how your background appears in your photos.

Move the light

To control your background, all that you have to do is move your light. It’s counterintuitive though. To get a darker background, you will move the light closer to your subject. For a lighter background, you would move the light further away.

This approach has the effect of changing the background; however, it also completely alters the quality of light falling on your subject.

For this demonstration, I used a small softbox (around 3×4′) placed directly in front of and above the subject. In the sequence of images below, you can clearly see that the light source is simply moved backward in increments of two feet. Also, you’ll see that the softbox was angled upwards slightly as it moves back so that it points toward the subject and not the floor.

How to Control Your Background by Manipulating Light Fall-Off

The light source is two feet away from the subject and angled down at forty-five degrees.

At four feet, the light had to be angled upwards slightly so that it remained pointed at the subject.

At six feet, the light on the subject gets noticeably harder, but the background appears as it is in life (its actual shade).

The light source as seen 10 feet from the subject.

In terms of the background, the way this works is through light fall-off. As the light source gets closer to your subject, the rate of light fall-off increases.

In the simplest terms possible, this means that as you move your light closer to your correctly exposed subject (remember to recalculate your exposure everytime you move your light), the light reaching your background loses intensity at a higher rate, making the background appear darker.

In this progression (starting left to right) the light begins two feet away from the subject and is moved back in two-foot increments until it is 10 feet away in the right-hand frame.

For these examples, I used a middle grey background to better illustrate the dramatic changes in tonality as the light is moved.

In the first image on the left, the light is two feet away from the subject, rendering the grey backdrop nearly black. At four feet away, in the second image, the background gets noticeably lighter. By the fifth image, at 10 feet away, the grey tone of the background almost matches the subject’s light grey shirt.

Because the light was moving away from the subject in each frame, the exposure had to be metered for each change. The image on the left was shot at f/11, while the one on the right was shot at f/2.8, which is a total of four stops of difference in exposure.

Left: soft light with the light source two feet away. Right: hard light then it’s 10 feet away. Here you can clearly see the difference in the quality of light. Pay close attention to the tonal transition between the shadow and highlight areas of both images.

It’s important to note that moving the light closer, or further away, will also have a dramatic effect on how the light appears on your subject. As the quality of light is altered on the background, it also changes on your subject. Bringing it in close will change both the softness and intensity of the light on your subject, making it both brighter in terms of exposure and softer (quality of light is directly related to the size of the light source and distance from the subject).

Moving the light away from your subject will result in a lighter backdrop. Aside from that, this will also result in harder light on your subject. Just be aware that a lot of subjects won’t suit being lit with hard light and be careful with how far you go, and you should be fine.

Move the light too far back, however, and you may as well be using a small flash from a closer distance. For example, the softbox used here from 10 feet away is only barely distinguishable from a bare speedlight at a closer distance.

The end

That’s it. This technique is easy to put into practice even if you don’t yet understand the technicalities of the Inverse Square Law that makes it work. It isn’t foolproof, however, and you may want to have other tricks up your sleeve if you’re in a position where you don’t have enough space to work with.

Background lights and flags can both go a long way to helping you solve exposing your background the way you want as well. This method is just one other option to add to your skillset, hopefully bringing you one step closer to getting things right in camera.

The post How to Control Your Background Tones by Manipulating Light Fall-Off appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Weekly Photography Challenge – Black Background

20 Jan

This week I have something a little different for you for the challenge – shooting on a black or dark background.

Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash

Weekly Photography Challenge – Black Background

The idea here is to create something dramatic. Make sure you choose lighting that will help separate the subject from the dark background. That could be backlight, rim light, or side lighting – choose the direction of light carefully.

If you need some help try these dPS articles:

How to Create Dark Moody Low-Key Portraits with Minimal Gear
Low-Key Photography – Highlighting Darkness
How to do Accent Lighting for Portraits
How to Make a Low Key Portrait Step by Step

KAren Woman Smoking Her Pipe against a black background

Image by dPS writer Kevin Landwer-Johan

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Black Background by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to Create a Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

03 Dec

Ever seen those flowy, innocuous desktop backgrounds that to show up on default computer screens? That’s the exact image I thought of when I messing around with Photoshop for this tutorial. Though they aren’t exact, these simple gradients and shapes come together to spur on a little nostalgia.

This project is pretty straightforward – but it introduced me to a couple techniques I had never come across before. Photoshop has opened up worlds of image-making technology. But when you boil it all down, the culmination of a photographer’s work is in shades of light dispersed within shapes.

I had a good time putting together this tutorial – I even tried out a few on my own desktop. It’s a great way to get familiar with Photoshop operations. But it’s just as fun for a pro, with a bit of photographic downtime on their hands. So let’s dig in.

Getting Started

First, open a new document in Photoshop. Change the dimensions of the canvas to the average desktop background size – 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels, as shown below. How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

Add a Gradient

Select Layer via the Layers tab on the top toolbar and click on New Fill Layer and then Gradient.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

In the pop-up Gradient panel, click on the drop-down arrow and select Simple Gradients.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

Select a color from the swatches in the Simple tab.

Choose a color that appeals to you most – whichever one you like best!

Click directly on the panel for the gradient color and a new panel will pop up. This will allow you to further customize your color scheme. Click on the white node below the gradient bar. A color picker will pop up, allowing you to change the white parts of our original gradient to another shade.

At this stage, I would recommend a color similar in shade to your original color. I’m a big fan of pink, so I went with subtle, light shade of pink to complement my overall color scheme. But It’s totally up to you!

How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

Accept the color of the gradient. Select Radial as the style and the scale as 150.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

Clicking the Radial setting makes the lighter shade emanate from the center of your image.

Add Another Layer

Next, create a new layer via the layers tab at the top of the screen. Select New in the drop-down menu and select Layer… Click OK at the prompt.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

Add a Shape

Click on the Elliptical Marquee Tool. This may be obscured by the Rectangular Marquee Tool, so click and hold the mouse over the tool for a moment to reveal the other options.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

With the Elliptical Marquee Tool selected, draw a circle that intersects with the top corner of your image. To keep the elliptical tool even on all sides (in other words, a circle), hold down the Shift key as you drag part of the shape over the top corner.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

Open the paintbrush tool and select a nice, soft-edged brush. Set the brush size between 200 to 400 pixels and the hardness level to zero. Select a color in a slightly darker shade. I selected a peachy color.

With the Elliptical Tool still selected, brush around the very outer rim of the quarter-circle with the paintbrush, relying on the softness of the brush to dust the inner rim.

paintbrush - How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

Use a slightly different shade to emphasize the edge of the circle you created.

Duplicate the shape layer as many times as you would like to create an interesting pattern.

Add Dimension

Next, we’ll add a new dimension to the image by using the Rectangular Marquee Tool rather than the Ellipse Tool.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

Create a New Layer and then select the Rectangular Marquee tool from the panel. Stretch the Rectangular Marquee Tool across your image so that about half of it is selected, as shown below.

Rectangular selection.

With the same technique and color you used on the ellipse, brush along the perimeter of the shape, leaving only the slightest shadow.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

With the rectangle still selected, click on Edit > Transform > Warp. Slowly drag the different points of the rectangular selection to adjust the whole shape of the layer. Try to make gradual edits at first, to keep the line free of sharp angles.

Transform the rectangle.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop

How to Create Minimal Desktop Backgrounds Using Photoshop

The edge of the rectangle after transforming.

Blend Modes

Now to add a little more depth to the image, you can apply blending modes to bring out highlights in the background. Select a layer and click on Blending Modes usually located above the Layers panel. Select a setting from the list of Blending Modes available. I usually use the Color Burn option, but feel free to experiment!

Blend modes.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Backgrounds Using Photoshop

And there you have it! Not bad huh? Amazing what you can do with a few circles and shadows.

Liquify

If you like, try experimenting with the Liquefy tool. It’s found in the Filter tab on the top tools panel.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Backgrounds Using Photoshop

Before using the liquify tool on an image I constructed using the steps above.

After using the Liquefy tool. You can see that the shapes are now a little more organic.

Over to you!

Here are a few more of my creations. I’d love you see how your desktop background has turned out, please share in the comments below.

How to Create Minimal Desktop Backgrounds Using Photoshop

A minimalist approach created by twisting a rectangular edge with the Warp Tool.

Now it’s your turn! Show me how it went in the comments.

The post How to Create a Minimal Desktop Background Using Photoshop by Megan Kennedy appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to Blur the Background of a Portrait Using the Magnetic Lasso Tool in Photoshop

25 Nov

Have you ever taken a portrait and wished that the background were just a little bit more blurry? You can address background blur in-camera by changing either your aperture or the distance of your subject from the background. However, there’s also a relatively quick way to make slight adjustments to background blur in post-processing. In this article, we’ll be walking through how to use the Magnetic Lasso tool in Photoshop to slightly blur the background of your portraits and people photography.

Getting started

First, open your desired image in Photoshop, and duplicate your background layer (Layer > Duplicate Layer). Next, select the Magnetic Lasso tool. If you’ve not used this tool recently, you may need to right-click on the original lasso tool and then click on the magnetic lasso tool from the fly-out menu.

How to Blur the Background of a Portrait Using the Magnetic Lasso Tool in Photoshop

Selecting the subject

Using the Magnetic Lasso tool, begin by clicking at any point right next to your subject. You’ll notice that the magnetic lasso tool begins to “stick” to what it thinks is the outline of your subject. Continue to click your mouse to create anchor points periodically all around your subject.

If the magnetic lasso tool jumps somewhere you don’t want it to go, press the delete button on your keyboard to return to your last anchor point.

How to Blur the Background of a Portrait Using the Magnetic Lasso Tool in Photoshop

Definitely be aware that once you’ve started using the Magnetic Lasso tool, you’re pretty committed! You won’t be able to do much else with Photoshop until you’ve either completed the lasso loop by connecting your endpoint to your starting anchor point or until you hit “Esc” on your keyboard to delete all your anchor points.

Once you’ve closed your lasso loop, navigate to Select > Modify > Feather (or Shift + F6) and feather your selection by 5-10 pixels.

How to Blur the Background of a Portrait Using the Magnetic Lasso Tool in Photoshop

Feather your new selection 5-10 pixels.

Invert to select the background

Next, you’ll want to invert your selection so that you’ll be blurring the background rather than your subject. To do that, navigate to Select > Inverse (or Ctrl + Shift + I). If you see a dashed outline appear around the border of your image, then you’ve correctly inverted your selection.

Notice where the marching ants are – if they appear like this around the outside of the image you’ve correctly inverted the selection.

Adding the blur effect

After you’ve inverted your selection, it’s time to blur the background of your image. Click on Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Next, play with the radius slider a bit.

Please keep in mind that this technique isn’t designed to take a tack sharp background and transform it to the creamy bokeh of an 85mm lens. Rather, it’s designed to slightly enhance the bokeh that you’ve already got going on in your image. As such, I usually select a radius of 5-10 pixels for the blur filter.

Don’t be afraid to play around with this a bit. Utilize the preview check box, and see what your image looks like when using different amounts for the radius!

Gaussian blur added.

Finishing up

Once you’ve run the Gaussian Blur filter, press Ctrl + D to deselect your image, and you’re about finished! If there are any parts of your image that are blurry and shouldn’t be, go ahead and add a layer mask to your top layer, and mask off any of those blurry areas, and then you’re finished!

Original image on top; image blurred with magnetic lasso tool on the bottom.

As you can see, this technique is subtle, and helps to soften (but not eliminate) slightly distracting elements from the background of your image. I most often find myself using this technique on one or two person portraits, including newborns. It’s a really simple trick to have in your tool bag!

Have you ever utilized the magnetic lasso tool for people photography? What’s your favorite way to use it? Chime in below and tell us in the comments section.

The post How to Blur the Background of a Portrait Using the Magnetic Lasso Tool in Photoshop by Meredith Clark appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How to Use the Background to Create More Storytelling Images

24 Nov

Sometimes you’re so focused on capturing the moment that you forget to pay attention to what’s in the background of your photo. When you look at your photos later, you realize that there are all sorts of distractions in the background. One way to overcome these distractions is to use the background to help with storytelling in your photo.

Even though “the moment” is likely the most important part of your photo, good moments always happen in a place. Use the background to show where your moment or story takes place.

Think of People as Characters

The first thing I recommend is thinking of the people in your photo as characters. When you’re going to take a picture of somebody ask, “Who is this character and what are they doing?” When you answer these questions you’ll be able to choose a good background to help tell that story.

Storytelling background 15

This is a photo of my son. I wasn’t thinking of him merely as my son, but rather as a “hiker.” Thinking of him as a hiker helped me choose a background that portrayed the story of a hiker.

Two Ways to Choose a Background

There are two ways to choose a background for your photo.

You can begin with your character and then choose the right background for them.
Or, you can begin with a good background and then look for a character to put into the scene.

Finding a Background that Matches Your Character

Keep in mind the two questions to ask yourself; “Who is this character and what are they doing?”

In this photo, the character is my infant son and he is sleeping in a carrier on my wife’s back. It’s a cute picture, but there is no way to tell from the background where we were when this took place.

This is a nice photo, but the background doesn’t add to the story.

We were on a camping trip and I knew I wanted a collection of photos that would show that. So I repositioned myself to find a better perspective and show the camp trailer in the background. This added a sense of place to the photo.

The camp trailer in the background adds context to the photo of the sleeping infant.

Later on that summer it came time to chop wood for the winter. My little guy wanted to help daddy!

Naturally, I wanted a photo of him trying to chop wood. Depending on the perspective I chose there could have been trees, water, or a wood pile in the background. Since this is a photo about chopping wood, I chose to have the woodpile in the background.

There is even some wood in the foreground, reminding me of what a big job we had that summer!

The huge pile of wood is a natural background for the little wood chopper. Plus it emphasizes how small he is comparatively.

Next time you’re about to snap a photo of somebody, stop and consider your background. Can you move around in order to get a good background to help with storytelling?

Finding a Character to Fit the Background

There may be times when you want to photograph an interesting scene but feel that there is something missing. Perhaps it is the character that is missing. When you come across an interesting scene, go ahead and photograph it. But also wait and allow that scene to become a background for some interesting characters.

When we visited Halls Harbour in Nova Scotia, the rugged shoreline was an obvious feature to photograph. I experimented with different angles and perspectives, but I knew I needed some good characters in the scene. Finally, a couple with their dog came walking down the shoreline. When the man began skipping stones out into the water I knew that these were the characters I was awaiting.

These people and their dog were the perfect additions to the rugged shoreline.

Instead of just a photo of a beautiful landscape, this has become a story about a family on an adventure. To me, skipping stones into the water is a nostalgic sort of moment, so I decided this story looked best in black and white.

Make a story

When the tide was low we could walk out into the harbor amongst the ships that were now resting on the ground. Again, this was an interesting scene that just seemed to be missing a character. Then my son came tip-toeing through the mud and became the perfect character to fit the scene.

When I let my imagination carry me away, I pretend that my son has pulled the plug in the harbor and all the water has drained out. He better sneak away before he gets caught!

Using framing

On a trip to Niagara Falls, we ducked into a building to get some relief from the cold wind and mist from the falls. Through the windows, we could see the falls and a rainbow that was produced through the mist. I wanted to take a photo but waited until my kids went and stood in the window. This allows the falls and rainbow to make up the background while my kids are the characters in the scene.

The characters in the foreground allow the viewer’s attention to be drawn to the falls and rainbow in the background.

Plan ahead

In these next two examples, I used our house as a background for the photo. We were getting ready to move in the spring and I knew we needed a few more photos, by which to remember this old house. So I was determined to use our house as a setting and photograph more scenes with it in the background.

That winter, we built a snow hill nearly as tall as the house itself. That was a perfect opportunity to photograph an exciting event with our home in the background.

A low angle helped to capture this epic moment right in our front yard. The snow hill towers in front of the house in the background.

Our kids will always remember their first childhood home (and the fun they had there) when they look back on these photos.

Next time you come across a nice scene, go ahead and photograph the scene by itself. Once you have done this, you can look for a character to add to the scene, allowing it to become a background for their story. This is a perfect approach for both landscape and street photography. Choose the background and then wait for the character to come along.

Symbolic Backgrounds

So far, all of the backgrounds in these photos have been literal scenes. But you can use a background to give your story some symbolic meaning as well. You do this by finding a background that makes you think deeper than the literal object itself. For example, a sunset in the background isn’t just about the sun, perhaps it’s about “romance” or “a happy ending.”

In this example, my wife is tying up vines in a vineyard. This is a job that needs to be done in the spring before any green actually appears on the vines. There really wasn’t anything nice near her to use as a background, except golden light from the setting sun.

To me, vineyards are about long days of outdoor work, and the romance of shared wine. The warm setting sun was the perfect symbolic background to express these feelings.

The golden sun in the background of this photo is symbolic of the day’s end, and the romance of wine and vineyards.

When you’re photographing a character doing something interesting, ask yourself if there is anything in the background that adds symbolic meaning to what they’re doing.

I have lots of photos of my kids reading books. The following photo is an example of a very boring background that does not help to tell a story.

This background is distracting. The bed leg is growing out of their shoulders and pulls our attention away from what the kids are doing.

You can come up with some great backgrounds for people reading books. A library or a coffee shop would be two good choices for your background. But these are obvious choices and perhaps you could choose a symbolic background instead. Think about the nature of reading and how a person grows as they learn.

This is exactly the sort of place that many people would sit and read a book. There is something about old leather chairs that invite you to nestle in and read. Behind the chair is a wood grain wall. Wood is something that grows. Wood is symbolic of the “growth” that happens when a child learns and reads.

Keep your eye open for backgrounds that are symbolic of the story you want to tell.

Using the Background to Tell a Story in Multiple Photos

When you find a good background, go ahead and use it in different ways to expand on your story.

The following photos are all from Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. Every tourist who has ever been there, walks away with the same photos from the same perspectives, so I challenged myself to come away with something different. I wanted photos of the rocks, so I used them as the background for the scene and then waited for interesting characters to come along.

The first thing I noticed was lots of tourists rushing around snapping pictures of the rocks. They were always getting in the way of the photo I was taking, so I gave up and took pictures of them instead.

I like how this tourist blends into the rocks. As they reached out their arms to take a photo, their arms mimicked the circle shapes in the rocks.

Two-year-olds are notoriously difficult to photograph. I wanted to take a photo of my daughter with the rocks in the background. But all she wanted to do was chew on saltwater stones. She had been doing this on our entire trip. We were constantly telling her to get the rocks out of her mouth.

If you’re going to photograph a two-year-old, you might just as well photograph her doing what she loves. And what better background for her photo than the massive rocks?

The tide was rising quickly and would soon cover the massive rock formations. In our last moments there something spectacular happened. A park ranger made his own rock formation by balancing several odd shaped rocks on each other.

What a contrast between the massive Hopewell Rocks and the man-made formation. The force of the tide eroded one set of rocks over a long period of time and will quickly topple the rocks that have been so carefully balanced by the ranger.

When you stick with a scene long enough wonderful things happen and your mind will find symbolic meaning that you otherwise might have missed.

You’ll Enjoy Your Photos More When Your Background Adds to the Story

Don’t let your backgrounds be a disappointing afterthought. Instead, consider how the background in your photo can add storytelling elements to your character.

Remember the steps:

When you’re going to take a picture of somebody, first ask yourself, “Who is this character and what are they doing?” When you answer these questions you’ll be able to choose a good background for storytelling.
You can choose a background for your character, or find a good background and wait for the perfect character to come along.
Try using backgrounds to give symbolic meaning to your photos.
Use the background in different ways over several photos.

When you pay attention to the background your photos will become less sloppy and more meaningful. Please share some of your images with storytelling backgrounds in the comments below.

The post How to Use the Background to Create More Storytelling Images by Mat Coker appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Video: How to shoot white products on a white background

03 Jun

Shooting products on a white background is a common setup for anyone selling online. But how do you handle shooting a white product on a white background? The trick is to completely separate one’s foreground lighting from the background lighting. Pro photographer David Patino breaks down how to do it in this short, but useful PDN video.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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