Add perspective to a texture overlay in Photoshop to make it look realistic

Do you ever feel you could tweak a texture to suit the perspective of your image instead of appearing flat over the top? If you haven't, I bet you're thinking so now!

As part of a new series 'Quick Editing Hacks' I'm going to show you how you can change a texture from looking flat and just laying over the top of your image, to instead looking as though it is painted onto your backdrop and moves in line with your subject and shooting perspective.

Sound complicated? Yes it's really not. Watch the short video below and I'll show you how: 

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1. Add your texture (either using the LSP Texture action or your own way).
   
   
2. Resize the texture to fit and tweak as needed.
   (*** add a layer mask if you're not using LSP)
   
   
3. Select your subject. I use the Quick Select wand [W] 
   
   
4. Refine the selection if needed (using Select and Mask)
   
   
5. Use this selection to remove the texture from your subject's skin
   
   
6. Unlink the layer mask from the texture layer by clicking the little lock icon.
   
   
7. Make a selection from the bottom up until the natural 'horizon' of your background.
   
   
8. Select "Free Transform" > "Perspective" and drag the bottom of the selected area of texture out to the right and left to create a perspective that matches that of your image.
   
   
9. Hit enter and you're done - BOOM!
   
   
10. Lay back and bask in your own cleverness.
    
    

How to change colours in Photoshop using the colour replacement brush

There are many MANY ways to change colours in photoshop. Have you ever wondered what the colour replacement brush was all about? If you've not noticed it, click and hold down on your brush icon... see it there? If you don't you may want to switch to the 'Essentials' view (under window > workspace).

This brush is GREAT for customising the colours of specific areas in your image. An item of clothing, a bonnet, wrap or fabric. It's easy to use and gives great results.

As part of a new series 'Quick Editing Hacks' I show you exactly how to use this tool, in 2 minutes  (well I lie... I run over a little in this one).

Please note - I move FAST in this video! So do watch twice and pause 2nd time if needed. Enjoy the video below and leave a comment! I love to hear from you

More #LSPQuickHacks coming soon at www.LSP-ACTIONS.com

Reduce red areas using Photoshop in 2 minutes

Ever wondered how to remove specific red areas in a newborn image or portrait without affecting the whole tone of the image?

As part of a new series 'Quick Editing Hacks' I show you exactly how, in 2 minutes! 

Please watch the video below and leave a comment! I love to hear from you.

*Note - As I mention in the vid, I do not advocate removing marks from birth or defining features, as those of you who know me will have heard a lot  BUT when parents specifically request this, this is the natural and non destructive way I prefer.*

More #LSPQuickHacks coming soon at www.LSP-ACTIONS.com

Frequency Separation in photoshop can seem a little daunting to begin with but, once you understand how it works, you are able to open up a whole new bag of photoshop tricks and take your skin editing to the next level. In this video, I explain how you can create your very own frequency separation layers and (most importantly) help you understand a little about how they work.

Are you offended by the 'F' word?

Do you shudder at the 'S' word? Don't worry, many do!

Read now to learn about Frequency Separation, or skip to the bottom to just watch the videos if you're not a reader (or only have a few mins of browsing before life calls you back again #fastlane)

As a newborn photographer, you are sometimes presented with challenging skin edits. We shoot for sharpness and though this is stunning for eye lashes and other precious details, the camera also picks up and amplifies any temporary spots, wounds, flakes and scratches on baby's delicate skin. These are *very* temporary blemishes, sometimes cropping up on the day of the session and fading the next day and every newborn will have some degree of acne, scratched skin or red blotches. This is all part of being a brand new little human adjusting to the outside world. Washing powder, dry air, temperature changes, lotions, you name it, so many factors can affect babe's precious skin those first weeks.

These blemishes are likely to not be particularly noticeable in normal daylight, on a mobile phone snap or when baby is out swaddled in the pram - but add in a professional shooting environment and a still moment captured in time and BAM, all the little spots suddenly appear a lot more prominent. We want to photograph our little newborns through the "parent's eyes", but these temporary blemishes can totally dominate a portrait, taking away from baby's beautiful little features.

The secret to newborn skin editing is not to over-do it. It's so easy to get carried away and not know when to stop. I recommend using Frequency Separation toward the end of your edit, once everything else is taken care of. I'd recommend never starting off an edit with fixing the skin, this will be incredibly time consuming and can lead to an over-smoothed, over-edited portrait. Fix the light, white balance, background etc first.

So, what is Frequency Separation? Frequency Separation is basically "separating" the tones from the textures of your image. The tones are the colours (made up of Red, Green and Blue), the textures are the details (made up of shadows and highlights). For example, check out the image below: 

If you look from a distance (or squint your eyes), you can see the word "FREQUENCY" this is a low frequency layer, meaning it is actually just made up of colours and is very blurry, there is no hard detail remaining. BUT If you look right up close, you can now make out the word "SEPARATION" this is the high frequency layer, the texture only and is made up only of hard-edged shadows and highlights.

Sound super complicated? Stick with me *brings you a strong drink*  it's actually pretty simple to understand once you break it down into the basics: By separating the high frequencies and low frequencies of a photograph onto 2 separate layers, you are able to independently edit the tones (ie red blotches) and the textures (ie spots), meaning a much more natural looking edit that you have full control over.

So, how does this all apply to a newborn image? Right off the bat, I don't believe in removing birth marks / stork marks / other defining features / hand and foot flakes. I don't remove mama's stretch marks unless she requests it. These are a part of the individual and celebrate their new little self.

90% of the time, you can edit a newborn image using your normal tools (spot healing, patch, clone...) but occasionally... well, occasionally we are presented with a more challenging edit where the blemishes dominate baby's little features. Think severe baby acne, lots of scratches or bruising... This is where understanding Frequency Separation comes into play.

In this video, I am working on the image below: Left is straight from the camera (minus the support hand holding baby comfortably and safely). Right is a quick edit using the Signature Newborn Collection followed by Frequency Separation to fix the scratches, acne and red blotches:

If you already own the LSP Newborn Actions, Studio Retouch Actions or Forestry School Actions then you already have the in-built LSP Frequency Separation Action! Just scroll down and check out the manual section of your action set :)

VIDEO #1

Please watch VIDEO #1 first to understand how Frequency Separation works and how you can create your very own Frequency Separation layers:

Questions about Frequency Separation? Link to join the private LSP facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LemonSkyActions/ 

Psssssst - Don't watch & run, leave me a comment below:

A live video walkthrough to show you how to add blur to the background of your image in Photoshop whilst keeping your subject nice and sharp

Creating your own dust scatter brush in Photoshop is super easy and the perfect way to add dust, debris, floating particles or bokeh to your images