Sometimes I like to have a bit of drama in my edits.  I would say that I add drama by bringing out details and adding contrast simultaneously. For this Blueprint, I wanted to create a really moody effect.

• Cropped 1st – yes – often you will hear that you should crop last.  But rules are meant to be broken and since I did not like the composition, and since I knew what aspect ratio I desired, I cropped first.  I wanted to take her out of the center and add space where her eyes looked.
• Then I started using actions. I turned to the “All in the Details” photoshop action set for this edit. I started by playing the “Urban” action.
• Next I ran “Burnt Out” from this same action set.  It adds a custom vignette.

Believe it or not, that is all I did.  Yes – the 1st image looks more natural.  I could easily have edited this 5-10 different ways for different messages.  Remember as you work in Photoshop that you create art and a message with every image. Make it say what you desire.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under Blueprints, Photoshop Actions, Photoshop Tips & Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.