Tag: friday freebie

Frosty Frames

It takes a brave photographer to ask someone to model for them on a cold and frosty day. Luckily I have a solution that’s a lot warmer! For this Friday Freebie I’m giving away two hi-res images of frosty frames which I created for an Adorama TV video.

Frost-Frame-12-EXAMPLE
Frost-Frame-1-EXAMPLE
Frost-Frame-2-EXAMPLE

To use them in Photoshop simply copy and paste them onto your image. Use Edit – Transform – Free Transform to resize and rotate as needed and then change the Layer Blending Mode from Normal to Screen.

Download instructions
       1. Click on the download link below
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_1ZwEvFMmWpc7ZY3voSEaqXHfrlKwEbS?usp=sharing

  1. Click the Download button download_icon (top left on thumbnail)
  2. The download should start automatically
  3. No support is provided. If you need help Google or YouTube the question and you’ll almost certainly find the answer

Textured Backgrounds For Flower Portraits

Backgrounds can make or break any photo. But if flowers and plants are your subject matter you’re somewhat stuck with the background that you find. That’s where these textures and patterns come in.

Double-A4-Texture-2
Double-A4-Texture-3
Double-A4-Texture-1
Double-A4-Texture-4

They’re pre-blurred for an instant depth of field effect. Simply print them out (they’re already sized for A4) on matte photo paper and pop one in behind your flower for an instant new background. I’ve sized these from small, single blooms, so that’s two backgrounds per A4 sheet, but you can crop and upscale as needed.

Download instructions
       1. Click on the download link below
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_1ZwEvFMmWpc7ZY3voSEaqXHfrlKwEbS?usp=sharing

  1. Click the Download button download_icon (top right of screen)
  2. The download should start automatically
  3. No support is provided. If you need help Google or YouTube the question and you’ll almost certainly find the answer

Instant Snow Flurry – Photoshop Action

Over the years I’ve made several free instant snow Photoshop actions and they’re still some off the most popular downloads on the site. But they all had one thing in common… they were very static!

So now I’ve updated my Instant Snow V2 Photoshop action to include a little bit of movement and motion blur. Instant Snow flurry uses my tried and trusted random snow generator, so the position of the flakes will always be different and there’s a choice of four different amounts of snow to choose from.

The Photoshop action always makes a copy of your original image and leaves the snow layers intact for you to adjust, colour or copy, paste and re-size over your original image. Of course you don’t have to keep them as snow. With a little bit of re-working it could be snow, dust, embers or any particles you can imagine!

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 Photoshop Action is copyright Gavin Hoey 2021. Use is strictly limited to any personal but non-commercial purposes. 
Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original action without my permission.

Download instructions
     1. Click on the correct download link below (no sign up is needed)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YFXWzmX3C-eJiNKd6hvZx9f7GnM5dtr0/view?usp=sharing

  1. Click the Download icon download_icon
  2. The download should start automatically
  3. Unzip the download and install the Photoshop Action
  4. When downloading, you may see a message saying “There was a problem with the network” Just ignore it
  5. 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
Instant-Snow-Flurry-Blizzard
Instant-Snow-Flurry-Heavy-Snow
Instant-Snow-Flurry-Light-Snow
Instant-Snow-Flurry-First-Flakes

Smoke Photography (almost) LIVE!

About 10 years ago I made a video all about photographing smoke patterns. Dig around on YouTube and you’ll find it but a lot has changed in that time and I don’t just mean how grey my hair has gone.

I felt it was time to revisit photographing smoke patterns and Olympus UK were kind enough to host the live shoot on their Facebook page. If you missed it live, you can catch the whole thing here

At the end of the demo I made a triptych from three smoke images. To save time I created a Photoshop action which automated the process down to one single click.

Since the demo I’ve had many requests for the triptych action, so here it is.

To action assumes a few things. First it will make the triptych from three images that are already open in Photoshop. Next it assumes they’re the newest images you have on screen. Finally, all the images need to be exactly the same size and shape.

Usage rulesThe Photoshop Action is copyright Gavin Hoey 2020. Use is strictly limited to any personal but non-commercial purposes. 
Please share the action by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original action without my permission.
No technical support is provided.

Download instructions     1. Click on the correct download link below (no sign up is needed)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11bJ2fcJsmuDYB4sKGTAv6trw1ozW0oqs

  1. Click the Download icon download_icon
  2. The download should start automatically
  3. Unzip the download and install the Photoshop Action
  4. No support is provided with the Photoshop action.
  5. If you need help Google or YouTube the question and you’ll almost certainly find the answer

Instant (Overhead) Rain Action

On a recent live stream I created an overhead, rainy day scene in my small home studio. If you missed it, I’ve added the video below. During the stream I added some rain using a Photoshop action and as promised, I’m sharing it here.

The action does a few things you need to be aware of. First it makes a duplicate of your image, so the original is always untouched. The effect is random, so running a few times will give different patterns of rain. I’ve also left the rain as layers, so you can fine tune as needs be and if you need a higher resolution version, you can copy, paste and re-size the rain to your original image.

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

Usage rules
The Photoshop Action is copyright Gavin Hoey 2020. Use is strictly limited to any personal but non-commercial purposes. 
Please share the action by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original action without my permission.
No technical support is provided.

Download instructions
     1. Click on the correct download link below (no sign up is needed)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wB5LoehRGOSYA1k3WF7suyNi94J3ep_e

  1. Click the Download icon download_icon
  2. The download should start automatically
  3. Unzip the download and install the Photoshop Action
  4. No support is provided with the Photoshop action.
  5. If you need help Google or YouTube the question and you’ll almost certainly find the answer

Light Textured Background

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a permanent studio and even fewer have the space for a textured wall. So being able to add texture to your portraits is a handy skill to have.

Of course for this to work you’ll need some great textures. So to start you off here’s one of mine. It’s a combination of multiple blank pages from old books and textures found mouldy surfaces… glamorous  work, it’s not!

The end result is a subtle texture with fine grain which makes it the perfect choice for portraits.

Usage rules
The image is copyright Gavin Hoey 2020. Use is limited to any personal but non-commercial purposes. Only share by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original image without my permission.

Download instructions
       1. Click on the download link below https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MmTbLar1DDb6dfssloUxq8koGSNYlDsP/view?usp=sharing

  1. Click the Download button download_icon (top right of screen)
  2. The download should start automatically
  3. No support is provided. If you need help Google or YouTube the question and you’ll almost certainly find the answer

Festive Stars Template

With the festive holidays fast approaching I thought I’d share my festive stars template. My planned use for this is that it will become a background for a fine art portrait but I’m pretty sure there’s plenty of other uses too.

To use this template, download it (see the link below) then open it in Photoshop. The template is made up of a bunch of layers, you need to paste your image into the one called “YOUR PHOTO HERE”. Make sure your photo stretches to the edges of the template and use a layer mask to hide or reveal whatever is under the stars.

You can see how I use it in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNVOAJI7Q4w

You can download my festive stars template here
https://adobe.ly/2AY2nvZ

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 festive stars template is copyright Gavin Hoey 2018. Use is strictly limited to any personal but non-commercial purposes.
Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original action without my permission.

Download instructions
     1. Click on the correct download link below (no sign up is needed)
https://adobe.ly/2AY2nvZ

  1. You may see a message saying “There was a problem with the network” Just ignore it
  2. Click the Download icon download_icon The download should start automatically
  3. Open the .PSD file in Photoshop
  4. Paste your photo into the layer “YOUR PHOTO HERE”
  5. 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

Instant Snow V2

Way back in 2013 I made a simple Photoshop action that made snow. As it turns out it makes REALLY good looking snow and even today it’s regularly in the top three most visited pages of my blog.

The secret to it’s success is down to it’s one click simplicity which runs the action, makes three layers of snow and still keeps your original image intact. The snow it makes can then be tweaked, copied and saved for future use.

Five years on an I felt it was time for a refresh, so here it is. You can download Instant Snow V2 here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1s6EUBs5jFwPN-ZnszTTMB11W1ZT9_kuu

Instant Snow v2 now has four levels of snow effect. Blizzard, Heavy Snow, Light Snow and  First Flakes.

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 Photoshop Action is copyright Gavin Hoey 2018. Use is strictly limited to any personal but non-commercial purposes. A commercial license is available.
Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original action without my permission.

Download instructions
     1. Click on the correct download link below (no sign up is needed)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1s6EUBs5jFwPN-ZnszTTMB11W1ZT9_kuu

  1. You may see a message saying “There was a problem with the network” Just ignore it
  2. Click the Download icon download_icon
  3. The download should start automatically
  4. Unzip the download and install the Photoshop Action
  5. 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

F-Stop Chart

Flash meters are super helpful for lots of reasons but to really get the most from them you also need to know your f stop aperture numbers. You might already know that you need one more stop of light to move from f/5.6 to f/8 but how good are your intermediate f stops. For example you want to shoot at f/8 but your flash meter tells you f/7.1 or even f5.6.8, how close are you to your target aperture?

Learning the full stop scale is a must for any serious photographer and for me, so is learning the third stops too. Tenth stops is a bit more niche but many flash heads work in tenths. So to help you learn and as a quick reminder for me, I made an f-stop chart

Usage rules
The chart is copyright Gavin Hoey 2018. Use is limited to any personal but non-commercial purposes. Do not redistribute the original images without my permission.

Download instructions
       1. Click on the correct download link below (no sign up is needed)
        https://drive.google.com/file/d/12H6LrCVIgkA_R0PEKCTfZtlrd8rkh61s/view?usp=sharing

  1. Click the Download button download_icon
  2. The download should start automatically
  3. 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

Wall of sound background

Recently I needed a wall of speakers in my studio to make an amazing background for an upcoming music shoot. But after a bit of thought I realised there were three major problems with the idea. First, my studio space is a lot smaller then my imagination. Second, I don’t have easy access to the 25 – 30 speakers I would need for a person sized wall and third, what would I do with all those speakers after the shoot? However I do own one small PA amp (I use it during my camera club talks) and of course I have Photoshop.

So here it is, a wall of sound in my studio and all it took was a couple of photos plus an hour or two in Photoshop. The only thing missing is a musician but I’ll get to that in a later post. In the meantime, I’m sharing this background as a Friday Freebie.

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 images are copyright Gavin Hoey 2018. Use is limited to any personal but non-commercial purposes. Please share the Friday Freebie by linking back to this page. Do not redistribute the original images without my permission.

Download instructions
       1. Click on the correct download link below (no sign up is needed)
          https://adobe.ly/2AUg8td

  1. Click the Download button download_icon
  2. The download should start automatically
  3. 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