UPDATE! To see how I edited this image above using this tutorial, above just visit my "Mary Poppins"-Inspired Painted Background Tutorial. I show you how I not only add fantasy colors to my images but also add a beautiful painted background effect.
Today I wanted to post a Photoshop/PSE tutorial on one way I would do a "Fantasy Portrait" edit.
For most of my images I prefer simple, clean edits, but there are times I really want to go all out and create something amazing and unreal. Today I wanted to show you how you can use Hue/Saturation layers to add brilliant fantasy color to your outdoor portraits. Not only is it easy, but incredibly fun!
I used a beautiful image from Vanilla Tree Photography (Facebook) in this tutorial. If there is interest I can put together an action. :-)
CoffeeShop Fantasy Portrait Photoshop/PSE Tutorial:
I love this clean-edit image, but I wanted to take it to the next level and make it more dramatic by adding vivid color and additional light.
1. I wanted the background to be a magenta-reddish color, so I added a Hue/Saturation layer and put the Hue at -73 and the Saturation at +6. Yes, she is really scary looking, but we will fix that in the next step.
2. I used a soft black brush, clicked on the layer mask, and carefully painted out the girl. I also removed some of the color tint from the tree she is leaning against.
3. I think she looked too yellow, so I added another Hue/Saturation layer over the background, selected Yellow, and moved the saturation down to -41. I lost quite a bit of brilliant color in the background, so I used a soft black brush at approximately 50% and painted over the background to return some of its reddish color.
4. I wanted to add some additional light, so I created a new layer on top and used a soft white brush at 40% opacity and clicked on areas that would have light leak between the trees.
5. I wanted to soften light effect a bit, so I added a motion blur to that layer (see settings above, adjust for your own image).
6. Her face was a bit washed out from the extra light, so I added a layer mask to the top light layer and used a soft black brush at 80% and clicked on her face to remove some of the light.
7. Finally, I wanted to add some contrast, so I added a Levels adjustment layer on top, put it in Soft Light, and then moved the Gamma (middle) slider to the left until I was pleased with the contrast "pop". This really brightened the image.
Here is my final image after cropping off some of the left side. I know this type of edit is not for everyone, but I really love the fantasy aspect of this image and hope it inspires you to go and have fun creating your own art!
Questions? Please leave a comment. And I would love to see your Before/Afters on my Facebook page!!!
Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop PSE/Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.
For complete info on installing all of my actions, click here.
