My latest video involved stylized highlights for photographic design. This technique works especially well for head shots, but can be used anywhere you want to emphasize highlights in your photography.
I used this picture of my friend Erica and I from Halloween. I’ve been slightly homesick lately, so editing photos of friends makes me feel closer to home. Weird, but it works. Start by opening an image. Click on channels, load the luminosity and create a new alpha channel. With white in the foreground fill your selection. Inverse your selection and darken the background. Inverse again and fill with more white. Create a new blank image and drag your photo to the canvas. Select your alpha channel and transform the image. I zoomed and shifted this image for more effect. Still working in the alpha channel, add a gradient overlay to your image. I also used the brush tool, with a low opacity, to brush more effect into our eyes and lips. Click back to your layers. Load the selection as an Alpha 1 inverted. If you want, choose a color and fill the image with color. I chose crimson, since this was Halloween at WSU. You can also create a new layer and add more gradient to the edges of your image. As a final touch, add text. It’s not necessary, but in this photo tutorial the instructor added text. Optional effects for text include blend modes, drop shadows or gradients. I chose to emboss my text. Viola, you just completed stylized highlights in your image!
I wanted to give a shout out to my girl Erica. She is certainly one of my besties and I am so thankful to have her as a friend. Aside from my parents, since moving to China I probably talk to her more than anyone else. We can literally talk on Skype for hours (I think one night it was three!). So thank you to Erica, and all my friends, for being such great people. As an only child, my friends are my siblings! LYLAS
♥ BB
OHhhh I would be PMSing and read your sweet blog!! *Tear* lol Thanks for the shout out, I miss you too!