Thursday, March 22, 2007

Photography Effects

Let's be honest - we're not big fans of Photoshop effects. BlackBird Images photographers use Photoshop to edit images, but most of the time the more, um, "spectacular" effects some photographers use - especially on wedding photographs - don't enhance the photo. We never use an effect just for the sake of the effect instead of to enhance the photo.

With that said, though, we recently developed a Photoshop technique to make new images look like turn-of-the-century, sepia-toned photos printed on a coarse, linen-like paper. With the right photo it can look terrific:


Look at the enlarged versions closely and you can see the grain and linen overlay, especially near the bottom of the photo. This effect tends to work best when the setting makes the photograph appear it could have been taken decades ago. Choose the right frame and matte and if you like the look, some of your photos can have this vintage appearance, too.