Still Journal :: #6. Extreme Contrast (Faux Bleach Bypass)

Still Journal is a weekly digest of accumulated links, tutorials, news, tricks, ideas and creativity on the culture and art of modern photography.

Still Journal is currently on hiatus - hope to resume updates soon.

Monday, July 16, 2007

The Effect of Disaster Photographed | "In a media-saturated world, the bombardment of imagery can have both a positive and negative influence on how we view the world." A thought provoking post.
The Exposure Project

FlickrShop | FlickrShop is a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop that allows you to upload images to Flickr photo sharing website directly from Adobe Photoshop.
macupdate.com

Digital Noise | What Is It? What Causes It? And How Can I Get Rid Of It?
mybuny.com

21 Tips for for Amateur Wedding Photographers | If you are smart, you will leave Wedding Photography to the Pros, but if you like to live on the edge then these tips might just see you through.
digital-photography-school.com

Please, no photos! | How do you socialize if you don't like to be photographed? An intriguing Ask Metafilter question with some innovative answers.
Ask Metafilter

Little People | A Tiny Street Art Project - little handpainted people, left in London to fend for themselves.
little-people.blogspot.com | via: DigiSniper

Monday, July 16, 2007

#6. Extreme Contrast (Faux Bleach Bypass)

Punch out the contrast and hold back the saturation of an image in this Faux Bleach Bypass technique.

I was searching for a Bleach Bypass technique using Photoshop when I came across a photoshopessentials.com article on Extreme Contrast which appears to give a very strong resemblence to this effect.

"In this Photoshop photo effects tutorial, we're going to learn how to use layers, layer blend modes, some noise, a little sharpening, and a simple adjustment layer to easily give a photo an 'extreme contrast' effect."

The key attributes of this effect, which is originally drawn from film based alternative processing, is increased contrast, reduced saturation and beautiful graininess.

I have used this article as the basis for my photo manipulation this week. The effect is very striking and add a lot of interest to an otherwise flat image.

Conclusion
The contrast brings out the detail in the carving and the texture from the noise/grain adds significantly more interest to the sky.

About The Photo
Stone carving known as Ponce stela - taken during at the Tiwanaku archeological site in Peru during my recent travel in South America.

Bleach Bypass Effect (reminiscingvisions.com)
Another great article on Bleach Bypass - complete with downloadable Photoshop actionset.

Red Paw's Bleach Bypass Plug-in (redpawmedia.com)
Red Paw has both a free (basic) and an advanced BleachBypass plug-in available for download. It's a great tool, but note that it only works with Windows versions of Photoshop.

Using Curves to Simulate Bleach Bypass (forums.creativecow.net)
Nice alternate method of getting the striking Bleach Bypass effect.

Posted on Saturday, July 21, 2007

#16. Paranormal Blurry TV Effect
An effect frequently used and abused by horror/thriller films these days - now you can give your still images a spooky look.
View Technique

#15. That Cross-Processed look
Take a few years of a photograph and give it that nostalgic colour shift.
View Technique

#14. Soft Focus for Holiday Shots
The technique of applying Soft Focus to a photo is not just for portraits - give a dreamy look to your holiday photos.
View Technique

#13. Black & White Colour Overlay
A distinctive method of bringing out detail and depth in a photo.
View Technique

#12. Simulating Light Leaks
Another bygone characteristic of the film age that you can resurrect with a simple layer trick in Photoshop.
View Technique

#11. Creating dramatic skies.
Give your skies more punch with a simple Photoshop layer effect.
View Technique

#10. Vintage Film Effect
A quick and easy way to transform an image back in time with a vintage film effect.
View Technique

#9. Morning Light
Give a dazzling morning glow effect to a photograph.
View Technique

#8. Grunge Effect
Give an aged and grungy look to a photo.
View Technique

#7. Half Sepia Toning
Give a warm, yet grungy look to a photo by applying a half sepia effect.
View Technique

#5. Velvia Effect
Add subtle saturation and depth to bring out the best in a colour photograph.
View Technique

#4. Digital Infrared Effect
Creating a dramatic infrared effect in Photoshop.
View Technique

#3. Lens Blur (Selective Focus)
Give your action shots a visual boost with this selective-focus/lens-blur effect.
View Technique

#2. Ray of Light
Adding shafts of light to photos with a single light source.
View Technique

#1. Faux Lomo Effect
A modern digital approach to creating a traditional alternative process.
View Technique