wesdotphotography.com - Blog

DUAL TONE EFFECT IN ADOBE PHOTOSHOP

7/27/2026

Right click in background layer and select Duplicate Layer.

Click on the Foreground Color Swatch to open Color Picker and select red. Do the same on the Background Color Swatch and select Blue.

Using Gradient Tool Select Foreground to Background from the Basic Panel.

Click in image and drag diagonally up and to the right.

While still in the Gradient Tool change the Blend Mode to Overlay. Note the Foreground is red and the Background is blue.

To change where the colors are click and drag either the red or blue handles. Here I have dragged the red handle to the lower left and the blue handle to the upper right.

There is one more place to click on which is the small square between the red and blue handles. For this image I drug it towards the blue handle. And then continued moving the blue and red handles to different areas of the picture until I was happy with the results.

Add any additional steps you would like. I added a Painterly layer from Greater than Gatsby along with some clarity from Photoshop. Then Flatten the Layers and do a Save As.

HOW TO CREATE A FROSTED GLASS IMAGE WITH A CUTOUT

7/27/2026

Right click on layer and select Duplicate Layer

On the new layer click on Filters----Filter>Gaussian Blur. Click OK

On the same layer click on Filters----Filter>Distort>Glass Click OK

Still on the same layer----select New Group.

Click on layer styles from the new Group layer Click OK

Using the Rectangle Tool create the area you want to reveal. The size of the rectangle can be adjusted and moved to whatever area you wish.
Flatten and do Save As.

IMAGE DUPLICATED TO CREATE BORDER

3/24/2026

ORIGINAL IMAGE

Instructions for a PC. Instructions may vary slightly between Mac and Windows.

After opening your image in Photoshop duplicate the background layer. Right click on background layer>select the Duplicate Layer from drop down box.

From the Edit tab select Free Transform

Select and hold the alt-shift on any one of the handles circled in white.

While still holding the alt-shift keys drag the handle to center to make an equal sized border of your liking. Press enter or select the check mark above the image to apply.

Select the Background Layer to make it active. Select the Adjustment Layer icon found in the bottom of the Layers palette.

Select Hue & Saturation from the drop-down box.

With the Hues/Saturation layer active lower the Saturation & Increase Lightness.

Select the top layer to make it active. Then at the bottom of the layer palette select the 2nd style icon.

From the drop-down box select Blending Options.

Select the Stroke in the drop-down box. All the prior layer styles you have used will automatically show in the settings. I have left the size a little larger so it's easily seen but you can change it to your liking along with the opacity which I left at 100%.

Select Color. This will open up the Color Picker. There will be an eyedropper. (not showing in this screenshot but it will be there) This will allow you to select any color on the image for the stroke by clicking on that spot. When you are happy with the color select OK on the Color Picker.

You can select any, all or none of these Layer Styles. When you select any and make it active there are many adjustments you can make to each of them. All the adjustments you make will show on the screen so you can unselect or keep to your liking.
I've added a Bevel & Emboss for a point of reference.

When finished select OK.
Remember to Flatten Layers and do a Save As.
Please comment with any questions. Or to just say you are gaining something from my post and I will continue creating more.

REMOVING THOSE TEDIOUS AREAS QUICK AND EASY

3/14/2026

Always start with duplicating the layer.

Open Object Selection Tool and switch from Rectangle to Lasso. Using the lasso tool trace around the object you want to remove. It can be used on a variety of things like fences, cyclone fencing, pretty much anything such as this harness.
Draw around the entire subject with the lasso tool you want to remove selecting all of it and staying close to the edges as possible. It will look like you've selected too much but once you let go of the mouse or pen it snaps onto the 'object' like in the screenshot below.

Select>Modify>Expand and change to approximately 20 pixels and click ok

Click on Edit>Fill>Content Aware>OK

And you are ready to do any additional cleanup or editing.

I hope you have found this helpful. If so or have questions please comment here or on Facebook. Thanks for looking and as always love your support!

September 14th, 2025

9/14/2025

My Workflow--Steps from RAW image to finished image.

Here is the original RAW file before any edits were made and before running through my current favorite denoise program. Link is below if you want to check it out.

www.dxo.com/dxo-pureraw/

And here is the finished image. I won't post every step like cropping or any of the other editing tools everyone is probably already familiar with. I start all of my steps in Adobe Lightroom Classic.

Here are my first basic adjustments.

Next I adjust the colors. I usually find there is too much blue so I reduce that and increase the orange to enhance the tiger. Every image will of course be different and it will be a matter of what you find works best for your image.

I then sharpen the image. I usually start with the Masking at 100%. That way I am only sharpening the edges of the pixels and not the whole image which would include any noise. If the image needs more sharpening I drop the masking like I did for this image. And one of my last steps also involves sharpening so be very conservative with this step.

I select the masking option which is found here marked in red.

Using the brush tool I select the tiger's eyes. The 'Show Overlay' is helpful to make sure your selection is in the correct area.

The only thing I'm changing here are the Effects and Detail.

I then open the Lightroom image in Adobe Photoshop and address any small details like those I circled in red above. I usually start with just a healing brush and then clean up any edges by erasing the edges on the layer mask.
If I'm not happy with that I use the clone tool.
If all else fails I select the area and use the Generative Fill found in the Edit tab. If you are not familiar with that tool look for my previous blog post about it.

Here is probably my favorite plugin! I have many Greater Than Gatsby actions and use them for many steps. I use most of them but my favorites are Innocence Retouch, Carving Tree and Painterly Portrait.
If you want to see more of this plugin the link is below.

https://www.greaterthangatsby.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopaf10pb2_GFnZDiQ1fp1Ezgrens2XD3ESH_UWa0b4NE7gka8rh

There are quite a few different things you can do in Innocence Retouch. On this image I used the Iris: Darken Rim to enhance the black.

Still in Innocence Retouch I use the Iris: Soft Sharpen on the eyes.

Using Photoshop Adjustments I open Vibrance to add even more color to the eyes. Again this is a preference but on this image I really wanted to make the eyes POP!

In the Vibrance adjustment layer and with the mask selected drop the Saturation all the way to the left making the image black and white.

With your mask still selected invert the mask so it is no longer white but now is black. And your image will be full color again.

With your brush foreground color white paint over only the eyes. This will now make only that area black and white.

Switch the mask being active to the Vibrance symbol. Then drag the Vibrance and/or Saturation sliders right to increase.

In the Carving Tree Collection I use the Iris Sparkle action to add a big bang effect to the eyes. Usually a very slight amount of this is the way to go. But if you want over the top go extreme. The amount of bang is controlled by changing the opacity.

Here is the after effect of brushing the Iris Sparkle on the tiger's eyes and the percentage of opacity I used.

And this is probably my favorite plugin of the Greater Than Gatsby collections.

I used Hide The Highlights to cut down on the highlights. It will flatten the layers.

Using a white brush I removed the effects from the eyes as I wanted them bright and removed the edges around the right and bottom portion of the image.

Still in the Painterly Portrait collection I use Kandiinsky. This will flatten the layers and give it a softer and more glowing look. I didn't want this to apply to the eyes or the nose so I painted over them with the black brush. I also lowered the opacity as at 100% it is too smooth for this image.

Next I added a Photoshop Levels adjustment to brighten most of the image.

I still like the old school type of sharpening so after flattening the layers I create a duplicate layer. Then open up the Photoshop High Pass filter found where else but in the Filter Tab. It is located by hovering your mouse over 'Other' then clicking on High pass. Keep the Radius at a level where you are just beginning to see the lines in the gray area. For this image I used 2.2 Pixels. Then click OK.

You can either use the Blend Mode of Overlay (stronger effect) or Soft Light (softer effect). I used Soft Light on this image. Plus either Blend Mode you use can be adjusted by moving the Opacity slider to the left.
This is the last step before I flatten the image and then using 'Save As' I create a new file name.

THE MAGIC OF GENERATIVE FILL

2/17/2024

Generative fill is a new feature available on Adobe Photoshop. In a nutshell you can select a portion of your image and by using text/prompts you can fill that area with anything you can imagine. The magic of Artificial Intelligence is here to stay whether you love it or hate it. It's far from perfect but you can completely change a background or a small segment.
But here is another way to use the Generative Fill. I didn't notice a log very close to me was blurred and covered the back of the wolf until the wolf was done standing there and jumped off. Generative Fill very effectively and quickly saved this image.

Select the area that you want to replace as in the image above. Then in Edit select Generative Fill. Do not click on Generate yet.

Instead of typing anything in the prompt box LEAVE IT BLANK. What Photoshop will do next is gather the information from all the surrounding pixels and give you 3 different options to fill the selection with.

Click on Generate and you will receive a new layer with those options to pick from.

Then Click on each of the three variations to see which one you like. If you like none of them simply click on Generate box above the variations and Photoshop will give you 3 new variations.
If you really want to go further and remove the entire background continue reading the steps below. After I flatten the layer I am going to now select all of the background and enter snow covered trees in the prompt. Then click on Generate.

As the image below is just an example of what can be done I made a very sloppy selection. Spending some more time on the selection and then using the mask in the layer can improve on the process immensely. But I wanted to show you what can be done beyond removing unwanted objects in an image using the existing pixels in the original image.

ADAMSKI EFFECT – PART II

6/22/2023

This is a slightly more difficult version of applying the Adamski Effect to an image as it includes a person. Most of the steps are similar to in Part I but there are some variations and additional steps.

First step is to create a duplicated layer from the background layer. To do this right click on the background layer and select Duplicate Layer or with the PC keyboard shortcut do a Control J. As I am only doing a vertical blur with image there is only one duplicated layer which will be renamed 'vertical'.

With the Vertical layer selected go to the Filter Tab, from the drop down box select Blur then Motion Blur. Type -90 in the Angle field to make the blur vertical. I will use 840 in the Distance slider for this image. This is purely your choice. The higher the number the more blur. Then click OK.

Click on the icon next to the Vertical layer to make it not visible. Then select the Background layer and click on Select then Subject. This will select the person in this image and does a pretty good job. It would be useful to zoom in and do any touch up needed. Then click on Select and Save Selection, naming it Subject and click on OK.

Click on the Vertical layer which will make it visible again and you will see the subject is still selected. Add a Layer Mask by clicking the icon in the bottom of the Layers Palette.

The mask is black which is hiding the subject.

To change the blur from the Subject to the Background click on the black Layer Mask and do the PC keyboard shortcut Control I to invert the mask. Zoom in close to again do any touch up.

Lower the opacity on the Vertical Layer so you can see the background. Then using the Polygonal Tool select the area that you want to reveal.

Using a large soft black brush set the Opacity to 10-15%. Start brushing on the Mask at the bottom and brush towards the top until you have the look you want. The effect will be contained within the selected area framed by the 'marching ants'. The bottom should be black and fading to gray towards the top of the selection.

Deselect the Polygonal selection and lower the opacity of the layer. Using a smaller soft black brush brush along the edges of the blurred area and the leaves. Toggle between the black brush to reveal and the white brush to bring the blur back if you've removed too much. Also toggle between a lower opacity and 100% opacity to see the progress. This is probably the most time consuming part of the edit.

From here I flattened the layers and then duplicated the background layer to remove the leaves from the umbrella. I found them way too distracting. Here is the finished project.

ADAMSKI EFFECT – PART I

6/22/2023

First step is to create a duplicated layer from the background layer. To do this right click on the background layer and select Duplicate Layer or with the PC keyboard shortcut do a Control J. As I am only doing a vertical blur there is only one duplicated layer which will be renamed 'vertical'.

With the Vertical layer selected go to the Filter Tab, from the drop down box select Blur then Motion Blur. Type -90 in the Angle field to make the blur vertical. I will use 500 in the Distance slider for this image. This is purely your choice. The higher the number the more blur. Then click OK.

Add a Layer Mask by clicking the icon in the bottom of the Layers Palette. The mask should be white and the foreground color palette should be black.

Select the Gradient Tool in the tools bar or with the PC keyboard press the letter 'G'. Make sure the 1st Icon next to the Gradient bar is selected. It is called the Linear Gradient.

Making sure the Mask is selected on the Vertical layer hold the Shift key and click near the middle bottom of the image and drag up a slowly to maybe an inch or so. You will see the lower portion of the image being revealed.

Using a large soft black brush set the Opacity to 10-15%. Start brushing on the Mask at the bottom and brush towards the top until you have the look you want. The bottom should be black and fading to gray towards the top of the selection. Continue brushing along the edges of the blurred area and the trees. Toggle between the black brush to reveal and the white brush to bring the blur back if you've removed too much. Also toggle between a lower opacity and 100% opacity to see the progress. This is probably the most time consuming part of the edit.

Flatten the layers and do a Save As naming the file. Here is the finished project.

CANON BATTERY LIFE

5/31/2023

Key information regarding how to understand the Battery Information found on the Wrench tab in your Menu screen on your Canon camera. And how to understand what it is showing you.

Not every Canon body will have the same data but will be similar.

• Remaining capacity
This is the remaining capacity of the battery that is currently in your camera. This will show the percentage of charge remaining in the battery.
• Shutter count
This shows how many times the shutter was triggered for still images on this battery. Every time the battery is recharged the number is reset.
When the number on the shutter count starts dropping it is a sign the battery condition is starting to deteriorate.
• Recharge performance
This shows the battery’s condition.
Batteries will not last forever. It is estimated that a battery will last between 500 and 1000 recharge/discharge cycles.
There are many things that influences the life of your battery. One of the key factors that can affect battery life is recharging it before it is almost drained. Shooting a few images and then charging the battery will shorten its life far quicker than using the battery until it is almost drained and then recharging it.

Performance guide
Here's what the colored bars mean on the Recharge performance menu item.

Three Green Bars: The battery will give full performance each time it’s charged.

One Green Bar: The battery is still useful but nearing it end. A full recharge will not deliver the same performance as a new battery.

One Red Bar: The battery has reached it's end. Time for a replacement.

Adding Background Light in Lightroom and Saving as a Preset

4/19/2023

Here is the original image:

First Step is to add a Radial Gradient mask.

Then click and drag the Radial Gradient mask to your liking. The mask area will show as red.

Then change the lighting to either darken or lighten. In this case it is lighten.

To make the light show only behind the girl click on Mask 1, then click on subtract which will bring a drop down box. Click on 'Select Subject' not 'Select People'. If there was a prop like a chair or if she is holding something it will not be selected in the mask unless you 'Select Subject'.

Now the subject is no longer lit by the Radial Gradient but the area behind her is.

At this stage save as a Preset so it can be used on other images. Rename it something like 1.Light behind Subject, select 'User Presets' as Group and only check Masking. I add the '1' to the Preset name so it will be at the top of my list. It can always be renamed after it is saved if you want to.

The size, shape, and placement of the mask can be changed by clicking on the mask in the image and making your adjustments to taste. You can also make many other changes to the mask like seen below:

And since the first steps before adjustments have been saved as a Preset it can now be added to other images and all the same adjustments as shown above can be made.

Here is a different image before the Preset was added:

And the same image after adding the Preset by one click and then making some adjustments to show the difference.

Thank you for taking the time to check out my tutorial. And if you enjoyed it please comment and follow my Facebook page where I will be posting a link to my Blog.
I will try to do more tutorials as I find things that I also want to remember and use.
Thank you for your support.

Our Flickr Photos

Author

Name:
Wes & Dotty Weber

Occupation:
Photographers at Heart

Favorite Camera:
Canon R5

Favorite Subjects:
Absolutely everything.

Favorite Vacation Spot:
Everywhere we’ve been has it’s own special beauty and some places like Yellowstone National Park and the Desert Southwest can be unlike anywhere else. But to name a favorite is hard as we’ve not seen everything, yet.

Personal Motto:
"Everywhere you look is a great image if you look closely”

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