There are various ways you can achieve this. The easiest way on Photoshop would be by using the Adjustment Layer and using the Black and White. To summarize things, here are the steps: (we will get into details after listing the summary)

1. Open Image in Photoshop
2. Adjustment Layer > Black & White
3. Click the Black & White Layer Mask
4. Brush with Black Paint

Here are the detailed demonstration with illustrations for examples.

1. Opening the Image in Photoshop (I know this is a no brainer…but still you’ve got to do it )

For our example, I am going to use the image below.

Click to Enlarge

2. Make the Photo Black and White – I used Photoshop CS5 for this, if you are on CS3 or CS4, you should be able to use the “Black & White”.

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After this step, you should have successfully converted your image into Black and White. (Monochorome looking image)

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3. Click the Black & White Layer Mask – By default, the Black & White adjustment layer should have created a new layer on top of your image layer. As you go back to your Layers Pallet, will notice the adjustment layer “Black & White” will have a white thumbnail beside it. That blank white thumbnail is called the “Layer Mask Thumbnail” Click it. See image below.

Click to Enlarge

4. Select Brush Tool and Paint with Black – By painting the Layer Mask with Black color will reveal anything under it, in short, Black paint makes the layer transparent while White makes it opaque. See image below.

Click to Enlarge

In the case of the image above, for demonstration purposes, I just brushed horizontal from a random point on the left going to the right just so you can see the effect.

With this, you can now brush out what ever part of your image you want the color to appear. See below samples below. Just click the thumbnails to enlarge the image.

With this effect, you can add more drama to your images. Just don’t be afraid to experiment to come up with different variations. There are other ways to achieve this effect though. If you shoot raw, you can manipulate the image’s saturation per color, or inside Photoshop, instead of using the Black & White adjustment, you can use the Hue Saturation to remove the color, then Mask it.

This ends the tutorial. If you liked what you have read and learned, just subscribe to our RSS FEED (it’s free!) so you will get notified for new posts. Don’t forget to share. Retweet and share to your friends on Facebook. Thanks.

Main Steps:

1. Duplicate
2. Gaussian Blur
3. Multiply
4. Curves
5. High Pass Sharpening Technique

This will be the image that I will be using throughout this tutorial.

Click to Enlarge Image

First Step is to duplicate your image (of course after opening it on Photoshop). Press Ctrl + J on Windows and CMD + J on Mac.

After the duplication, select the duplicated layer and go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. See image below

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You can click and drag the slider to start on 25 pixels and depending on what result you may want, you can slide it up for a more blurred image. The more the image is blurred, the more it will produce softness but a dimmer result. In my case I used 40 pixels for my example. See image below.

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After applying the blur, switch the blurred layer’s blending option into “Multiply”. From here you could already see the effect that we are trying to achieve however it is a bit dark. See image below

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Next step is to lighten the image. There are many ways to do it. The easiest way is to create a new adjustment layer called “Curves”. Click on the “New Adjustment Layer” icon below the layers palette and choose “Curves”. See Image Below

Then just play with the Curves, use your eye and see if its luminous enough for you. Try to experiment to achieve different results. See Image Below

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Actually, the tutorial ends here, but it is up to you if you still want to add a little crisp to your image. Right now it is too soft, you can add a high pass filter sharpening that was previously taught in this blog.

The final result:

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Let’s compare:

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This tutorial can be useful in so many ways, a wedding portrait perhaps. Feel free to add more to the blend to achieve different results. Experiment.

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Or Landscapes…

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Thanks.

To experiment this sharpening technique we will use the image below and try to improve its sharpness.

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What? That’s not blurred? Take a closer look when magnified.

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First: (of course after you open the image on Adobe Photoshop CS4) Duplicate the background layer (doesn’t matter if it is locked or not). Press Ctrl + J on PC and Cmd + J on a Mac.

Second: After duplicating, go to Filter > Other > High Pass… . Filter is located on the top menu of Photoshop. (see image below)

Click to View Larger Image

Regarding the strength of the high pass, what I do is I don’t let the colors be visible. But it is up to you. Experiment with different settings to achieve cool effects.

Third: Now the duplicated layer has High Pass Filter applied, with the High Pass Filter layer applied selected/highlighted, click on the drop down on your Layers Palette and switch from “Normal” to “Overlay” Blending Mode, and viola! Instant sharpening. (see image below)

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The higher the strength of High Pass filter that you apply, the more your image will be sharpened. (And you don’t want over sharpened images right? ..but still, you could do crazy things and achieve cool effects, so EXPERIMENT)

Now let’s compare the before and after.

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Still not convinced? Let’s take a closer look and magnify things

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Don’t forget to save your work.

This is specially helpful when doing Close Up Photography and or Macro Photography. You can even do this on landscape shots and it will bring surprising results. As I have always been saying, experiment. Practice makes perfect. (But nobody is perfect so why practice…just kidding!)

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Most experienced photographers and photo journalists would dig dipper on to one’s composition, they would try to figure out the story the picture is trying to tell when most people wouldn’t bother at all.

A great picture could tell many stories just by the look of its composition. When a normal person experience emotion just by the look of a composition, that’s when you know that the picture tells its story very good.

Say this image below, I have consulted normal people with and/or without passion for photography and with those that have little to no photography interest, most of them felt lonely and pity. Some felt happy because from what they see it is a family that stays together through thick or thin.

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So what do you say about this image? Let me know and comment.

Compared to this image below, the same people that I have asked have reacted less and told a lesser meaningful story than the previous image.

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Whatever the story is, just make sure you capture the moment for you can never go back in time and every second of the clock is unique.

Obviously, this isn’t a rocket science blanket recommendation, but something to think about if you are likely to face lighting conditions that will require a super slow shutter speed. On the contrary, packing a tripod can slow you down, be awkwardly bulky, and certainly identifies you to everyone around you as a photographer. In its favor, you can make exposures as long as you like and keep the camera locked onto a view for which you might want to vary the settings.

Everyone has their own preferences for style of tripod, but the light, strong materials like carbon fiber, which are unfortunately the most expensive by the way, make carrying a tripod less of a chore. You also need a strap of light case, and a tripod head that locks tight but is easy to use.

When Tripods Are Forbidden

There is a freaking creeping culture of restriction when it comes to setting up and using a tripod, and it’s so funny that it is happening in just those places where a tripod is pretty much vital and essential to take a photograph. These are places namely museums, galleries, interiors, and archeological sites. These are inevitable unfortunate times a photographer must face. When faced with the situation where yes, you can take photographs but no, not a tripod, there are a number of possible solutions:

• Use a Tripod until someone comes along and stops you (my personal favorite )
• Use a Monopod (but expect this to count as a tripod even though technically it is not)

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  A Monopod
  

• Use a Mini-Tripod and place it on some elevated surface or jam it againts a wall. It’s still a tripod, but you might get away with it as it won’t alert attention at a distance

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  Mini Tripod
  

• Use a Mini-Tripod on the ground, with either a Tilt-Shift Lens or with the camera tilted up, later resorting to perspective correction in post-processing

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  Canon Tilt-Shift Lens
  

• Use a Tripod head on its own, holding it down with one hand
• Take a baseplate, perhaps even with a block of wood
• Tip the caretaker or guard (depends on the country and circumtances ..works well in the Philippines by the way )

I would highly recommend using a tripod in capturing the moons image. Zooming to your lens’ full capacity will make it very sensitive to even the slightest shake.

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Settings Used:
f/9
1/100 s
ISO 200
18-200 @200mm

There are three main technical variables: Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO. You will need to decide which has priority.

Shutter Priority

Refers to a setting on some cameras that allows the user to choose a specific shutter speed while the camera adjusts the aperture to ensure correct exposure. This is different from manual mode, where the user must decide both values, aperture priority where the user picks an aperture with the camera selecting the shutter speed to match, or program mode where the camera selects both.

Shutter priority with longer exposures is chosen to create an impression of motion. For example, a waterfall will appear blurred and fuzzy. If the camera is panned with a moving subject, the background will appear blurred. When photographing sports or high-speed phenomena, shutter priority with short exposures can ensure that the motion is effectively frozen in the resulting image. Shutter priority is often abbreviated with Tv (literally, “time value”) or S on a camera mode dial. (source – Wikipedia)

Aperture Priority

Often abbreviated Av (for Aperture value) or A on a camera mode dial, is a setting on some cameras that allows the user to choose a specific aperture value while the camera selects a shutter speed to match. The camera will ensure proper exposure. This is different from manual mode, where the user must decide both values, shutter priority where the user picks a shutter speed with the camera selecting the aperture to match, or program mode where the camera selects both.

The main purpose of using aperture-priority mode is to control the depth of field. Aperture priority is useful in landscape photography, where a narrow aperture is necessary if objects in foreground, middle distance, and background are all to be rendered crisply, while shutter speed is often immaterial. It also finds use in portrait photography, where a wide aperture is desired to throw the background out of focus and make it less distracting.

Another common use of aperture priority mode is to suggest how the camera should determine a shutter speed, without risking a poor exposure. In landscape photography a user would select a small aperture when photographing a waterfall, hoping to allow the water to blur through the frame. When shooting a portrait in dim lighting, the photographer might choose to open the lens to its maximum aperture in hopes of getting enough light for a good exposure.

In addition, aperture priority mode allows the photographer to force the camera to operate the lens at its optimum apertures within its aperture range for a given focal length of the lens. Commonly, lenses provide greatest resolving power with a relatively medium-sized aperture. (source – Wikipedia)

ISO Priority or also well known as Sensitivity Priority

Often abbreviated Sv (for Sensitivity value) on a camera dial, is a setting on Pentax cameras that allows the user to choose a specific Sensitivity (ISO speed) value while the camera selects a shutter speed and aperture to match. The camera will ensure proper exposure. This is different from manual mode, where the user must decide all three values, shutter priority where the user picks a shutter speed with the camera selecting the aperture to match, or program mode where the camera selects all three. (source – Wikipedia)

The key to technical success in low-light photography is to know what the acceptable thresholds for each of these is for you. This means familiarizing yourself with, at the very least, the noise characteristics of your camera, your ability to hold the camera steady when hand-held, and the shutter speed needed for any kind of movement in the frame. Then you have to prioritize, and that depends on the situation and on what you personally are prepared to accept as minimum image quality. Some motion blur might well be acceptable, depending on where it happens in the frame and how it looks, or you might prefer more noise in order to avoid this. Only you can make these decisions.

Shooting hand-held under low ambient lighting conditions required a relatively fast shutter speed to avoid as much as camera shake as possible. This meant using a fast ISO and accepting that there would be noise in the image.

Because noise is a relatively new thing from digital slr photography, it gets a lot of attention, which is fine, but when set against camera shake, subject motion blur, and the difficulties of achieving sharp focus with wide apertures, it is not the only image quality issue to deal with. A noise image from a high ISO setting is at least a workable, recognizable image, while the alternatives-blur or underexposure-are useless.

We wrote “basic skill,” but these days few photographers use manual focusing, much less a manual lens, which means that focusing is normally in the realm of automation. This, however, does not eliminate mistakes. In auto-focusing, the most common error is targeting the wrong part of the scene, such as the background in a portrait. Advanced cameras use a variety of methods for finding and keeping sharp focus on a key subject, including scene recognition, but nothing is foolproof. A more subtle error is focusing on, say, the nose rather than the eyes in a close portrait with shallow depth of field. The wider the aperture, as is usually necessary in low-light shooting, the more this is an issue.

The second most likely class of sharpness failure is motion blur, either camera shake because of a slow shutter speed, or subject movement. Ultimately the key precaution is to check, and as soon as possible after the shot. No one expect to do this all the time, but if you know that the shooting conditions are risky, this is the time to pay special attention.

Paradoxically, the cameras LCD screen and its image preview that makes life so much easier and more reliable than shooting film, can also lull you into a false sense of security when it comes to image detail such as sharpness. This is a real danger, and despite experience we’ve fallen prey to it a number of times. You glance at the screen, it looks fine at the size, so on to the next shot. The bad moment arrives in front of the computer when the images being processed. And by then it’s too late.

In fact, it’s impossible to judge sharpness from a full-screen view on the back of the camera. The right thing to do is to zoom in to at least 50%, and ideally 100% magnification. Pan around the image if you have the time, but at least home in on the area that you intended to focus on. In many situation, you have the opportunity to re-shot and get it right.

As for achieving pin-sharp focus, there a variety of in-camera aids specific to each model. High-end cameras have sophisticated procedures such as multi-point focus and focus tracking. There may also be a choice between auto focusing methods; phase-detection uses a special focusing sensor, while contrast-detection analyzes information from the image sensor.

Basic

Elbows tucked in the chest, camera held firmly back to forehead.  Wide firm grip around camera with right hand, all fingers supporting except for the fore finger, which stays flexible.  Heel or right hand carries most of weight, under center of camera, wrist vertical.  With autofocus on, only the rear, zoom ring needs adjustment, and the thumb, second, and third fingers take care of this.  The left forefinger helps support the front of the lens and the little finger pushes on the fingers of the right hand for extra support.

Extra strap support

A slightly steadier variation on the basic  grip.  Push outwards and downwards on the strap with the right wrist to tension it.  This works only if you have the strap short.

Twisted strap support

Another  variation.  This works for slow speed, but is a real mess to extricate your hand from afterwards.  Twist the loose part of the strap around your wrist by rotating your hand as shown, until your hand is jammed up against the camera grip.

Vertical shooting with a secondary release

Some SLRs  have second shutter release on te corner for vertical shooting.  It’s not just a convenience, but allows a properly stable grip with elbow in, and both forearms vertical.  All of the right hand except for the forefinger grips the side of the camera body with as wide  grip as possible. The heel of the left hand supports the bottom edge of the camera, while the forefinger and the little finger add to the  grip, with the thumb, second, and third fingers on the zoom ring.

Vertical shooting with standard release, overhand

With the secondary shutter release, there are two options.  This is the first, with the shutter release on top, calling for an overhand position. There’s no alternative but for the right elbow to stick out, which does not add to stability.  It places more on the job of supporting the camera on the left hand, with the heel of the hand taking the weight.  The left eye stays clear and, as is normal, stays open.

Vertical shooting with standard release, under

The  second  vertical option with a single shutter release is with the release underneath.   This  keeps  the  elbows in,  which is good, but tends to comfort the right hand.  One solution to this contortion  is not to attempt to use the  heel of the  right hand,  but instead  use  the fingers  to  press against  the  heel of the  left hand,  transferring  some  weight  onto that.  The  right  wrist  stays  on  the chest.

Manual focus

Non-autofocus lenses are quaint these days, but still available, and even with the regular lens you may prefer to focus by hand and eye.  It means that your thumb and one or two fingers need to be free to work the focusing ring, so the heel of the left hand alone carries the weight.  This is aided by an extra strong grip with the right hand.

Long lens, autofocus, front grip

Long lenses vary considerably in shape and size, and this largely determines how you can hold them.  This is fairly compact 300 mm lens with a modest maximum aperture, hence a small diameter elements.  Long lenses prefer tripods, or at least monopods, but if you want to use one quickly, with the greater flexibility, then hand-held is the only way.  The right hand takes the usual firm wide grip, while autofocus frees up the left hand. If the lens hood is large, It’s a good idea to spread the load by gripping it.  Here the forearm takes the weight, although one problem is that the elbow is unsupported.  Pulling the camera back firmly to the forehead is important.

Long lens, autofocus, overhand front grip

This is a variation on 4-5, and my preferred grip.  Given that the elbow in the previous method is itself unsupported, you might as well take a firmer natural grip of the front of the lens, as here.

Long lens, mid-barrel grip

More conventional in that the left hand takes the weight in the middle of the barrel, with a vertical forearm tucked in as much as possible to the body.  Somewhat awkward, but an alternative if you are using manual focus, or a zoom control.

There are two ways of exploring further. One is to examine the situation, looking for other things going on or different view points. The other is to explore with your camera techniques, seeing how the same thing looks with a different treatment, such as a change of focal length or a variation in lighting. The underlying principle is that there is almost always something new to discover. You may have a good reason for moving on – there might be taken a short distance away – but if not, try and exhaust the possibilities of the subject that you started with.

Of course, at some point you do have to stop.

Every scene and every situation has different aspects, and one of the basic skills for any kind of reportage photography is to cover the subject as thoroughly as possible.