Tilt-Shift Photography in Photoshop Tutorial

Hi friends! Sorry for the lack of post yesterday. I have still been feeling 'blah' lately and I really just needed a day to rest. I hate feeling less than 100%, especially when I don't even have the energy to blog. To make matters worse, I have family here too and I hate feeling run down while guests are here. Just as family leaves I'll probably start feeling better...what a pain.

For today I have a fun tutorial for all you Photoshop lovers out there. I was inspired by Instagram actually (do you Instagram?) and their tilt-shift feature. What is tilt-shift photography? It is a selective focus photography where pictures have a shallow depth-of-field...meaning there is a small part of the image in focus and the rest is out of focus or blurry. Tilt-shift can produce some very dreamy images and I like how Instagram has added that feature into their app. It is fun to play around with. There are tilt-shift lenses you can buy but I looked around online to find a way to fake it in Photoshop. I followed this guide on Tilt Shift Photography but I've included my own steps here.

I found a few favorite pictures that I took in Capri, Italy. They were perfect for experimenting and now I'm going to show you how to tilt-shift your own images in Photoshop. The above image is the 'before.'

First, open up your image in Photoshop. I have version CS2 so depending on your version, your screen might look different. These steps are pretty simple though so regardless of version, you should be able to follow along.  

Next you want to enter into Quick Mask mode. Just hit 'Q' on the keyboard. Or click on the icon I've pointed out in the image above which is the Quick Mask icon. 

Then select the Gradient icon (or press 'G' on the keyboard). At the top you have a few options for different gradients, choose Reflected Gradient. Then in Gradient mode you will want to draw a straight line on part of your image. I drew a vertical line in the center of the image which I represented with the black line above. The location of your line will be the in-focus area of your image. Once you draw the line, this red mask will appear which also represents the in-focus area.

Then you will want to exit out of Quick Mask mode. Just hit 'Q' again to exit. You will then have parts of your image that are selected. The areas with the little lines around them (selected areas) will be the out-of focus parts of your image. Above I depicted the in-focus area in white and the out-of focus area in blue.

Next go up to the top menus to Filter, then Blur, and then Lens Blur. You will enter into this dialogue box that you see above. The default settings are pretty good so I usually just adjust the 'Radius' button. Adjust buttons yourself and see what you like. When done, just click 'ok' at the top to apply the blur. Then just deselect your selected areas and your image is complete.

And you should get something like this! A really nice tilt-shift blur don't you think? You can go back and adjust the gradient to vary the placement of the in-focus area and tweak different settings until you get the right blur for you. But with just a few steps, you can transform your normal pictures into tilt-shift photographs quick and easily.

Instagram also has the option to do a radial (circle) tilt-shift and you can create that same effect in Photoshop too.  When you're in the Quick Mask Mode, make a circle with the Elliptical Marquee Tool and then apply the gradient just within that circle. Follow the steps the same as above and you will get something like this:

The before.

And the after.

This is a pretty quick and nifty Photoshop feature, one which I'll be experimenting with on all different kinds of images. Have you made tilt-shift pictures in Photoshop before? Do you like the look of tilt-shift? Let me know if you start experimenting. I'd love to see your results. 

Have a great Thursday everyone.

Whisker Graphics February DIY

Happy Tuesday everyone! Did you all see I'm on Facebook now?! Check out the little 'like' box on the right sidebar over there. ------> I'm kind of excited about it. Looking forward to connecting with everyone in a totally new way. 

Today I'm going to share my February DIY that I created for Whisker Graphics. If you don't know, I do a monthly project for them which highlights their wonderful products. We've been collaborating since July so this is my eighth project. See my past projects here. For February I decided to spice up some regular pencils using Bitty Bags. I must admit I was inspired by these lokta pencils which are carried by Anthropologie. I have a set of them myself and they are so fun. I wanted to recreate that look using the Bitty Bag material.

The Bitty Bags are lightweight, made from glassine-like material so I knew they wouldn't need much to stick them to the pencils. Modge Podge turned out to be the perfect adhesive. It is sticky enough and it dries clear so I didn't worry about applying it carefully. It got everywhere but it didn't matter. 

I used the new vertical-stripe bags but Whisker Graphics has a handful of cool patterns which would work just as well. I think I want to try some other materials next. Maybe tissue paper or wrapping paper so that I can get different patterns and textures. 

Visit the Whisker Graphics blog to see the full materials list and my write-up. I think I will put together a full tutorial with pictures soon so that everyone can get a better visual of what I did. Check back for that.

These would make for great party favors, don't you think? I would wrap them up with a little pad of paper for easy gifting. And I think they work for kids and adults too. I would love to receive them. I don't write with regular pencils too often (I usually opt for mechanical pencils) but these frilly ones will definitely encourage me to jot more notes. And the colors are so cheerful, it would be hard to ignore them.

I hope you enjoyed this DIY today. Happy crafting friends! 

Behind the Scenes: Mini Studio Setup

Happy Thursday friends! Yesterday I was shooting pictures for my February Whisker Graphics DIY (which I will share soon). It was cloudy and rainy all day and trying to find good natural light to shoot in was a challenge. I had to create a make-shift studio on the fly to capture my images. I decided to snap a few images of my setup and then share them here so that you could see how I deal with challenging light situations. As you will see, my setup is very primitive, nothing professional and I use whatever materials I can find on hand. 

I find that natural light is really the key. I always want to shoot in it. Pictures just look better (in my opinion). Like I said, it was very dark yesterday and all the ambient light was streaming in through this large window. I knew I wanted to shoot on this desk because it was near the light. In my experience light-colored surfaces photograph better too so that was another reason for picking the desk. Finally, I propped up two foamcore boards to bounce light from the window back onto the subject, my craft I was styling. Without the foamcore to reflect light, the subject would have a really bright side (the side closest to the window) and a heavily shadowed side. Sometimes you want a moody picture with that harsh contrast between light and dark but that was not my vision for this shot. The foamcore boards bounce the light and eliminate shadow.

The Key to Better Product Shots:

{1} natural light

{2} white foamcore to bounce light & eliminate shadow -

could also use a white sheet or large white posterboard, anything large & white

{3} light-colored surface - helps in bouncing the light

These are the three keys to my product photography and I implement each one in every shoot. I am still learning and with each picture I take I learn a bit more about lighting and styling and photography. I find these work the best for me. They are also cheap options. Foamcore is super inexpensive and you can use the same boards over and over again. Natural light is free! And light colored surfaces aren't too hard to find either. I have a few favorite go-tos in my home.

Do you setup mini studios for your product shots? What are some of your techniques for capturing light and making your subject look great? I would love to hear tricks of the trade that other photographers have picked up. 

Love Cards for Valentine's Day

Happy Monday friends! Did everyone have a nice weekend? Does anyone still need a last minute Valentine card for tomorrow? Look no further because today I am sharing some love cards that I carved and stamped myself. 

I have made a few little stamps in the past with my stamp carving kit but this was my first larger stamp with finer details. It was fun carving away and I hope to make a few more prints in the future. This is such a quick and easy solution for cards. Carve the stamp ahead of time and then just stamp away whenever you need a handmade greeting for someone. 

I particularly love the texture and imperfections of rubber stamps. No two prints can be exactly the same and to me that definitely adds to the appeal. Stamp pads come in all kinds of colors so possibilities are pretty endless. If you would like to carve this stamp for yourself, you'll need a stamp kit and this template. Remember to mirror the template for carving.

But if you don't have the time to carve your own stamp, I have also included free printables with these four colors. They are scans of my own prints. They are pre-sized for an A2 envelope. Print them out on cardstock and use them like a postcard to write your love message on the back.

{ yellow l purple l pink l blue }

I paired these stamps with beautiful Besotted Brand products. Tristan, the lovely designer behind Besotted, has curated such a great shop and I am so impressed by the quality of everything. I stamped on her Ultra Luxe Cardstock and I am in love with it. Your stamps will never look better. The paper is so thick and fine. I also used her True Kraft Envelopes and Kindly Deliver To Hand Stamp. Everything in her shop is simple design but she gives extra attention to those little details we all love. I definitely recommend browsing through Besotted if you're a lover of paper goods.

Does anyone have any special plans for Valentine's Day? Do these free cards help in your last minute scramble? Enjoy the freebie and have a happy love day tomorrow! 

'I Love Your More Than' Cards DIY

Happy Friday friends! The weekend is here (almost for me, maybe it's already started for some of you). Today I have a DIY to share plus a freebie for you to print so you can do the project yourself. This project was inspired by my Mom. When we were little she would occasionally slip us little notes in our lunches. Usually it was encouragement for a big test or just a sweet reminder that she loved us. I probably didn't appreciate it as a kid but as I've grown older I know that it's just nice to hear 'I love you. I'm thinking of you' from someone.

Do you feel like letting someone know you love them? Maybe for Valentine's Day, maybe just because. I designed these mini cards that you can slip into coin envelopes and hide around the house for your loved ones to find. Hide them in their desk drawer, their lunch bag, their medicine cabinet. When found, your loved ones will definitely feel special.  

I designed the cards to have funny sayings on them like, 'I love you more than...cupcakes, Bob Dylan, Paris, chai tea, Don Draper, and my Eames chair.'

I made two templates. This template has my sayings on it. But this second template is blank so you can fill in your own 'i love you more than's. I used the Lavanderia font from the Lost Type Co-op. Lost Type has a pay-what-you-want model so you can make whatever donation (including $0) that you want to donate to the font designer.

Do you have your own special ways of saying 'I love you?' Do you already do something similar to this? Did anyone else's Mom leave them messages in their lunch as a kid?

Happy weekend everyone! Remember to think about those closest to you and to show them how much you appreciate them.