I have some photos that I want to look professional but,I was wondering if I could use photo shop to make them look professional.If so,where do I learn how to use photo shop?
I have some photos that I want to look professional but,I was wondering if I could use photo shop to make them look professional.If so,where do I learn how to use photo shop?
No, professional looking shots have to do with how well you compose your shots and making perfect exposures.
Photography is all about using the camera and shooting photos, photoshop was not designed to fix those photos, only enhance them
It can. Some of the best pictures in my portfolio were taken with a cheap camera phone, i did a little editing in Photshop, and it’s great.
But I am a Graphic Designer, not a photographer, and my end result was very heavy on the filters, and it was obviously an altered photograph. It’s more artistic. So you can take a good composition, and make it into something very cool. but it can’t turn you into a professional photographer. It can help if something is under or over exposed. It can help if you want to erase a branch, or fix someones makeup, whiten teeth. but if it’s a bad photos, then it’s a bad photo.
If you want to learn Photoshop the best thing is to get a copy of the program. You can also take a class, pick up a book, or Google it on the internet. Also just play around with the program.
There’s an old saying:
“You can’t polish a turd”…
There are few tools in photoshop or enhancing the looks and feel of the photograph i.e. Levels, curves and sharpen (smart sharpen works good. Its a filter.).
But the main thing is the person behind the camera. There is a photographer Mr.Raghu Rai in India who is God for all Indian Photographers. I remember one incident which is very famous about him. There is a event in India called “Kumbh Ka Mela”. This takes place every 12 years. Due to some reasons police stopped all the photographers from taking photographs but he daring dude took a pocket camera with some 30 rolls and entered. In evening he came out with more than 20 exhausted frames and people who saw the photographs said that he has covered the even so good that no one has ever done before.
You have heard “Less Is More”. The small equipments sometimes gives very good results. Even I am using Canon Powershot S5IS but it gives better results than those who are using DSLR. Yes, small cams have limitations but if the person behind the camera is making frames and compositions properly, no one can beat you with their huge gears!
The only thing you need is practice and a lot of practice.
You can edit an image to have different tone, saturation and effects, but the “looking professional” part comes from lighting, composition and knowledge of how to use the camera.
This shot was taken with a 3 meg point and shoot and I feel the effects I used in Adobe Elements enhanced the look. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/390244575_9fd9102a0c.jpg
I suggest you check out some YouTube tutorials for some free lessons.
If a photo doesn’t look professional to begin with, chances are that no amount of photoshopping is going to change that.
You might, however, make them ‘ARTISTIC’ in photoshop.
There are some great tools to enhance, manipulate and essentially turn this crap you took (that’s a joke but it’s funny, I don’t care who you are) into something profound and edgy.
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr34/GAlanFink/ShatteredGlass.jpg?t=1229188622
Just some broken glass but isn’t it cool now?