MONTHLY CHALLENGES
This month’s and all past Challenge images can be seen at Amersham Beyond Group on Flickr.
For APS Members only, the images are also available for viewing and commenting on Facebook here.
The current Challenges are;
#41 PHOTO HAIKU
#42 FILM NOIR
… and the latest Challenge,
#43 OIL & WATER
Many of the images submitted for Film Noir were again more Noir than Film Noir but nevertheless this was useful exercise in low key, mostly mono, images that we have not undertaken before. One last chance next month for some images with emotionally dark as well as tonally dark content.
The Oil & Water Challenge had some enthusiastic participants trying a variety of lighting setups, oils, and underlying images. There are many tutorials online and useful tips included the use of a single drop of detergent to create a strong meniscus around the edges of the oil bubbles and hence a more three dimensional effect. Using more detergent, as though washing dishes, created smaller more separated oil bubbles. A thicker oil such as Olive Oil, added slowly to the water, gave less air bubbles and a dropper or syringe could add and position small bubbles. A very clean result could be achieved in Photoshop by intensive use of spot healing, content aware fill and the new AI generative fill tool plus some strong sharpening.
Martin went ‘Beyond’ with his images of oil in puddles – some of which were naturally occurring!
There remains strong interest in the Beyond Group but numbers at meetings and active participants have declined recently with only 11 submitting images this time. Hopefully this is a temporary phenomenon. Recent Challenges may have been more demanding of people’s time so this next Challenge could be treated as an Armchair Challenge utilising existing component images.
The next Challenge will be;
#44 BLENDING MODES
Blend two or more images for creative effect. Blend different images or versions of the same image (maybe one version is rotated, or enlarged or distorted). Use layer blending in an image editor (Photoshop, Affinity Photo etc) or a phone app (Snapseed (iOS /Android), iColorama (iOS/Android), Union (iOS only) etc) or in-camera where blending is offered (lighten, darken, average etc).
Note that blending is not the same as double-exposure. With blending the two images are compared pixel by pixel and changed. With double exposure the images are combined unchanged.
If it helps to understand the process, send copies of the original images.
There are numerous tutorials and examples available online about Blending Modes and how to use them in image editors. Most concentrate on the modes most useful for image refinement generally in the top half of the list of modes. However we might find that the ones in the lower half are more interesting for creative effects. The tutorials may dismiss these as not very useful eg Difference Mode!
Two short introductory tutorials are;
Phlearn: How to use Blending Modes in Photoshop Day 15
Jimmy McIntyre: 5 Blend Modes in Photoshop …
For Photoshop beginners a common question is how do I actually get two images into one photoshop file? Answer: Select All (Ctrl+A) in one image, then Copy (Ctrl+C). Go to the other image and Paste (Ctrl+V).
It’s good to start with relatively simple graphic images eg a winter tree and a texture. The blend mode is always applied to the upper layer. The effect can be reduced by reducing the opacity of one layer or increased by adding another layer and another blend mode.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be on Thursday 4th April in the Drake Hall, Amersham Community Centre. Our usual venue.
BACK OF BEYOND DIARIES
Camera Tethering. If you are using your camera indoors for close work such as the Oil & Water challenge, tethering it can be very handy. This involves controlling the camera with software on a laptop where you can make most, if not all, camera adjustments without having to touch it, and see the results immediately on a bigger screen.
The camera can be connected to the laptop by cable or Wi-Fi but the former is usually preferable as it is faster and offers more control.
For my Olympus OM-D1 MkII, Olympus Capture is the free OEM tethering software and Olympus Workspace provides image viewing and management. Like all Olympus hardware and software the menus are complex but it’s been worthwhile getting to know them, view tutorials and make notes. Third party software is also available for tethering such as Lightroom, Capture One and Breeze. Check that your particular camera is supported.
Cheers, Steve