Photoshop Friday! Photo ShaZAM.

Man, has it ever been a long time since the last Photoshop Friday or what? Hopefully today’s issue will make up for it! :D It’s one you’ll be able to use on everything, because this is the way I process many of my photos, and it’s a nearly UNIVERSAL method for improving the brightness and contrast of your pics, and helping your colors simply POP right out.

Let’s just call it PHOTO ShaZAM. I’m feeling a little retro today. :) But seriously. I took this pic of Ellliott playing in their “Sharkey Pool” today, and made it kinda sing. Like so:

AND, just to up the deliciousness factor a bit, how about we have a little giveaway? My I’m-related-to-her-I-promise relative, Natalie Putnam, is generously giving away one of her sweet handmade Camera Straps to one lucky winner! Keep readin’!

First, though, the tutorial. Learning first. Free stuff later.

Photo ShaZAM. 

My pic looks like this sooc (straight out of camera):

 

It’s ok, right? He’s a sweet fella, and this pic pretty much puts my heart in my throat. But really DECENT pics are the perfect candidates for just a little extra somethin’ somethin’ - which is why this is the ShaZAM.

Ready to see some shaZAM on your own pics?

Photoshop Friday: Photo ShaZAM

1. Okay, the first step in the Shazam is to open that pic. If you’re shooting in RAW (like I do), go ahead and correct your white balance and make the changes you need to, and then bring it in to Photoshop. If you’re shooting in JPG, just open the file. :)

It should be your background layer. Thusly:

Click for Larger 

2. Now right-click on the photo (Background) layer in the Layers palette, and choose Duplicate Layer from the flyout menu. In the little box that comes up, go ahead and rename this layer to Overlay. Click OK.

 
Click for Larger

3. And now you’ll go ahead and right-click on the Overlay layer and choose Duplicate Layer again from the flyout menu. In THIS little naming box, go ahead and rename this layer to Screen. Click OK.

Now you have a stack of three perfectly ordinary layers. And here’s where the shaZAM happens. :)

4. Click on the Screen layer in the Layers palette. In the blending mode dropdown at the top of the Layers palette, set the blending mode of the Screen layer to Screen.

5. Click on the Overlay layer in the Layers palette. In the blending mode dropdown, set the blending mode for the Overlay layer to (wait for it..) Overlay.

Here’s what I get at full strength. Whoa. Talk about overblown.

Click for Larger 

But now! Now come the subtle machinations of a true Photoshop Wizard: playing with the opacity of crazy overblown layers.

6. Play with the opacity of both of these layers until you get a flavor you really like. The interaction between these two blending modes is where the shaZAM happens. The screen layer acts as a brightening agent, and the Overlay layer boosts contrast. Depending on your particular photo and how well it’s exposed, what colors are in it, tonal range, that kind of thing, you’ll need to increase or decrease the blends for both of these.

I ended up with Screen set to 44%, and Overlay set to 65%. And it looks awesome.

Now, one thing I noticed in my particular photo, and something that you might notice in yours as well, is that Overlay tends to boost redness in skintones. So suddenly Elliott looks a bit like he’s been diving in heavily chlorinated water.

A quick fix? Take a soft-edged Eraser tool to the Overlay layer on parts that turn out too red or too contrasty (or if you’re advanced, create a layer mask and mask out these parts). This will show the original photo through.

Click for Larger

After a quick touch on my background layer with the Burn tool to darken up the edges just a hair, and a little Smart Sharpen, I came out with this:

 

ShaZAM!

This technique will improve almost any photo you work it on, which is pretty amazing, considering the variety of photos it’s possible to take. :)  So the workflow here:

1. Open the photo.
   
2. Duplicate the layer twice.
3. Set the top layer to Screen, and the second layer to Overlay.
4. Adjust the opacity of this two-layer combination.
5. Erase out any too-dark or too-red parts of the Overlay layer.
6. Burn the edges of the background layer just a titch.
7. Resize as needed, and THEN run Smart Sharpen (sharpening should always be done last, and always on the photo when it’s at its final size). I recommend a strength of 85%, and then adjust the radius to taste.

Weekend Assignment: Show me YOUR Photo ShaZAM! :D

Okay, now for your assignment, are you ready?

1. Go take a picture. Or I GUESS you could use one you already have. GOSH. (But seriously. The sun is shining. Go take some pics!)

2. Work some SHAZAM on it, as explained above.

3. Post the shazam, or a layout made with the aforementioned shazam, somewhere online, such as a your favorite gallery, your blog, mayhaps the General gallery at JessicaSprague.com? You know, anywhere. Even Photobucket. Even Flickr. Go for it! :D And mentioning where you learned about the Shazam would be really cool as well, of course.

4. Come back over here, right here to this post, and leave a comment. Perhaps even paste in the link where you posted your shazam.

And the reward! Win a new camera strap!

I’ll draw a random name at 9:00 p.m. on Monday night, July 14, at 9:00 EDT, and the winner will receive a brand-new camera strap created with love by my I’m-related-to-her-somehow relative, Ms. Natalie Putnam! How cute is this?!

 

You can pick out any of the straps in her store for your very own, IF you practice the ShaZAM, post it, and then comment RIGHT HERE before Monday (oh, and if your post # is drawn, of course).  And the relative part? Okay, we worked this out at one point. Natalie is ny brother’s wife’s sister’s mother-in-law’s daughter. Or my brother’s wife’s sister’s sister-in-law. Right? Right. And get this other craz-i-ness. Natalie is ALSO my mom’s brother’s wife’s sister-in-law’s daughter.. okay, now I’m just making this up. But I’m SERIOUS about the first part.

Okay, friends! Let’s see some ShaZAM!

Can’t wait!

p.s. I’ll only count links in the randomness, so if you have other comments/questions feel free to post ‘em!

Update on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 01:50PM by Jessica

To answer a couple of questions:

 1. This works in every version of Photoshop, and probably any other graphics program that has layers. No special version-specific stuff here. :)

2. Scrappydeena asked:

I do have a question Jessica….would it be correct to flatten the image before applying smart sharpen or should we do smart sharpen on the background layer and then flatten?

I flattened everything onto its own layer JUST before saving it out, and then ran the Smart Sharpen. Thank you for pointing this out - I didn’t mention the flattening.

4. Several people asked how to use the Burn tool.

It’s grouped with the Dodge tool, and makes your image darker in the areas you use it. Select it, and then make sure you have a large soft brush selected in the Options Bar. I would use Midtones and about 50% opacity to start out with, and then just click and drag the brush around the edges to darken. I focused in the corners of my image, and then lightly touched along each of the sides. Because this image is so bright, I didn’t want to overdo the darkened edges.

3. J asked:

I love it! Question - I am trying to replicate exactly what you did on your photo, step by step, but no matter what I do, it doesn’t come out identical. The overall glow effect and flawless skin tone seems impossible to achieve. Is there some of fine tuning that differs from program to program that would make the same picture come out different even though I follow the same steps to a T?

I was working with straight-out-of-the camera, full-resolution files when I did this, which would make a difference because there’s more data to play with. You’re also dealing with differences in monitors, as well as which color space you’re in. But the basics of the technique wouldn’t change between programs.

Comments

[Meg]

Love. Love. Love it! ♥

Pick me pretty please. I've been good this summer.☺

[Jennifer]

Too bad I don't have a SLR Camera because I would love to be able to use one of these beautiful straps too!

[babyroo7 (Joey)]

Here is my Shazam: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24455051@N06/2658023928/
Thanks for awesome and helpful tip, Jessica! This rocks!

[Luannw]

Funny I have looked at her straps on one of my many trips to ETSY, I have never purchased though I am afraid to open the Pandora's box of goodness that ETSY has to offer.

[Brenda]

Here is mine. I will be using this all the time now. Thanks for the tip. I don't currently have a working camera for a strap like this but am going to have my Nikon fixed and this would come in handy!
http://mylifeorthelackthereof.blogspot.com

[Scrapmanda]

This rocks thanks Jessica...here's my shaZAM!

http://scrapmanda.blogspot.com/2008/07/playing-with-photoshop.html

[Barbara]

Here is my ShaZAM. Super simple and quick...the best kind of fix. Thanks Jessica!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2657255529_0017e7a4b6_o.jpg

[Katrina Kennedy]

Thanks for sharing ShaZam! Love the effect!

Here's my take...http://www.ianck.blogspot.com/

[LivE]

you are so funny, my friend! love all the humor in today's post... and the learning, and the straps. and i love the relative-connections you specified, even if my head can't wrap around it without my drawing stick figures in a diagram... and deb is part of that mother's sister's brother's daughter etc etc. isn't that so amazing? haha!

hope you're having a great night! xox. L.

PS. i think elliott's eyes are exact replicas of yours...he is such a cutie, as is rowen! :)

[Terri Porter]

Love this, Jessica! But I do have one question. I was reading just last night about a very similar technique only they used Soft Light instead of Overlay. What is the difference? Just curious, as I tried your instructions and LOVED the result.
You can see the before and after here. http://terriporter.typepad.com.

[Traci]

Thanks for sharing and I've got my eye on that beautiful strap!

You can see my before and after here: http://alphabetfarm.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/shazam/

[Tia Shields]

Here is my attempt at Shazam!
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc296/tiashields/rysazam.jpg

[Laura]

This was a great tutorial, thanks for taking the time to teach it to us.

Here is what I made pop with it...

http://lolasscraps.blogspot.com/2008/07/shazam.html

[robyn]

You are a genius. Thank you.
I'm sooooo happy photoshop Friday is back!!!
Robyn Marais
South AFrica

[Meleah]

Thanks Jessica, I am new to photoshop and it is always exciting to learn something new like this, I am sure to use this a lot!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meleah/2658151864/sizes/m/

-meleah

[JeanneD]

Thank you!!!! You rock. So much fun.
http://orjustme.blogspot.com/

[Claret]

I posted my ShaZam picture at Jessica's general gallery http://www.jessicasprague.com/cpg/displayimage.php?pos=-17728

Hope I win - really need that neckstrap !!! Thanks for all give and blessings to you and yours.

[Lezlie]

thank you! this is just what I needed. Can't wait to try it!

[Jessica Bills]

Nat is you brother's wife's sister and also you mom's brother's wife's sister-in-law's son's wife. That is some crazy stuff.

I am going out of town for the week, but I can't wait to use this technique! I love that picture of Elliott. We need to find a time when the cousins can meet.

[Malika]

My Shazam layout is in the General Gallery at Jessica Sprague.com
Used desaturated screen and soft light but forgot to darken edges.

http://www.jessicasprague.com/cpg/displayimage.php?pos=-17732

Fingers crossedXXX

[Séverine C from France]

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?set=recent&gallery=1&cmd=display&layout_id=1367654

thanks Jessica !!

[Katherine B]

WOW! I've been waiting for this! Really! I am so excited that you've shared some (more) of your photo editing techniques! LOVE this! Off to get my shot(s) . . . ;D

[Amy]

Just posted my photo using the shazam on my blog at http://www.amykiane.typepad.com/. thanks for the tutorial. that was super easy.

[paws]

I posted my example in the JS General Gallery titled "Exhausted Graduate."

[Jenny]

Thanks so much! This tutorial is awesome. I can't wait to use it and add some punch to my photos. And that strap is fab too.

I Scrap For Hire - http://www.shutterbugkeepsakes.com

[Lisa D]

Here's my shazam! http://stamp-n-scrap.blogspot.com/2008/07/catch-uppppppppppppppp.html

[Angi Smith]

Titch? Is that a word, Jessica? LMAO! It probably is knowing my lack of knowledge. Could you interpret it for those of us lacking in English skills? J/T! Love the Shazam tip!

[Donna (kygirl)]

What an awesome technique. I was surprised at what a quick process it is. I posted my before and after on my blog, http://donnabmiller.typepad.com/a_scrappers_tale/.

[chrystal]

Wow! This is a really cool technique! I've posted my attempt on my blog here:
http://danandchrystal.blogspot.com

Thanks!

[Natalie Putnam]

Yes, Ditto what my sister said. I am your brothers wifes sister! So, we are closer then you thought!