CoffeeShop "Sanibel Beach Dreams" Photoshop/PSE Editing Tutorial: Part 2!!!

I am so excited about my newest beach portrait editing tutorial I call "Sanibel Beach Dreams". This editing technique is very dreamy  and colorful, reminiscent of a Skagen beach painting.

Today is Part 2 of my "Sanibel Beach Dreams" Photoshop/PSE editing tutorial. In Part 1 I walked you through the portrait retouching. Please go read that post first. Today in Part 2 I will show you how I add gorgeous pastel color to the sand, water, and sky. You can grab the  "Beach Dreams Water & Sky" Photoshop/PSE action if you want to automate the process.

You can grab the full version deluxe "Sanibel Beach Dreams" action in my CoffeeShop Action Download pack.

In Part 3 I will show you how I add a gorgeous sky overlay to a boring beach sky and I include some custom  CoffeeShop sky overlays.

CoffeeShop "Sanibel Beach Dreams" Photoshop/PSE Editing Tutorial PART 2: Pretty Sand, Water and Sky

Today we will go from the "before" on the left to the "after" on the right. The gorgeous original image is by Jessica Edwards Photography.

Here is where we were when I left you yesterday in Part 1 of the tutorial. The retouching is finished and we are ready to add gorgeous colors!

1. Beautiful Sand: To add a beautiful glowing color to the sand, I start with a brownish Color Fill adjustment layer (#b3a298) and I fill its layer mask with black to hide the effect. 

You can play around with the brown color for your own images to get the perfect final tint.

I used a semi-soft white brush on the layer mask to paint in the beautiful color on the sand and on her hat. To see where I have added the brown "Sand" layer (white paint) I clicked on the layer mask while holding the alt/option key down. Click again to remove.

If you are new to layer masks please go read this layer mask tutorial.

I put the "Sand" layer in Overlay blending mode, 100%. You can also try Soft Light or Multiply. 

I think this is lovely.

2. Pretty Water and Sky: The next step is to add beautiful color to the sky and water. 

If you have a flat sky with no clouds you can add a sky overlay before doing this step. I show you how I do this in Part 3 (and I include some new beach overlays) I have some for free download here and here.  I will also post a new one on my next post. Pretty Actions has some beautiful sky overlays you could also purchase or you can find gorgeous ones you can edit at Pixabay.

In this image the sky is perfect so I will just add some beautiful color. I added a Color Fill Adjustment layer (#117a81) and filled the layer mask with black. You can adjust this blue color for your own image.

I used a 50% semi-soft white brush to  paint the color into the ocean and a 100% soft brush to add it to the sky. You can play with the brush opacities and also adjust the final opacity of that layer to taste. You could also make two layers, one for the sky and one for the water.

I put the "Pretty Water and Sky" layer in Overlay blending mode, 100%. You could also try Soft Light or Multiply.

At this point of the edit I will fine-tune the Sand and Water colors where they meet by painting on their layer masks so it looks more realistic. You don't want the blue water color on the sand.

At this point I am loving this edit! I could stop here, but I want to add gorgeous pink/ivory colors to the sky and water next in Part 4 of my "Sanibel Beach Dreams" tutorial.  If you want to add a dramatic sky to your portrait, be sure to go read Part 3 of my tutorial (includes new sky overlays.)


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CoffeeShop "Sanibel Beach Dreams" Photoshop/PSE Editing Tutorial: Part 1!!!

I love the beach. We live pretty close to Galveston Island so our family visits often. I love the history of Galveston Island and many of the beaches are so beautiful.  We get a condo on the beaches on the west side of the island off-season where there are gorgeous beaches with no crowds or traffic noise. You can see some of my photos on this post.

Growing up we also spent many summers vacationing at a friend's condo at Sanibel Island, Florida.   Paul and I even went there for our honeymoon. We drove to New Orleans for the first night and had our first Pat O'Brien's Hurricane drink which wiped us completely out and we ended up burning our tongues on hot pizza.  Wow that is painful...

We then drove to Sanibel and spent the rest of the week relaxing on the beach and had a wonderful time. Especially since we stayed away from all drinks named after dangerous killer storms.

Once the boys got big enough we started driving to Sanibel Island every few years. Just a few summers ago both of my boys learned to swim in the same swimming pool my sisters and I played in when we were their age.

So I have really wonderful memories of the beach at Sanibel Island. When I started working on this new action I was completely at a loss figuring out a appropriate name. I asked my Facebook followers for name suggestions and they had so many wonderful ideas. Several readers said the edit reminded them of a Skagen painting. Another reader mentioned "Valencia Beach" which I really liked, but then suddenly I was struck with the idea of naming this gorgeous edit/action after my favorite beach.

So today I am very excited to share with you my newest Photoshop/PSE editing tutorial called "Sanibel Beach Dreams". I am going to work through the edit in the next few days.

If you want to have the full deluxe "Sanibel Beach Dreams" action you will find it in my CoffeeShop Action Download pack as a special gift.  You can download a set of actions for part of this tutorial here on my blog. "Beach Dreams Water and Sky" "Beach Dreams Rosy Sky"

This edit, even with the action, will require you to know how to paint on layer masks. I have a basic tutorial here.

 "

You can use this beautiful fantasy beach edit on any beach image.  In this example from Rachel Taylor Photography I even added a beautiful dramatic sky. When I get to that part of the edit tutorial I will also post this sky overlay for free download.

CoffeeShop "Sanibel Beach Dreams" Photoshop/PSE Editing Tutorial PART 1: Portrait  Retouching

Today I am going to do some retouching of the portrait before adding the gorgeous colors.  Tomorrow in Part 2 I will start adding the whimsical pastel colors to the image.

Here is the gorgeous original image by Jessica Edwards Photography.

1. Define: I love to use my "Define" action on beach portraits. It really adds nice definition to hair, beach sand, and water.  After running the action I put the "Define" layer in Overlay blending mode at 67% opacity.

2. Skin Smoothing: Make a duplicate layer of your image and go to Filter, Blur, Surface Blur.

Set the Radius and Threshold to taste. It is OK to overdo this step because you can adjust the opacity later.

I added a layer mask to the skin smooth layer and filled the mask with black. Then I used a semi-soft white brush and painted on her arms and legs. Note: To see the red tint to follow where you are painting, just click on the black layer mask and then type the \ key. Type it again to remove the red.

3. Skin Powder/Glow: To add a pretty glowing soft finish to the skin that mimics afternoon light, add a peachy Color Fill adjustment layer.  I used #f7cdb7.  Fill the layer mask with black.

I used a semi-soft white brush to paint this layer on her skin. If you are using Photoshop you can copy the layer mask from Skin Smooth to Skin Powder by clicking on it while holding Alt/Option and dragging and dropping it on the new layer.

Then I put the Skin Powder layer in Soft Light blending mode at 42%.

You won't see much of a difference on a small screen but I always like to do some retouching in case the image is blown up large.

Now you can read Part 2 of the "Sanibel Beach Dreams" editing tutorial! You can grab the full version deluxe "Sanibel Beach Dreams" action in my CoffeeShop Action Download pack.

In the next tutorials I will show you how I paint in the gorgeous turquoise sky and water, add a golden glow to sand, create a dreamy pinkish sky,  and add an optional beautiful sky overlay.


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CoffeeShop Photoshop/PSE Tutorial: Adding Artistic Top Light Leaks!

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, families, and loved ones involved in the horrific American terror attack this Sunday.

Today I wanted to show you one way I edit an image to add beautiful light leaking from the top. This is a really simple technique and can be as subtle to dramatic as you wish. It works on all types of images from still life to portraits to nature landscapes to cityscapes.

I also posted a free action to do this for you called "Light Leaks Magic, Top", but today I wanted to walk you through the edit in this "Action UnWrapped" tutorial.

You can make the light leak any color you wish. I added pink light on this gorgeous image from Bloom Photography following my tutorial posted below.

I am using this gorgeous image (girl with teddy) from Sarah Mak Photography in my tutorial today.

CoffeeShop Photoshop/PSE Tutorial: Adding Beautiful Light to Your Image

(original image)

Open your image.

NOTE: Each image will have its own unique adjustments, so please don't hesitate to use different blending and opacity settings than the ones in my tutorial. You can also paint on the layer masks to further adjust the edit.

Double-click on your Foreground color pane and change the "Foreground" color to your light leak color. In this case I wanted to add orange light (c67a20). If you forget to change the foreground color you can change the "light" color in a later step.

Add a "Gradient" adjustment layer.

This is what the image looks like without any adjustments.

I want to move the light leak to the top of the image so I change the Angle to -95%. If you make it 90% it will be straight across, but I like to have it slightly crooked to make it look more realistic. Try anything from 92%-100%. Keep the other settings the same as seen in my screenshot above.

The light is coming down too far into my image, but this is a simple adjustment. Click on the Gradient on the top to open up the Gradient Editor.

Note: If you need to adjust the color of the light leak, double-click on the bottom left slider (orange in this case) and then "Color" on the bottom to adjust the light leak color.

Grab the upper right top slider and move it to the left until you are happy with the placement of the light gradient. As you can see it has been shifted up and isn't covering as much of the bottom half of the image.

Press OK to accept the changes.

Put this light layer in Screen blending mode.

In this edit I want to paint some of the orange color off her face and hair.

I clicked on the layer mask and then used an 80% soft black brush to remove the orange from her eyes and a 30% soft brush to remove it from her skin and hair.

If you want to see red where you are painting as seen in my screenshot above, click the "\" key. Click again to remove the red.

Now her face looks much better. I didn't completely remove the warm light but selectively reduced it.

I like to add additional light to the very top of the image, so I clicked Ctrl-J to duplicate the "Gradient Fill" layer.

I kept the Angle the same, but I click on the Gradient on top to open the Gradient Editor and moved the top right slider even further to the left. I want this layer only applied to the top of the image.

I put this layer in Soft Light blending mode at 50% opacity. This really enhances the color on the very top of the image.

I like to add some additional orange color over the entire image. I clicked on the Background layer and added a "Color Fill" adjustment layer with the same orange color.

You can add any color at this step, but I usually use the same color I used in my light leak "Gradient".

I put this layer in Soft Light blending mode at 27% and painted it completely off her face and  hair. I didn't want to add any more orange to her skin. Now the entire image is warm with beautiful light.

My final step is to slightly brighten the entire image. I added a "Levels" adjustment layer above the "Color Fill" layer and slide the bottom left black "output levels" slider to 20. This brightens and removes some contrast.

I hope you enjoyed following along with me as I edited this gorgeous image. I am really happy with the final result!

I will post the free action tomorrow so you can automate everything and save some time.

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.

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CoffeeShop Photoshop/PSE Tutorial: Digitally Carving Initials on Trees so You Don't Get Arrested!

I am so excited to post my newest Photoshop/PSE tutorial today.  I am going to show you how I carve initials on trees/wood digitally.  This is a really great technique to use on couple portraits and much better than using a knife to deface a real tree.  ;-)

When I used to edit photos professionally for wedding/couple photographers I had many requests to do this type of edit. I wanted to add some initials to a tree recently and went back to the bookmarked tutorial I used years ago and the website is gone. I googled like crazy and couldn't find a tutorial that I loved, so I decided to play around and write my own tutorial and post it up here on my blog to share with you.

Today I am going to walk you through the edit and tomorrow I will post a free action set called "Magic Tree Carving" so you can automate everything. I love using actions, but I also love showing you what is going on "under the hood" in my actions so you can do your own edits without actions if you want.

CoffeeShop Photoshop/PSE Tutorial:  Digitally Carving Initials on Trees So You Don't Get Arrested For Defacing Public/Private Property

This tutorial is written for middle to advanced users of Photoshop/PSE.  If you have questions please post a comment below.  And if you are an editing newbie and find this tutorial confusing or want to automate everything, please come back tomorrow and download my Magic Tree Carving action set.  This action set make this edit fast and simple for everyone, including newbies!!!

For this tutorial I am using this beautiful couple image from B.liss Photography.

The first step I do in this type of edit is create a displacement map. You can make and use these displacements maps in both Photoshop and PSE.

A displacement map is a grayscale version of an image saved as a Photoshop file. The Displace filter then uses the displacement map essentially as an applied texture. The black areas are the low points and the light areas are the high points of the contours of the original image.

This is a great way to make the tree carving blend in to your image so it looks more realistic.

1.  Create Displacement Map: Desaturate your image (shift, cmd-Ctrl, U) and then use a levels or curves adjustment to bring out the contrast on the tree bark/wood surface.  You want to really bring out the wood texture.  Then flatten and save this image as a psd file.

2.  Add heart: Revert your image back to the color version.  If you want to add a heart you can use one of the free ones I made for you and posted here for download.

This heart file is a psd layered file, so just click on the layer that has your favorite heart and click "V" and grab and drag the heart on top of your image.

Free-transform (Ctrl-T) it to fit.

Add text: You will need to use a bold black font so you can see the words clearly.  I like using the Annoying Kettle font. Free-transform the words to fit inside of your heart.  Save this version as a psd file (but not over your B&W displacement map!) right now before going on.  You might want to go back and make changes later so it is always a good idea to save at this step.

Hold Shift and click on both the heart and text layer to select them and then right-click and Merge layers.  Then click to select the new merged layer and right-click and Rasterize (or simplify) the layer.  Now you have two layers, your background and the text layer with the heart.


3. Add displacement map: Now we will add the displacement map we created on the first step. Click on the top text layer and go to Filter, Disport, Displace.

I usually use a horizontal and vertical scale of 5 for lower resolution images and 10 for higher resolution images.  I keep the other settings as seen in the screenshot. You will have to play with these settings for your own images.

Open the B&W displacement map when prompted.

Now the text has texture and looks like it has been incorporated into the wood.  You can repeat the filter if you want more effect.  If it is overdone you can go back (edit, undo) and lower the horizontal and vertical scale numbers.

4. Add Bevel & Emboss

 Photoshop: 

I like to add some Bevel & Emboss to the text so it looks carved in the wood.  In Photoshop go to Layer, Layer Style, Bevel & Emboss and add an inner bevel, direction down and set the depth and size to taste.  Adjust the Shading if needed.

Bevel & Emboss, PSE:

In Photoshop Elements go to Layer, Layer Style and click on Bevel and selection Down and set the size to taste.

Now it is looking so much better, right? If you want your initials to look carved and painted you can stop here.

But if you want this wood/tree carving to look more realistic, I want to show you how to add more texture and change the color to match your image so this looks like it was actually carved into the wood.

5. Add texture and change color: Make two copies of the original image (background) and drag them above your text layer. Group both of these copied layers to the text layer.  Then add a color fill layer under the copied layers and grouped with the text layer.

You should have three layers grouped to the text layer as seen in the screenshot. The top two add texture and the color fill adjustment layer allows you to customize the color of the carving.

I put the top copied layer in overlay mode and the one below that in soft light mode. This adds more texture to your tree carving.  You can change the blending mode or adjust the opacity to taste of these two layers.

For the final step, adjust the color fill layer (normal mode) to bring out the carving.  I usually use a light color from the tree/wood, but you can use any color that looks realistic.

Here is my final edit.  I love how it turned out!  For your own images you will have to play with the setting to get your own perfect edit.  And if this tutorial seems too complicated, don't worry.  Tomorrow I will release the action set to automate and simplify this edit where even a newbie Photoshop-user can do this on their own!

Questions? Please post them below.  And I would love to see your after edits using this technique 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.

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