creative cloud – Page 3

Coastal 15 minute photo challenge

I know there are a lot of photographers out there who enjoy my 15 minute photo challenge videos, including me. Although I don’t get the chance to make as many as I once did they’re certainly not consigned to the history book… far from it.

If you’re new to my blog then you may be wondering what a fifteen minute photo challenge is. Basically its my way of sharpening my camera skills and training my photographers eye but limiting myself to a fixed amount of shooting time. Not only that but I’m also restricting the geographic area in which I can look for photos which can be a blessing and a curse. The end result is often unpredictable and always challenging, it often takes me out of my comfort zone which is always a good thing to do every once in a while.

Keep scrolling down to see a few of the final photos.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFU4SSEjYVs[/youtube]
Can’t see the video? Click Here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFU4SSEjYVs

Equipment used in the video:

Adobe Photoshop CC
http://www.adorama.com/ABPSCS6W.html?KBID=67338

Canon 60D
http://www.adorama.com/ICA60D.html?KBID=67338

Sigma 10mm-20mm
http://www.adorama.com/SG1020EOS.html?KBID=67338

Sigma 10mm-20mm
http://www.adorama.com/BRRS7.html?KBID=67338

Vanguard ABEO Plus 283CT Tripod
http://www.adorama.com/VGABEO283CT.html?KBID=67338

Vanguard GH-200 head
http://www.adorama.com/VGGH200.html?KBID=67338

Mist & Fog Brushes

This weeks Friday Freebie is a set of Photoshop Brushes that add beautiful mist and fog in just one click.

Full download instructions are below but you can also
Download the brushes for
Photoshop CS6 and beyond

Download the brushes for
Photoshop CS5 and earlier
(Also works with Elements)

If you’re wondering why there are two versions, maximum brush sizes in Photoshop CS6 (and in Photoshop CC) are twice as big as CS5 and earlier. To take advantage of this I’ve created two sizes of brush… be sure and download the correct one.

Once you’ve downloaded and unzipped the brushes they’ll need to be installed. The easiest way to do that is by opening the Brush panel and clicking the flyout menu in the top right corner. Click Load Brushes… and navigate to the light ray brushes that you downloaded and unzipped. Click here see a copy of the menu and information on where to click

To get the best from these brushes make a blank layer above your photo and set your foreground colour to white. Choose which brush you’d like to use and click once. You can then adjust the layer opacity and use free transform to resize and reposition the fog as you see fit. I found that using two or even all three mist brushes on separate layers often gave more realistic results the just using one but it all depends on the photo you’re using and the look you’re after.

If you create a photo using the Friday Freebie then let me (and everyone else) know by leaving the link in the comments below.

Usage rules
The brushes are copyright Gavin Hoey 2013. Use is limited to any personal, non-commercial purposes. Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original image without my permission.

Download instructions
Click on the correct download link
Download the brushes for Photoshop CS6, CC, CC2014 and beyond

Download the brushes for Photoshop CS5 and earlier (Also works with Elements)

1. On the download page, click the Download button

2. The download should start automatically

3. Unzip the file and install into Photoshop

No support is provided with the Friday Freebies. If you need help Google or YouTube the question and you’ll almost certainly find the answer

35mm Film Template

I found this weeks Friday Freebie whilst sorting through a pile of old slides I had gathering dust in my office. I’d used this one during the ’90’s in what was known at the time as a “slide sandwich” and was simply two slides pressed together to create a new third image when projected.

Full download instructions are below but you can also
Click Here To Download the 35mm film template

Although the days of the slide sandwich are far behind me, the technique of combining two (or more) images together is alive and well in Photoshop in the form of layers. To make life a little easier I’ve created a template from the 35mm film complete with a note of where your own photo should be added, a blending mode that should work with most photos and a grungy layer mask for if you need to reduce the texture from the centre of the film. Of course you can also change everything if you want.

At 5000 pixels on the longest edge and with lots of fine textured detail, this weeks Friday Freebie PSD template comes in at around 70mb. If you’re not on a fast internet connection if might take a few minutes to download.

As always, if you create a photo using the Friday Freebie then let me (and everyone else) know by leaving the link in the comments below.

Usage rules
The image/template is copyright Gavin Hoey 2013. Use is limited to any personal, non-commercial purposes. Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original image/template without my permission.

Download instructions
Click the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Mmmm3K1utNNXpONGJGTk9WUkU/view?usp=sharing

1. Click the Download button

2. The download should start automatically

3. Save the template to your hard drive

4. Open in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements

5. Paste your photo BELOW the 35mm layer

5 Questions about Photoshop CC

I very much doubt you missed the recent announcement from Adobe about the new version of Photoshop coming in June. To recap the next version will be called Photoshop CC and comes with some nice new features.

Adobe has also changed the way we purchase Photoshop (along lots of its other software titles) to a subscription only system that it calls Creative Cloud. This seems to be sending shockwaves rippling around the internet and as is so often the case not everything you read is true.

As someone who’s used Creative Cloud for the past year I’m well placed to give my impressions of the experience, so here are my answers the top 5 questions (in particular order) I keep hearing.

Please take a deep breath and read the whole post before commenting as I will be actively moderating them.

I’m happy with current version of Photoshop. Will that keep working once Photoshop CC comes out?
If you’re happy with your current version of Photoshop and either don’t want or need the new features of Photoshop CC then absolutely nothing will change for you. In fact I’d suggest you stop reading this now and get back to the more enjoyable things in life.

I’ve been told I must be online in order for Photoshop CC to work.
My PC is permanently online but my laptop is rarely online. Photoshop is installed on both machines and both work in exactly the same way. In fact unless I told you I was a Creative Cloud user, you’d never know the difference. Photoshop needs to running whilst you’re online once every 90 days otherwise it might stop.

I don’t like the idea of all my files being in the cloud.
Neither do I and neither do Adobe. The cloud bit of “Creative Cloud” is where you download the software from and where you can choose to save work too. I keep all my photo, files, videos etc firmly on my PC. However I do use my Creative Cloud space to share things with clients, friends and with you. Check out my Friday Freebies to see that in action.

At the end of my subscription I’ll be left with nothing
I suppose that’s true. If you stop subscribing you’ll be left with whatever you used before you started using Photoshop CC. I look at it like this. Every year I pay a small fortune for insurance on my photo gear and at the end of the year I get nothing in return… assuming I haven’t made a claim. At least with Photoshop you get something back whilst you’re subscribed.

If I stop subscribing will I loose access to my files?
If they’re on your hard drive then they’re not going anywhere. If you’ve used a new feature of Photoshop CC such as Camera Raw as a smart object layer then it will not be editable in older versions of Photoshop but it’ll still be there and your file will still open. You can also open PSD files in Photoshop Elements and a dozen other software packages from companies other then Adobe.

Photoshop CC won’t be everyone’s cup of tea and that’s fine. If you want the latest and greatest offering from Adobe or like me you need Photoshop and Premiere Pro the Creative Cloud is the perfect fit.

One more thing. If it wasn’t for Adobe’s Creative Cloud then there would have been a lot less Friday Freebies on gavtrain over the past year… just saying 😉

Smoke video clip

This weeks Friday Freebie is in two parts as I’m giving away a 30 second video clip of smoke and a tutorial on how to use the clip to create a simple animated text effect in Photoshop CS6

Full download instructions are below but you can also
Click Here To Download the smoke video clip

You can preview the video clip by clicking here

One of the headline new features of Photoshop CS6 is its ability to edit video clips with exactly the same skills you’d need to edit photos. Unlike Photoshop CS5 the video editing is available to all version of Photoshop CS6 not just the extended version.

Now I know most photographers are yet to embrace video and it’s certainly a very different discipline to learn but if you fancy trying your hand at video then this weeks Friday Freebie is for you.

Usage rules
The video clip is copyright Gavin Hoey 2013. Use is limited to any personal, non-commercial purposes. Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original video clip without my permission.

Download instructions
Click the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Mmmm3K1utNbzNDc0E3ZWhNc28/view?usp=sharing

1. Click the Download button

2. The download should start automatically

Once you’ve got the video you’ll need something to do with it. There’s plenty of ways you can use the clip but to get you started here’s a quick and simple text animation effect.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/sfQfPoTs64U[/youtube]

Slate Board Template

This weeks Friday Freebie is this slate board template. I found it in a cupboard whilst I was rummaging around looking for something completely different but as soon as I spotted this I knew it would make a great vintage template for all your retro styled photos.

Full download instructions are below but you can also
Click Here To Download the slate board template

I can imagine this template being used in lots of ways. You could paste on your own photo, resize it to fit over the slate and blend it in with a layer blending mode such as Overlay. Any photo should work but it probably lends itself best to a timeless, vintage style image.

Alternatively you could keep the template exactly how it is now and just add some text in Photoshop. Think of it as a chalkboard where you can write something witty or poignant… perfect for Facebook!

If you create a photo using the Friday Freebie then let me (and everyone else) know by leaving the link in the comments below.

Usage rules
The image is copyright Gavin Hoey 2013. Use is limited to any personal, non-commercial purposes. Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original image without my permission.

Download instructions
Click the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Mmmm3K1utNZ2lrRjczNV9QbW8/view?usp=sharing

1. Click the Download button

2. The download should start automatically

Free Chalk Texture

For this Friday Freebie I’m going to share a brilliant texture that I photographed just a few days back. Despite it being a very recent image it’s already made it in to several of my images for one reason… It’s an image I shot with my phone!

The texture is a close up photo of chalk that I found on a beach just outside Brighton in Sussex and it makes wonderful texture shots.

Full download instructions are below but you can also
Click Here To Download the Free Chalk Texture

As with most textures, it works best with any photo that has large areas of light colour. I’ve found it particularly effective in landscape photos which feature plenty of sky. To apply the texture simply paste it over your photo and use Free Transform (CTRL+T) to resize it to your photo. Then change the layer blending mode to either Multiply or Overlay. Other blending modes will also work but those two are a good start. I’ve left the orgianal colour in the texture but you may wish to remove the colour or alter the colour to create a different look.

If you create a photo using the Friday Freebie texture then let me (and everyone else) know by leaving the link in the comments below.

Download instructions
Click the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Mmmm3K1utNeGtRdlBDbm1jZ2s/view?usp=sharing

1. Click the Download button

2. The download should start automatically

The photos in this post were made in Photoshop Touch for Phone and I’m seriously impressed by what it can do. I’ll do a more in depth write up soon but for now let’s just say that at £2.99, it’ the cheapsest and most portable version of Photoshop you can buy.

It’s unlikely to replace full photoshop for me but I’m really impressed by just how good an image you can make whilst sitting in the car, which is where both these photos were editied. Photoshop Touch for Phone is avaiable in both iPhone and Android version but you’ll need a really up to date handset such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 that I use.