Special Effects

Article: Tutorial: Creating Orbitals in Photoshop Elements 9.How to create a fun special effect in 5 easy steps

How to do you create Orbitals, a special effect that flips, twirls and transforms images into round art objects? Let’s take a closer look at this fun effect.

Article: Fun with a Lensbaby.Optic swaps, sweet spots, and selective focus for in-camera effects

In an earlier tutorial I showed how to create a faux Lensbaby effect in Photoshop. But like many digital darkroom techniques, it can’t quite replace the real thing.

Article: Five amazing camera and subject motion special effects.Slow down your shutter speed and do incredible things

Go ahead—move your camera, zoom your lens, encourage your subjects to move around, and even throw your camera...while the shutter is open. Welcome to the wonderful world of slow shutter speed and camera and subject motion!

Article: Modify your your Digital Camera for Infrared Photography.Infrared photography is easier than ever, thanks to some clever, warranty-voiding customizations.

Because the imaging sensors in digital camera are sensitive to more than visible light, some manufacturers place an infrared cut-off filter in front of the chip to block IR light from striking it and causing color balance problems.

Article: B&W Solarization in Photoshop Elements.Groovy "old school" darkroom effect goes digital

"Oooh, you know how to solarize?" In the early 70s, my friends were impressed that not only had I mastered solarization—the special effect that transforms photos into wild, other-worldly images by combining positive and negative renderings on the same photo--by the tender age of 13

Article: 3D Photography Grows Up.Get out your red-cyan glasses: We show you how to create 3D images in Adobe Photoshop

Remember reading comic books or going to the movies and donning those odd-looking cardboard eyeglasses with translucent red over one eye and cyan over the other so you could see the images in eye-popping stereo? You can create Anaglyph 3-D photos digitally!

Article: Wiggle 3D: How To Make Animated 3D Images.Play with your brain’s depth perception using animated GIFs

Put a funky new spin on stereoscopic digital photography, and have a ball with Wiggle 3D.

Article: How to Build a Two-Camera Rig for Wiggle 3D.Create 3D images with this do-it-yourself two-camera rig

When the action is moving and you ant to catch it in 3D, a single camera won't do. Here's how to create a support for two cameras that you can shoot simultaneously for 3D action photography!

Article: How to make a digital pinhole camera.Low tech meets hi res!

One of the advantages of film photography was that it was relatively easy to make a pinhole camera. You could learn a lot about how cameras work by making one, and it is still a great way to teach kids about the technical side of photography.

Article: PPSOP: Painting with Shutter Speed.Noooooooo Tripods Allowed!

The following is a free sample lesson from Adorama's online photography partner school, the Perfect Picture School of Photography (PPSOP). Go here to check out the full course listings!

Article: Color Solarization in Photoshop Elements.A groovy "Old School" darkroom special effect

One of the reasons I loved my black-and-white darkroom as a kid was that it was fairly easy to set up and use.

Article: Bas Relief in Photoshop Elements.An old-school darkroom special effect technique, digitized up

Bas Relief (pronounced bar relief) is one of those funky, esoteric darkroom techniques that I rarely used because, frankly, it was too much of a bother.

Article: High-Contrast B&W in Photoshop Elements.Hw to create a groovy "Old School" darkroom special effect without smelling like fixer.

I loved high-contrast printing using Agfa #6 high-contrast paper. This legendary paper’s characteristics were that it produced practically no midtones. It reduced images to blacks and whites and little else.

Article: Special Effects (Fish Eye).Your guide to digital camera scene modes

There was a time when using a compact, point-and-shoot camera meant doing without most of the creative versatility that SLR cameras deliver. The advent of digital photography has changed that substantially. Many advanced digital cameras have one or more creative modes built in.

Article: Make a fake lake.Faux fun in Photoshop

One way to increase an image’s drama is to add environmental elements such as water.

Article: Digital infrared...in color?.Can you really fake color infrared digitally? Do you really have a choice any more?

Kodak Professional High Speed Infrared (HIE) film was a high-speed color slide film with moderately high contrast and was sensitive to light and radiant energy to 900 nanometers (nm) in wavelength. But it's gone now.

Article: Digital Infrared Basics.Infrared photography is easier than ever, thanks to digital cameras.

Back in the days of IR film, you had to use special film and load and unload your camera in total darkness to reduce the damage of fogging.

Article: Driven to Abstraction.Look for colors and patterns

Abstract photography concentrates on colors and patterns rather than recognizable subjects.

Article: Zoom in Adobe Photoshop.It's never too late to add the zoom during exposure look

How to emulate a classic shooting technique after the fact.

Article: Hand-colored look? Use the History Brush.A simple way to select a color

Adobe Photoshop includes a wonderful tool called the History Brush. It allows you to Undo virtually any single operation that has been performed on an image—and do it selectively, via carefully applied brushstrokes.

Article: Slow Shutter Speed Action Panning.Show movement

A common newbie mistake when photographing sports is to use the fastest shutter speed to freeze action. That’s fine where there is a peak of action, as in basketball and baseball. The Sports mode on many cameras selects short exposures to stop movement.

Article: Transform backgrounds with Chroma-key.How I created a digital homage to 50's monster films

You can easily drop in any background when you shoot your subject in front of a Chroma-key blue or green screen. Here's how you can do it in Photoshop.

Article: How to create a toy camera look, digitally.Get the Holga/Diana look in digital cameras and your digital darkroom

The Holga camera was first made in Hong Kong in 1982 and uses 120 roll film because that was the most widely available film in China at the time. It’s name, disputed by some, purportedly comes from the Chinese phrase ho gwong meaning “very bright.”

Article: Special effects with marvelous Mylar.Playing with our favorite reflective surface

Mylar is the trademarked name for a specific type of polyester film. It's used in packaging for a wide variety of products and comes in a host of colors, finishes, thicknesses, and sizes. But what's good for potato-chip bags is not good for creative photography.

Article: Artistic photomontage effects.Blending layers in Photoshop and other image editing programs can lead to wonderfully creative surprises

Download these three images and follow along with me using these low-res versions of my working files and your image editor as I show you how to create some stunning effects that rely on blending interactions between image layers.

Article: A slide sandwich--with a dash of digital.Digital composites are easier to put together than slide sandwiches--all you need's a blender!

I was shooting at a wetlands area at sunrise--a target-rich environment--with my Canon 20D and Sigma f/4.5 500mm lens. The full moon was about an hour away from setting. Wouldn't it be great if I could get a shot of birds flying in front of the moon?

Article: Drops of inspiration.Images in water droplets and wine goblets are magical

After the next rain, stroll outdoors, paying attention to all the sparkling drops of water clinging to branches and bushes. Look closely. You'll see an upside down image of a nearby leaf or flower in each drop of water. What wonderful subjects for your photographs!