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Light Depth with Layer Blending

 

Studio lighting can be quickly and easily dramatized by blending multiple layers.  Duplicate a layer with a subject by pressing Command – J (PC: Ctrl-J).  Desaturate the new layer, then adjust the Levels dialog (Command – L [PC: Ctrl-L]) to create  a strong contrast.  Now, apply a Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur) to the new layer and set its blend mode to Overlay, which amplifies the saturation of the base colors, while retaining the tonal contrast of the new layer.  This effect can provide a strikingly more provocative sense of depth with very little effort.

4 Comments

  1. Karol Ryan said on — June 29, 2009 @ 4:29 pm

    nice, very nice!

  2. Oh, the Drama. Free Photoshop Elements Action. | Digital Photography for Moms Pingback on — July 3, 2009 @ 1:02 pm

    [...] Photoshop featured a Tip of the Day last week on creating light depth with layer blending.  I loved it and created an action based on this [...]

  3. Erin said on — July 4, 2009 @ 6:53 am

    Great tip. I converted it into a free, Elements friendly action, it anyone would like it. The address is http://digitalphotographyformoms.net/2009/07/03/oh-the-drama-free-photoshop-elements-action/.

    Thanks for all the awesome info!

  4. April Siegfried » At the end of the hall… Pingback on — February 11, 2011 @ 4:42 pm

    [...] in the left hand doorway added during post-processing, using a simple technique I came across in January 2009 but never had a reason to employ—until now. In my imagination, [...]

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Create A Composite Layer

If you have a multilayer composition and you
want to apply an effect to all the layers at once, don’t flatten the layers–use a composite layer instead. Hide the layers you want excluded, and press Shift-Command-Option-E (PC: Shift-Ctrl-Alt-E). A new layer will be created at the top containing a merged copy of all the visible layers.

Another option is to create a new layer at the top of the stack and make it active. Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) each layer you want to include to make those layers active, as well. Press Option-Command-E (PC: Alt-Ctrl-E).
by Colin Smith

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