Teach_Yourself_Photoshop_Elements_2

PHOTO CLINIC

Now try this...

How Paul can enhance his

froggy close-up with

Photoshop Elements

Clone the background

Take the Clone Stamp tool and clone out

the bark, Alt-clicking to sample

suitable background pixels. Press Shift+[

to reduce the brush hardness when

cloning close to the frog’s head.

Refine

the tones

Add a Brightness/Contrast layer, and

set Brightness to 40. Add a Levels

layer, set Midtones to 1.20 and

Highlights to 230, then invert the

mask and paint the effect into the frog.

Boost the

colours

Cmd/Ctrl-click the mask to load it as a

selection. Add a Hue/Saturation layer

• the attached mask will be identical to
  the Levels layer’s mask. Set Saturation
  to +15. Crop the image to finish.

STEP BY STEP

Paul says “I recently won a day-long photography

workshop with Wild Arena at Knowsley Safari Park, near

Liverpool. Canon made a range of equipment available

for the winners to try, including the EOS 6D, 5D and 1D

X. The morning was spent driving around the park using

telephoto lenses, and I got to try out the EF 200-400mm

f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x and EF 500mm f/4L IS USM.

In the afternoon we took macro shots in a small studio.

This tree frog was placed on a twig positioned between

two studio lights, and a fine water mist was sprayed onto

it and into the air. I knelt down to take the picture from

slightly below, focusing on the eye.”

We say “You were very lucky to get the chance to try out

all that high-end kit, Paul, although of course, your 7D

and 100mm f/2.8L are no slouches either, as this image

shows. Amphibians and reptiles make great wildlife

subjects, thanks to their colourful and intricately detailed

skins, and tree frogs have the added appeal of those huge

eyes. You’ve focused this shot nicely to ensure the eye

is sharp, although the depth of field falls off a little too

quickly for my liking because of the 100mm focal length

• a slightly narrower aperture would have kept more
  of the head sharp. The frog is fairly well-positioned in
  the frame, but the object that looks like a piece of bark
  in the bottom-right corner is distracting, as it butts up
  against the frog’s chin and is similar in colour to the frog’s
  underside. I’ve cloned the object out; this is a relatively
  easy job, as the background has smoothly gradated and
  blurred tones, although it’s important to preserve the
  slightly out-of-focus edges of the frog’s head. With
  that done, I’ve made the frog stand out more from the
  background by lightening it, and boosting the colours and
  contrast with adjustment layers. Finally, I’ve cropped the
  image to make the frog a bit larger in the frame.”

Canon EOS 7D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro

Aperture f/14

Shutter speed 1/160 sec

Tree Frog

BY PAUL DIXON