Photo Tips To Inspire You and Help You Learn

June 15, 2017June 13, 2018 admin1

Photo Tips to Inspire You and Help You Learn

Ultimate Photo Tips provides friendly education and encouragement for photo enthusiasts around the world, presented in a way that’s clear, organized, and easy to understand. We have hints and tips to hone your skills and boost your creativity, whether you’re looking for the answer to a specific question, or just want to explore and learn.

Two Minute Photo Tips Video

Adobe Photoshop: Orton Effect

Are you looking for a way to add a soft glow to your photos? Try this easy Adobe Photoshop tutorial to learn how to create a digital
Orton effect.

Visit the video index of all the digital photography technique videos.

How We Can Help You

Check out our extensive photography ideas section for interviews and articles on creativity, as well as loads of creative photography projects by subject and technique.

photo tips intro
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

New to photography? Looking for photography techniques that will take your pictures from snapshots to images worthy of hanging on your wall? In this site, I’ve tried to include all the information I wish I had known when I was just starting out, and the things I had to learn "the hard way!" If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all that there is to learn — stop! Take a deep breath, and relax. Just take it one step at a time. Practice each new thing you learn as often as you can, and soon it will become second nature. Then, when you’re ready for your next photo tips, drop by this site for another visit.

You may want to start by checking out Beginning Photography Tips. Here, you’ll find basic photography information that will give you a thorough understanding of exposure, aperture, shutter speed, composition and more; it has everything you need to learn how to take better pictures.

Experienced photographer? If you’re a professional photographer or serious hobbyist, you’ve already discovered that photography is a journey of life-long learning. Within these pages, I hope you’ll find some useful nuggets to add to your knowledge. If you’re looking to build skills in a particular area, you may be interested in topic-specific sections such as Portrait Photography Tips or Wedding Photography Tips.

Something for everyone. Check out the extensive Tips for Taking Digital Photography, including information about photo editing, sharpening, pixels, histograms, sensor dust, and much, much more!

photo tips intro
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

Photography is my passion. If you’re visiting this site, then there’s a good chance that it’s one of yours too! Welcome, kindred spirit! 🙂 I hope you enjoy the photo tips on this site, and that they are helpful to you in improving your photography. Happy shooting!

Photography = Technical Skill + Creativity

(Ultimate Photo Tips is here to help with both)

Excellent photographs are a combination of technical skill and creativity, in equal measure. You must have the technical skills to create a well-exposed and well-composed image. However, it’s just as important that your photographs are creative, and contain that extra "wow factor" to make them stand out from the crowd.

With practice, everyone can learn the technical skill. It is in the creativity that you distinguish yourself as a photographer. Your unique voice is a combination of your past experiences, your personality, your imagination and your emotional state at the time you make an image.

The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it."
–Ansel Adams

As such, you will find two kinds of information on this site: the photography techniques you need to make competent, technically sound images; and hints and photo tips that will boost your creativity, get you thinking out of the box, and help you to choose subject matter that you are passionate about.

Learn to use your technical skills to reinforce the emotion and the vision you are trying to convey in your photography. Choose the tools and techniques that support what you want to say about the subject in the most effective way.

What’s Inside?

***TOC***

Photo Tips To Inspire You and Help You Learn

June 15, 2017 admin1

Photo Tips to Inspire You and Help You Learn

Two Minute Photo Tips Video

Adobe Photoshop: Orton Effect

Are you looking for a way to add a soft glow to your photos? Try this easy Adobe Photoshop tutorial to learn how to create a digital
Orton effect.

Visit the video index of all the digital photography technique videos.

How We Can Help You

Check out our extensive photography ideas section for interviews and articles on creativity, as well as loads of creative photography projects by subject and technique.

photo tips intro
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

Something for everyone. Check out the extensive Tips for Taking Digital Photography, including information about photo editing, sharpening, pixels, histograms, sensor dust, and much, much more!

photo tips intro
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

Photography = Technical Skill + Creativity

(Ultimate Photo Tips is here to help with both)

The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it."
–Ansel Adams

What’s Inside?

***TOC***

Orton Effect:Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

June 15, 2017June 21, 2017 admin1

Orton Effect:
Adobe Photoshop Tutorial

Here’s an easy Adobe Photoshop Tutorial to help you add a soft glow to your images using a digital Orton effect, with step-by-step instructions.

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Video Transcript

Are you interested in learning a new Photoshop technique that will give a nice glow to your image? Nothing over the top, I promise!

Hi, I’m Julie, from Ultimate Photo Tips, and having recently returned form New Brunswick Canada, and seen Canadian photographer Freeman Patterson, I am inspired to share with you a technique that I learned from him many years ago. It’s called the "Orton effect." Now, in the old days (and I can’t believe I’m saying the "old days!"), the Orton was done with slide film. You would take two slides of the exact same subject: one that’s completely in focus, and one that’s a little bit out of focus, and you’d sandwich them together. The out of focus slide will give a bit of a glow to all the elements in your photo.

Today, that’s really easy to do digitally using Photoshop. That’s what I’m going to share with you today. Without further ado, let’s dive right in.

Alright, here I am in Photoshop with my image ready to go. This technique that I’m going to show you will work in Photoshop CSx or in Photoshop Elements. So, I’ve got my image with any of the basic adjustments that I want in contrast, etc., and it’s ready to apply my Orton effect.

orchard path
Before – this is our starting point.
© Julie Waterhouse

Step 1. Duplicate the background layer. The first thing I’m going to do is duplicate the background layer. So that’s Command+J or Control+J, depending if you’re on a Mac or a PC. So, I’ve duplicated my layer. Now, I like to name my layers, so that if I go back into the file later I know what I was doing. So, I’m going to rename this layer "Orton," because that’s the technique we’re applying.

Step 2. Blur the top layer. An Orton effect really involves creating a blurred layer, and then blending it in with the layer underneath. So the first thing I’m going to do is go under the Filters [menu] -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur. I’m going to blur this layer. Now, you can see from the preview that’s showing that I’ve only got a very small radius. It’s not much of a blur right now. For this technique, I actually want to create quite a lot of blur. I’m going to increase the radius quite a lot, somewhere into the 20’s. The number you pick is completely personal taste. It’s going to affect how much of a glow effect you get in the final image. You really need to experiment and decide what you like. I like something like this (~24) so I’m going to choose this and say "OK."

Step 3. Switch to Soft Light blend mode. Obviously we don’t want our final image to look all blurry, so the next step we have to take is to blend this layer with the one below. So, instead of a normal blending mode, which means that this layer is opaque and that’s all you see, I’m going to choose a soft light blending mode.

What soft light does is that anything in the current layer that is 50% brightness or greater blends with the layer below to make it brighter; so bright things get brighter. Then, for 50% brightness or less, the darker things make the layer below get darker. But just in a soft and gentle way.

Step 4. Use the Blend-if slider. Alright, so I’ve almost finished. But there is still a bit of a problem with this, and that is that the dark parts of the image (here, here, across the top), have gone very dark, and completely blocked up the shadows. I don’t want that. To correct that, I’m going to go to my Orton effect layer and double-click it to open up the Layers Style dialog. What I’m going to play with is this "blend if" slider down here.

if I move this triangle on the black end up a little bit, watch in the image what happens to the dark areas when I move it back and forth a little bit. These are brightness values from dark to light. What’s happening is that everything to the left of this triangle — the very darkest areas — becomes transparent. So the top layer is no longer blended with the bottom layer in the darkest areas. That’s going to help us recover some of that shadow detail. I’m going to start it just at the point where it starts to have an effect.

Step 5. Split the triangle. Now the problem that we have is that we have some pixels in the top layer that are transparent, and some that aren’t, and a very hard transition between them, so there’s a noticeable edge. We don’t want that either. The next thing we’re going to do is we’re going to hold down the Alt key while we click on the little triangle, which splits it apart. Then we can drag the top part up a little bit.

Adobe Photoshop blend if slider
Using the blend-if slider

What that’s doing is that all the value to the left of the triangle are transparent. All the values in between where I’ve split it transition from transparent to opaque. And then everything to the right of this triangle is opaque. So the brightest things do blend through with the bottom layer. So, I’m going to say "OK" to that and you can now see our final image with the Orton effect applied.

Adobe Photoshop orton effect
After applying the Orton Effect
© Julie Waterhouse

Now, just to show you what that slider was doing, I’m going to turn off the background layer. You can see that in the darkest areas, this top layer is completely transparent, so only the bottom layer is showing through, and we’re not blending in anything from the top. And then there are some areas that are partially opaque. That’s where we’re blending through a little bit of the top layer. And then in some areas we’re blending the entire top layer (i.e., at 100%). Those areas are the brighter areas.

When I put my background back on, now you can see the final image. Now, just to show you the before and after, I’m going to turn on and off our Orton effect layer. So this is our "after," and this is our "before." You can see that when we put our Orton layer on, it really just makes the colors seem richer, and we get a quite warm-looking glow to the image. So that’s the Orton effect. It’s time for you to go and try it out on some of your images.

So I hope you enjoyed that, and you’re ready to try it out on some of your own images. For more fun photo tips, please stop by ultimate-photo-tips.com, and make sure to sign up for my newsletter while you’re there. That’s where I share ideas and inspiration that I don’t share anywhere else.

Happy shooting, and I’ll see you next time!

Photo Challenges: August 2013

June 15, 2017 admin1

Photo Challenges: August 2013

Photo Challenges:
August 2013

"A Rainy Day"

As I write this, it’s pouring with a very heavy rain outside. We’ve had quite a lot of rain here in Toronto so far this summer! Too often, we think that when it’s raining, we have to put our cameras away. Not so! The rain can present many photographic opportunities. Overcast skies reduce contrast during the middle of the day. Rain creates puddles that reflect. Raindrops produce an interesting texture when photographing through a window. The only limit is your imagination! Let’s see what you can do.

Just remember to keep your camera dry :-). (You may want to check out my video on a DIY project to use a shower cap for camera protection).

Read the rules. One entry only each month per person, please!

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.

Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

It’s Raining, it’s Pouring…

rainy day photography
© Julie Waterhouse
Through the car windshield

rainy day photography
© Julie Waterhouse
Another one through the car windshield (it’s fun!)

rainy day photography
© Julie Waterhouse
Through the windshield at night…

rainy day photography
© Julie Waterhouse
The rain makes the roads very reflective.

rainy day photography
© Julie Waterhouse
More reflections from a wet parking lot at dusk.

rainy day photography
© Julie Waterhouse
Splash from the leaking eavestrough onto my porch railing.

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Photo Challenges

June 15, 2017 admin1

Photo Challenges

Are you up for some fun? Ready to stretch your boundaries, and exercise your creativity? I invite you to participate in the Ultimate Photo Tips Monthly Photo Challenges. Grab your camera, and get shooting!

Each month’s winning image is featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage so you can bask in fame and glory!

The winning image will be chosen from among those that get the top ratings from YOU, our readers. So please vote and comment on your favorite images now!

This month’s challenge Enter here, or vote for your favorite image!
Past challenges
Past winners

Enjoying photography

Rules

Please submit only one image per person in any given month.

You must be the creator of any image you upload.

The photographer retains copyright to any image(s) submitted through the photo challenge. The image(s) will be displayed only on this website, and Ultimate Photo Tips will not receive any commercial gain from them.

Manipulated images are welcome, but the original source material must be a photograph, or photographs, and made by you.

The images you upload must be no larger than 800×600 pixels.

We encourage submission of new work to the photo challenges, rather than delving into your archives for something to submit. After all, this is about stretching your creative muscles, and that takes practice!

Visitors to the site will vote for their favorite image using a star rating system. The winning images will be chosen from among the top-rated images by photographer Julie Waterhouse. Julie is the voice behind Ultimate Photo Tips, and an accredited judge with her local camera club association, the Greater Toronto Council of Camera Clubs.

Prizes? It’s all for the glory! The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.

The challenge closes at the end of the month, and images must be submitted no later than midnight Eastern Standard Time on the last day of the month.

Creativity

Creativity defined…

the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination.

–dictionary.com

These challenges are intended to encourage creativity. Topics will be chosen to push you a little bit out of your comfort zone.

Take the opportunity to push yourself. You might be surprised what you come up with! I’ve learned that if you keep on shooting past the point where you think you’ve taken "every possible" photograph of a subject, you will then start to discover your true creativity. Read more about my experience with creativity.

Next, you may want to check out this month’s photo challenge.

Return to Ultimate Photo Tips Home

Past Photo Challenges: The Winners!

June 15, 2017 admin1

Past Photo Challenges: The Winners

Past Photo Challenges:
The Winners!

Check out our past winners here. Enjoy the cream of the crop of the creative images that our readers have submitted. Each month is a new photo contest.

This month’s challenge. Enter here, or vote for your favorite image!

Past challenges. Find all of the submitted images here, by month.

July 2013 Winning Image

Topic: "Stairs"

July 2013 photo contest winner
© Lorna
Saskatchewan, Canada/Jalisco, Mexico
“Black Beauty”

June 2013 Winning Image

Topic: "Doors and Windows"

June 2013 photo contest winner
© Ron
White Rock, BC, Canada
“Canal Dog”

May 2013 Winning Image

Topic: "Seeing Red"

May 2013 photo contest winner
© Sam Cox
Loveland, CO, USA
“Owen”

April 2013 Winning Image

Topic: "Urban Decay"

April 2013 photo contest winner
© David Feick
Woodstock, Ontario, Canada
“Elevator Out of Order”

March 2013 Winning Image

Topic: "Reflections"

March 2013 photo contest winner
© John
Bay Village, OH, USA
“Buddhist Reflections”

February 2013 Winning Image

Topic: "Parts of a Whole"

February 2013 photo contest winner
© Coralie Smith
Motueka, New Zealand
“Work Boots”

January 2013 Winning Image

Topic: "The Decisive Moment"

January 2013 photo contest winner
© Gary Wiesner
Hillsborough, NJ USA
“Hideki Matsui Game Tying Home Run”

December 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Two’s Company"

December 2012 photo contest winner
© Paddy
South Africa
“Dead Trees Dancing”

November 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "One is the Loneliest Number"

November 2012 photo contest winner
© John Stavinoha
Cairo, Egypt
“Halong Boatman”

October 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Serenity"

October 2012 photo contest winner
© Sandi Pitcarin
Port Rowan, ON, Canada
“Peace and Tranquility”

September 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Abstract"

September 2012 photo contest winner
© Eleni Markoulis
Toronto, ON, Canada
“Painted Mountains”

August 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Rust"

August 2012 photo contest winner
© Ron Chalecki
Hamilton, ON, Canada
“Alternate Realms”

July 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Signs"

July 2012 photo contest winner
© Wayne
Woodstock, GA, USA
“Grease Trap”

June 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Roads"

June 2012 photo contest winner
© Luba Citrin
Thornhill, ON, Canada
“Toronto Highway”

May 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Bridges"

May 2012 photo contest winner
© Pierre Falzon
Pickering, ON, Canada
“At the Bridge”

April 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Vanishing Point"

April 2012 photo contest winner
© Wendy Reeve
Motueka, NZ
“A Journey into the Unknown”

March 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Shadows"

March 2012 photo contest winner
© Bruce Kennedy
Mississauga, Canada
“iPhone Mania”

February 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Curves"

February 2012 photo contest winner
© Pete Torok
Nunavut, Canada
“Night Moves”

January 2012 Winning Image

Topic: "Clouds"

January 2012 photo contest winner
© David Colton
San Diego, CA, USA
“Before the storm, from Fiesta Island past Sea World, San Diego”

December 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "Sunsets"

December 2011 photo contest winner
© Lance Gitter
Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
“Great Sand Dunes National Park Sunset”

November 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "Urban Architecture"

November 2011 photo contest winner
© Wendy Reeve
Motueka, New Zealand
“At the Station”

October 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "Monochrome"

October 2011 photo contest winner
© Luis Vera
Laflin, PA, USA
“Wings Over Philadelphia”

September 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "It’s Hip to Be Square"

September 2011 photo contest winner
© Bruce Kennedy
Mississauga, ON, Canada
“Restrained”

August 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "Elevating the Ordinary"

August 2011 photo contest winner
© Sam Cox
Loveland, CO, USA
“Sprinkler Head”

July 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "Flowers"

July 2011 photo contest winner
© Katherine Keates
Toronto, ON, Canada
“Illusive”

June 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "It’s All About the Light"

June 2011 photo contest winner
© Lisa Ball
Motueka, Nelson, NZ
“Light Ball”

May 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "Creative Nature"

May 2011 photo contest winner
© Daniela Negreda
Lausanne, Switzerland
“Lens Painting”

April 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "Travel"

April 2011 photo contest winner
© Akhtar
UK
“The Sage Gateshead”

March 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "Patterns and Repetition"

March 2011 photo contest winner
© Maija V
Toronto, ON, Canada
“Blue & Orange Bars”

February 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "Winter"

February 2011 photo contest winner
© Ron Whitaker
Nova Scotia, Canada
“Snow Patterns”

January 2011 Winning Image

Topic: "Water"

January 2011 photo contest winner
© Luis A. Vera
Laflin, PA, USA
“Fall Water”

December 2010 Winning Image

Topic: "Pets"

December 2010 photo contest winner
© Julie Anne Moore
NB, Canada
“Bath Time”

November 2010 Winning Image

Topic: "Bugs"

November 2010 photo contest winner
© Roberta
Tacoma, WA, USA
“Praying Mantis Shadow”

October 2010 Winning Image

Topic: "People"

October 2010 photo contest winner
© Anne Cao
Yunnan Province, China
“My Little Cousin”

September 2010 Winning Image

Topic: "A Different Perspective"

September 2010 photo contest winner
© Stephen Macdonald
Toronto, ON, Canada
“Come Sail Away”

August 2010 Winning Image

Topic: "Summertime"

August 2010 photo contest winner
© Rosanna
Australia
“Summer is fun in the sun. Taken at Malolo LaiLai, Fiji”

July 2010 Winning Image

Topic: "After Dark"

July 2010 photo contest winner
© Barry Shepherd,
Georgetown, Ontario, Canada
“St. Johns Harbour at Night”

June 2010 Winning Image

Topic: "The Letter D"

June 2010 photo contest winner
© Koos Fourie,
South Africa
“Desert Dunes”

May 2010 Winning Image

Topic: "Color"

May 2010 photo contest winner
© Peter Ainley,
Unionville, Ontario, Canada
“Planet BLUE”

April 2010 Winning Image

Topic: "Feet"

April 2010 winner
© Millie Russell,
Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada
“Light on my Feet”

Next, you may want to check out this month’s photo challenge.

Return to Ultimate Photo Tips Home from Photo Challenges Past Winners

Past Photo Challenges: The Winners!

June 15, 2017 admin1

Past Photo Challenges: The Winners

Past Photo Challenges:
The Winners!

Check out our past winners here. Enjoy the cream of the crop of the creative images that our readers have submitted. Each month is a new photo contest.

This month’s challenge. Enter here, or vote for your favorite image!

Past challenges. Find all of the submitted images here, by month.

August 2013 Winning Image

Topic: "A Rainy Day"

August 2013 photo contest winner
© Pierre Falzon
Pickering, Ontario, Canada
“Waiting for the Rain to Stop”