Adobe Photoshop CC Bootcamp
Lesson 69 of 118
Introduction to Image Transforming

Adobe Photoshop CC Bootcamp
Lesson 69 of 118
Introduction to Image Transforming
Lesson Info
Introduction to Image Transforming
When I talk about image transformation, I'm not talking about manipulating the image to the point that it's transformed into something else. Its not like a transformer. This is mainly going to be about... There's things that are gonna happen in our photographs that are due to either lens or barrel distortion or things that are outside of our control that happen inside the camera that would just look a little better for our viewer if we fixed 'em. This is the process of manipulating the pixels in a photo to make it more visually appealing. As I said before, when it comes to landscape photography this would be things like perspective correction, or lens and barrel distortion correction, and when it comes to things like portrait photography this would be like wrinkled clothing with something like the liquefy tool or minor feature retouching in something with the liquefy tool also. What we're gonna be focusing on specifically for this lesson is gonna be landscape-driven things. Not portrai...
t-driven things. When we get into the portrait workflow series where we talk about natural retouching, we'll touch on some of these ways we can transform an image and still maintain the integrity of the photograph. But for now, we'll be talking about things that are gonna be perspective correction, and lens and barrel distortion correction for the things that happen within our camera that we need to fix in order to make the viewer find that image more appealing or more attractive. Now with that being said, there are times when a very nice forest perspective with the huge wide-angle lens is perfect but then there's other times where it just looks better if you fix it. So this would be one of those examples. Where this is inside the Nelson Atkins museum. We have the sides of the image where the perspective is forcing back to kind of narrowing down like this. Now we do want the forced perspective in there but when we have another perspective line that's meeting down here it kinda makes it feel like we're warping down into the back of the image. Where, as if we do something like this, just a very simple fix, very quick and easy fix, just snap those lines back to where they were, it gives us more of that symmetry . Now, this is where symmetry, I would say, doesn't necessarily work so well. This is where it's a symmetrical image but there's something that's throwing it off that doesn't allow me to enjoy it as a viewer. When I look at this image, I like the symmetry here. The symmetry is working the symmetry with the forced perspective is coming in here and because the vertical line ends are now straight, it's more visually appealing and I can enjoy it a little bit more. If it was something that required a really forced, warped perspective from a wide-angle lens then I'd say don't do that, just go ahead and keep it if you're doing it for effect but this is not an image that I would do that for effect. Here is another example. We're shooting some buildings in, I should say, photographing some buildings in Chicago and they're just like shooting right up into the sky. And I prefer, my vision for that was I liked the way it looked when I was staring at it but no lens that I chose was going to get me that option other than using a wide-angle lens, but then we can use some of the things that are in Photoshop to fix that for us and straighten those buildings up a little bit. This same thing happens with an image like this. We've seen this image a couple times before, we've played with this a little bit before but look at this barn. It's leaning. And the reason why it's leaning is because it might be a combination of the fact that it's falling over but it's also the fact that this is a wide-angle lens and I really wanted to get everything in this image. Especially because during the post-production of this image, this is not the actual finished image. I like the relationship between the sun and you can barley see it, but that's a sliver of a moon. So I like that, I wanted to get all of that in the same frame but in doing so, with the wide-angle lens, I start warping things that are at the edges. So because this is at the edge, everything just starts to fall inside the canvas. So with an image like this, instead of worrying about modifying the whole image, you can just grab this one little section here and just fix it. Just tilt it back up a little bit. Just, He-Man style. Go up to that barn and (explosion sounds). Push it back up to where it belongs. So let's go ahead and jump in first. We're gonna go into Adobe Camera Raw and talk about how we can use Adobe Camera Raw and some of the lens corrections that are in there to try to fix our image before we have to do the tedious things in Photoshop.
Class Description
Adobe® Photoshop CC® is a valuable tool for photographers, but it can also be intimidating. In this all-inclusive 20 lesson course, you’ll go from opening the program for the first time to creating images that really stand out. Join Blake Rudis, Photoshop expert and founder of f64 Academy, as he shows you how to maximize your use of Photoshop.
Topics covered will include:
- Class Introduction & Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw, Setup Interface, Cropping and Layers
- Layer Tools, Masks, Selections, Clean-Up Tools and Shapes & Text
- Smart Objects, Transforming, Actions, Filters, and Editing Video
- Custom Creative Effects, Natural Retouching, Portrait Workflow, Landscape Workflow, and Composite Workflow
Don’t let the many aspects of Photoshop prevent you from maximizing your use of this amazing app. Blake will help you develop the confidence to use your imagination and create the images that you will be proud to share with your clients.
SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Photoshop CC 2018
Lessons
- Bootcamp Introduction
- The Bridge Interface
- Setting up Bridge
- Overview of Bridge
- Practical Application of Bridge
- Introduction to Raw Editing
- Setting up ACR Preferences & Interface
- Global Tools Part 1
- Global Tools Part 2
- Local Tools
- Introduction to the Photoshop Interface
- Toolbars, Menus and Windows
- Setup and Interface
- Adobe Libraries
- Saving Files
- Introduction to Cropping
- Cropping for Composition in ACR
- Cropping for Composition in Photoshop
- Cropping for the Subject in Post
- Cropping for Print
- Perspective Cropping in Photoshop
- Introduction to Layers
- Vector & Raster Layers Basics
- Adjustment Layers in Photoshop
- Organizing and Managing Layers
- Introduction to Layer Tools and Blend Modes
- Screen and Multiply and Overlay
- Soft Light Blend Mode
- Color and Luminosity Blend Modes
- Color Burn and Color Dodge Blend Modes
- Introduction to Layer Styles
- Practical Application: Layer Tools
- Introduction to Masks and Brushes
- Brush Basics
- Custom Brushes
- Brush Mask: Vignettes
- Brush Mask: Curves Dodge & Burn
- Brush Mask: Hue & Saturation
- Mask Groups
- Clipping Masks
- Masking in Adobe Camera Raw
- Practical Applications: Masks
- Introduction to Selections
- Basic Selection Tools
- The Pen Tool
- Masks from Selections
- Selecting Subjects and Masking
- Color Range Mask
- Luminosity Masks Basics
- Introduction to Cleanup Tools
- Adobe Camera Raw
- Healing and Spot Healing Brush
- The Clone Stamp Tool
- The Patch Tool
- Content Aware Move Tool
- Content Aware Fill
- Custom Cleanup Selections
- Introduction to Shapes and Text
- Text Basics
- Shape Basics
- Adding Text to Pictures
- Custom Water Marks
- Introduction to Smart Objects
- Smart Object Basics
- Smart Objects and Filters
- Smart Objects and Image Transformation
- Smart Objects and Album Layouts
- Smart Objects and Composites
- Introduction to Image Transforming
- ACR and Lens Correction
- Photoshop and Lens Correction
- The Warp Tool
- Perspective Transformations
- Introduction to Actions in Photoshop
- Introduction to the Actions Panel Interface
- Making Your First Action
- Modifying Actions After You Record Them
- Adding Stops to Actions
- Conditional Actions
- Actions that Communicate
- Introduction to Filters
- ACR as a Filter
- Helpful Artistic Filters
- Helpful Practical Filters
- Sharpening with Filters
- Rendering Trees
- The Oil Paint and Add Noise Filters
- Introduction to Editing Video
- Timeline for Video
- Cropping Video
- Adjustment Layers and Video
- Building Lookup Tables
- Layers, Masking Video & Working with Type
- ACR to Edit Video
- Animated Gifs
- Introduction to Creative Effects
- Black, White, and Monochrome
- Matte and Cinematic Effects
- Gradient Maps and Solid Color Grades
- Gradients
- Glow and Haze
- Introduction to Natural Retouching
- Brightening Teeth
- Clean Up with the Clone Stamp Tool
- Cleaning and Brightening Eyes
- Advanced Clean Up Techniques
- Introduction to Portrait Workflow & Bridge Organization
- ACR for Portraits Pre-Edits
- Portrait Workflow Techniques
- Introduction to Landscape Workflow & Bridge Organization
- Landscape Workflow Techniques
- Introduction to Compositing & Bridge
- Composite Workflow Techniques
- Landscape Composite Projects
- Bonus: Rothko and Workspace
- Bonus: Adding Textures to Photos
- Bonus: The Mask (Extras)
- Bonus: The Color Range Mask in ACR
Reviews
a Creativelive Student
Amazing course, but don't be fooled into thinking this is a beginner's course for photographers. The problem isn't Blake's explanations; they're top. The problem is the vast scope of this course and the order in which the topics are presented. Take layers for example. When I was first learning Photoshop (back when we learned from books), I found I learned little or nothing from, for example, books that covered layers before they covered how to improve/process photographs. These books taught me how to organize, move, and link layers before they showed me what a layer was actually for. Those books tended to teach me everything there is to know about layers (types of layers, how to organize them, how to move them, how to move them two at a time, how to move them two at a time even if there are other layers between the two you're interested in, useful troubleshooting tips, etc. ) all before I even know (from a photographer's point of view) what it is the things actually do. The examples of organizing, linking, and moving mean everything for graphic designers from Day One, but for photographers not so much. Blake does the same thing as those books. Topics he covers extremely early demand a lot of theoretical imagination for a photographer who doesn't already know quite a bit about what he is talking about. Learning about abstract things first and concrete things later only makes PS that much harder to understand. If you AREN'T a beginner, however, this course is amazing. I thought it would be like an Army Bootcamp, taking you from zero and building you into a fit, competent Photoshop grunt. Now I think it's more like Army Bootcamp for high school varsity jocks. It isn't going to take you from the beginning, but the amount you'll get out of it is nonetheless more than your brain can imagine. I've been using PS for years to improve my photographs, and even to create the odd artistic composite or two. The amount I've learned in the first week is amazing, and every day I learn something -- more like many things -- which I immediately implement to improve my productivity and/or widen the horizons of what I can achieve. If you ARE a photographer who's a Photoshop beginner, I'd take very seriously the advice Blake gives in the introduction: Watch one lesson, and practice the skills and principles you learn in that one lesson for two weeks. THEN watch the next lesson. You can't do that of course without buying the course, so it's up to you to decide whether you'd like to learn Photoshop and master Photoshop all from the same course. Learning it first and mastering it later will cost more money, but I think you'll understand everything better and have a much more enjoyable ride in the process. As for me? I'm going to have to find the money to buy this course. There is simply way too much content in each lesson for me to try to take on all at once, but on the other hand I don't want to miss anything at all that he has to share.
Robert Andrews
Blake Rudis is the absolute best in teaching photoshop. His knowledge and how he presents the instruction is clear and concise - there is NO ONE BETTER. Yes, his classes require some basic skills, and maybe I'd organize the order of (or group) the classes in a different order, but, let me be clear - if anyone is to be successful or famous in the Photoshop world, it should be Blake Rudis. I strongly recommend his teaching. I started photography and post processing in 2018, and because of this class, I'm know what Im doing. The energy you get when you create something beautiful is profound, it makes you bounce out of bed (at 4AM) like a 5 year old, to go create. It's a great ride! Thanks Blake, & Thanks Creative live.
Esther Gambrell
WOW!!! I've been purchasing CL classes for several years now and have watched HOURS of "How-To Photoshop" classes, but this is the first one I've actually purchased because of the AWESOME BONUS content!!! SERIOUSLY??!!?!? A PLUG-IN??? But not only that, Blake is SO easy to understand, and he breaks down concepts in different ways to connect with different people's learning styles. I REALLY appreciated this approach because I am a LEFT-BRAINED creative that has an engineering background, so I really connected to what Blake was saying. THANK YOU FOR THAT! There are TONS of Photoshop courses out there, but I found this one to be the most helpful in they way Blake teaches concepts so that you know WHY you're doing what your doing. I feel like he taught me how to fish with Photoshop to feed me for a lifetime instead of just giving me a fish to feed me for one day. This is the BEST overall PS course out there!!! Thank you!!!!