Date of publication:31.10.2014
With this article we are opening a new project "I'm a photographer", within which we will share with you the experience of photography. New tutorials on all aspects of photography will be released weekly. The lessons will be aimed at different levels of reader training: from beginner to advanced photographer. I will lead this project, Konstantin Voronov, professional photographer and photography teacher.
Of course, each of us at least once filmed on a phone or a simple "soap box". However, many people want not only to take pictures for memory, but also to get beautiful, high-quality photographs, to get pleasure from the process of photographing, and when uploading photos to the Internet, have many “likes” under them.
How to become a photographer? Where to begin? Many people ask this question every day. To begin with, I'll give you some general tips to help you avoid common mistakes at the start, and dispel a few common misconceptions about photography.
NIKON D810 / 70.0-200.0 mm f / 4.0 SETTINGS: ISO 100, F4, 1/80 s, 95.0 mm equiv.
And we will start with delusions.
Misconception # 1.
“A good camera takes good photos”
This is not true. Good photographs are taken not by a camera, but by a photographer. Many people, before taking pictures on their own, think that professional photographers get good, quality shots due to the use of expensive equipment. However, the camera is only a tool. How to use it, the owner decides.
If a person who does not know how to paint is given the best, most expensive brushes and paints, the result will be exactly the same as when using the simplest and cheapest. Nice brushes and paints will show all their possibilities only in skillful hands. It's the same with photography.
While working with the students, I often came across newbies who had the most expensive, most professional cameras in existence. Were such students better than others? No. On the contrary: their pictures were worse because they could not make sense of the sophisticated photographic equipment designed for experienced professionals.
It is best to choose a camera not by its belonging to the professional class or the highest price category, but by how well it suits your level of training and your tasks. For example, many expensive professional cameras like the Nikon D810 do not have automatic mode and scene programs ("portrait", "landscape", "macro", etc.), which makes working with them incredibly difficult for novice photographers: you have to delve into unknown settings for a long time. At the same time, many cameras entry levelNikon D5300 or Nikon D3300, for example, can take excellent pictures on a full automatic basis: the photographer can only choose the most interesting subjects without thinking about the technical side of the issue.
How to choose a camera? Choose not the “best professional camera”, but the model that suits your skills and your tasks. To do right choice, it is enough to understand how seriously you want to take photographs, whether you are going to learn to photograph, or whether you just want to take pictures for memory.
Misconception # 2
“Taking pictures is easy!”
As with many creative pursuits, photography seems to be a very simple thing until you do it yourself. For example, like playing musical instruments, dancing, singing ... You look at a professional dancer and think: “How easy and natural he does it! It seems that this is not difficult! I can do the same! ” But when you try to do at least a couple of dance moves on your own, it turns out that it is not so easy: at least you need special training.
It's the same with photography: despite its seeming simplicity, it is quite difficult to photograph well. After all, this requires a lot of knowledge and skills. Moreover, both technical (how to set up a camera, for example) and creative (how to compose a shot, how to choose the right lighting). Sometimes we are talking about issues that seem to be indirectly related to photography. For example, how to plan a tourist trip to get a lot of good shots; how to make a child sit still while they are being photographed ... By the way, we will cover all these topics within the framework of this project. Stay tuned!
On the other hand, when you have the necessary experience, photographing is really easy and enjoyable. The camera does not interfere with getting good shots, and the composition is built intuitively. But for this you need to train, study, gain experience.
Misconception # 3
“To learn how to take pictures, you just need to learn the technique and press the buttons on the camera correctly”
Shooting technique and parameters are only a part of the required skills. And by the way, the part is the simplest. How do I adjust the exposure? How do I control focus? What is White Balance? - all these technical issues are solved easily and simply, and with regular training they are fixed and remain with the photographer forever. This is the arithmetic of photography, two plus two. But photography is, first of all, creativity. But the creative component is much more complicated and not so unambiguous. How do I compose the shot? What to show in the photo? What subject is worth photographing? These and many other creative issues are constantly tormented by photographers and solve them with varying degrees of success. Of course, it is worth starting training in photography from the basics, from technology. But it's too early to end there.
NIKON D5200 / 18.0-105.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 SETTINGS: ISO 1100, F4.5, 1/60 s, 38.0 mm equiv.
The main problem of most novice photographers is not a lack of good photographic equipment or even a lack of some special skills. The main problem is the lack of artistic taste. Build yourself a good artistic taste! See photos of famous photographers, visit exhibitions. By the way, and when you last time were in the Hermitage and the Tretyakov Gallery? Analyze the work of real masters: why did the artist or photographer decide to show exactly this and exactly how? How is the composition arranged? How did the author work with light?
Visiting exhibitions, viewing galleries of famous photographers and artists on the Internet is what will give you a good baggage for your personal creativity. And vice versa: it is better not to watch bad, mediocre things.
Why is it important? Imagine what happens if a person who has never seen a single picture is given brushes and paints in his hands? Most likely, he will not understand what to do with them; at best, he will portray something in the spirit of rock art. For example, some isolated African tribes are unable not only to perceive images on a plane, but even to distinguish colors that are not responsible for their survival, are not found in their environment. Because no one taught them this, they do not have the necessary experience for this. It is natural for a person to use what he has seen, accumulated experience in his life and work. This experience is a must. As photographers say, “you have to be seen”.
As we know, lying on the couch at home, good photos you won't! Walk your camera! Travel, walk, visit interesting places: exhibitions, festivals, sports events. Thus, you will become a witness of interesting subjects for shooting, gain the experience necessary for shooting in different conditions... If we talk about landscape photography, then it is generally unthinkable without travel. By the way, as well as portrait: after all, often for shooting a good portrait you need to find a beautiful place, a good background, and only then take a beautiful photo of the model.
There is also a purely psychological aspect: in a journey, regardless of its distance, a person gains impressions, inspiration, and is charged with creative energy.
NIKON D810 / 70.0-200.0 mm f / 4.0 SETTINGS: ISO 400, F4.5, 1/200 s, 200.0 mm equiv.
To make progress in your photography, and to increase the number of beautiful pictures, you need to be critical of your creativity. You should not rest on your laurels, be able to see flaws in your works, even if everyone praises them.
For example, the harshest critic of my work is myself. I know better than any critic what and where the mistakes lie in my photographs. Analyzing my photographs, I understand that I could have shot even better. And the next time I shoot, I try to do it. Believe me, you will get great pleasure from correcting your own shortcomings, and your pictures will become more and more beautiful!
Any creativity starts with a technical foundation. Photography is no exception. To write books, you need to learn the alphabet, grammar, spelling of the language. Of course, modern cameras have excellent automation that will allow you to get good shots with the press of a single button, without thinking about any settings.
However, those who shoot in auto mode know that automation often makes mistakes: either the brightness of the picture is not the same, then the colors are not the same, then the sharpness is not there. But I really want to tell the camera how it should have been done! To fully control the shooting process and not depend on the quirks of automation, it is worth learning the rather simple technical fundamentals of photography. How is the image formed in the camera? What is exposure? What is White Balance? How does focusing work? Understanding how everything works and the ability to set up your camera will allow you to take high quality pictures and have complete control over the shooting process “from and to”. By the way, in the next lessons we will talk about these technical fundamentals.
When you start photographing, it seems that professional growth comes very quickly. You will measure your skill by the improvements you see in your work and photos you take. In this article, I will talk about the things I learned in four years of photography and share tips for aspiring photographers for professional growth.
Here are ten things I would like to know before I start shooting:
1. Vision changes
Once you get serious about photography, you will never see things the same again. If your experience of critically studying things is the same as mine, you will find yourself staring intently at every photo and video you see. It became almost impossible for me to watch a film without analyzing the cinematography and the method of shooting. Cinema is a unique medium, but I still draw a lot of inspiration from professional photography.
Once you start chasing good pictures, you can count on your lifestyle to change. Waking up early or staying awake late into the night to get unique lighting will become a routine part of life. Personally, I think taking a closer look at good photographs is a great way to improve your work. If you plunge headlong into the world of photography, it will make the right lobe of the brain work more actively.
2. It's an expensive hobby
Photography is not cheap, especially if you plan on actively buying equipment. After purchasing your first DSLR, you signed up to buy a "system" of lenses and flash units that only work with that brand. If after that you want to sell everything and switch to another brand, it can cost a lot of money (I've done this enough times and I know what I'm talking about).
Buying a camera will force you to buy add-ons that are only compatible with it.
There are two approaches to avoiding the costly side of photography: First, don't tie success to the equipment you use. That is, you cannot convince yourself that an additional lens will make your work perfect. When it comes to equipment, there is no magic wand; the best approach is to buy everything you need gradually and thoughtfully.
Second, cut costs through savings. Buying used equipment seemed daunting at first, but over time it became a chance to buy cameras and lenses that were beyond my capabilities. Clever decisions such as buying a quick fix focus (more on that later) can help you cope with equipment collection syndrome. Keep reading and learn how to make the right choices.
3. Skip your feet
When I first started studying exposure, my mistake, which I often talk about, is trying to study its mathematical scale. Measuring stops of light and memorizing the f-number scale is a huge waste of time.
Study of allf-numbers and cramming the exposure scale are common for newbies, but they are not the best use of your time.
It is more important to understand how the exposure triangle works, as well as learn how to balance and be creative with the exposure. Don't worry about counting your feet and conveying the light perfectly, as there are many other things, like posing models correctly and controlling lighting.
4. Switch to manual mode
The sooner you start to truly control the exposure, the sooner you will cease to be the person who is just clicking buttons. This is not always easy - you need to learn a lot about metering, exposure, focus, and other things.
Going beyond the automatic exposure mode is the most important step to go from beginner to master. Once you begin to take control of the photograph and learn to deal with the nuances of exposure, you turn the work upside down and you can anticipate the result. You will use lighting, create creative exposures, and come up with many scenarios that the camera can handle on its own.
A tricky backlight situation.
A great intermediate step is learning how to control one additional factor at a time. Start by understanding ISO, how it affects the shot, and the light that hits the sensor. Then you can move on to controlling shutter speed and aperture, also examining the visual changes from them. Working on exposure or aperture is an important training step towards full manual exposure control.
5. Shooting takes time
It sounds painfully primitive, but I've often forgotten that the only way to really improve my skills is to hold a camera in my hands every day, constantly taking pictures. The only way I could use it was to set aside time for filming between school and work.
How can you get better if you don't take the time to shoot? It seems so obvious, but like many, I fell victim to this belief. Shooting with friends and the presence of a competitive element - two better way keep yourself busy with filming and improve skills.
A great way to keep taking photos is to challenge yourself. If I have a task, even one assigned by me, the chances of me getting out and taking pictures are much higher. There are tons of photo challenges on the Internet that will not let you relax. If you choose this approach, various challenges and assignments will help keep yourself creative.
6. Prioritize Lenses
The key to avoiding unnecessary spending on equipment is to make smart purchases and use them right away. The first two years of my photography career were spent jumping from one carcass to the next. I was chasing megapixels, more focal points, and anything else that I thought should improve my shots. In the process, I always found a way to avoid buying what really mattered: lenses!
Getting attached to the cheap kit lens that comes with your camera will limit your options. While you can take great pictures with a standard lens, it has its limitations; these are usually 18-55mm lenses with a slow aperture, which forces you to shoot only in well-lit areas. If you cut it down to f / 8 or so, the pictures will be sharp, but not enough.
It might seem like this point contradicts one of the previous ones, constantly demanding more equipment for better shots, but there is a reasonable grain in buying lenses. It is much more important to make the right choice by purchasing a faster (wider aperture) lens that will produce great shots.
7. Don't rush to become a pro
After you've been shooting for a while and have already started exhibiting your work, there will be a chance that you will receive your first orders. Whether it's a friend's graduation portrait, landscape photography for print, or a wedding (the most dangerous thing to do), friends will always look for someone (usually cheap) to capture their precious moments.
Of course, the chance to quickly monetize your hobby looks very attractive. This will help you buy new equipment and make ends meet. However, there are some nuances that cannot be predicted. Dealing with difficult clients who terminate a contract at the last moment, risks of legal liability and many other things are all integral parts of the professional process. No matter what your relationship with the client is, you will always be in the position of receiving payment for the services provided. Take your time to get into professional photography and be careful.
8. Always take your camera with you
You will never get good shots if the camera is at home. I told myself that if I left my camera at home just once, that day I would lose my chance to win the award for photojournalism that I had been waiting for. Therefore, you can rarely see me without a camera. It doesn't matter if you carry your DSLR or iPhone with your favorite app, your photography tool should always be at hand!
It is impossible to take pictures without a camera. Whether it's a DSLR, a soap dish or a smartphone camera, you should always have a shooting tool close at hand to improve your photography skills.
What's more, the carry-with-go philosophy has largely shaped my recent hardware decisions. I will not buy another huge carcass that will lie in the bag, because what difference does it make how high-quality it is if it is not used anyway. I don't need this at all.
9. Buy a quick fifty dollars
If your current camera has an interchangeable lens type, I can't think of a better “second” lens than 50mm. Typically their apertures are f / 2, f / 1.8, f / 1.4, which is great for low light shooting and allows you to control depth of field in a way that a whale lens never can. If you are using a smaller APS-C format sensor, a 35mm lens will create almost the same field of view as a fifty-kopeck piece on a full-frame camera.
A 50mm f / 1.8 lens is almost always recommended and for a reason. With a wide aperture, you can shoot in low light conditions and work creatively with depth of field.
For me, the main creative opportunity is depth of field control. If you are not familiar with this concept, it is responsible for how much of the frame's content is in focus. Lenses with wide apertures (such as f / 1.8) allow only a small portion of the image to be in focus.
10. Examine the camera in detail
Another way to improve your photography skills is to understand the tools you are working with. When you don't have to think about which buttons to press and what technical decisions to make, you can approach photography from a creative side. You're thinking about lighting, not the numbers on the aperture dial. If you study every option, every setting, every camera control, it becomes an eye extension.
It may sound silly, but a thoughtful reading of the camera manual is a great way to get started. It's even better to shoot every day, diving more and more into the settings.
conclusions
Looking back over the four years that I've been seriously involved in photography, it's hard to even say how much photography has influenced my life. From the friends I have met to the commercial experience that has come over time, photography can be a great positive experience for both amateurs and professionals who have been doing it all their lives.
What things would you like to know when you first started filming? What have you learned during your career as a photographer?
“You need to find what you love.
And this is as true for work as it is for relationships.
Your job will fill most of your life and the only one
the way to be completely satisfied is to do what
which in your opinion is a great thing.
And the only way to do great things is to love what you do "
Steve Jobs
What does it take to become a stock photographer (illustrator)?
If you do not know how to sell your photos on the Internet, what you need to start cooperating with photobanks - read this article.
First of all, you need to understand that money is not paid just like that anywhere, including in photo banks.
Collaboration with photo banks is the same job as any other. The only difference is that it allows you to combine a creative component, a decent level of payment and independence from where you live.
It is better to work with several banks at once, because this increases income, and does not require much more effort if you load by 1-2 (if you attribute the photo immediately in Photoshop in the file properties and send files via FTP to all stocks). Another positive point in working with several photobanks - if for some strange reason they did not take a good photo from you in one, they will most likely take it for sale in another.
Here's what you need to get started first:
For photographers: a high-quality camera, any SLR will do. Basic work in Photoshop. For illustrators: knowledge vector programs and the ability to draw; ...
Computer literacy and a computer with Internet access. Moreover, it is desirable that access was not via a regular modem (Dial-up connection), but via an ADSL connection or a dedicated line. You will often need to upload large amounts of data to photobanks, so it is best to take care of the convenience of this process. Although, many at the initial stage manage to get by with Dial-up access. Availability ;
Basic knowledge of English. You will need it in order to compose short description their works, and select keywords for them. A job description is just one short sentence (about 5 words). And the optimal number of keywords is from 30 to 50. At first, it's convenient to use a free online translator or this one from Google. Shutterstock has a lightweight keyword search feature (more info at).
Sufficiently high-quality work with topics suitable for stock photography (people in different situations, isolated objects on a white background, etc.)
These works will be needed for the exam, which is available when registering with leading photo banks. It is desirable that the resolution of your work is at least 4 megapixels (for example, 2000x2000 pixels). Otherwise, you will not be able to work with all photo stocks. If your photos show faces or other recognizable body parts of people (tattoos, piercings, etc.), then you will have to sign with them. This is a one-page document that must be signed by the photographer, model and one bystander.
After that, proceed to registration in photobanks.
Requirements for work
First, the quality. The work must be at least 4 megapixels (resolution 2000x2000 for example), jpg format maximum quality (minimum compression quality), sRGB color space.
If this is a photograph: the photo is checked at 100% magnification, there should be no noise on it, there should be correct exposure and white balance, there should be no HA (blue or red border on the edges of objects, easily removed when converting RAW), the frame should be sharp and contain any idea (except in the case of an isolated photo of objects or something like that), the focus should be where the buyer wants to see it.
In more detail, the issue of requirements for the quality of images on microstock is discussed in the article:
If it is 3d: at 100% magnification, there should be no noise and polygons of objects (smoothing, smoothing and again smoothing :)), the model or plot should not be very simple, or should contain an idea as in the cases of conceptual works. In addition, the photo or 3d should not contain compression artifacts that are obtained during translation, for example, from tiff format in jpg if you set compression, you should save work only with quality level 12 regarding Photoshop.
Requirements for video clips:
- duration - no more than 60 seconds, NTSC 29.97fps or PAL 25fps
- frame size - at least 480 in height, aspect ratio at least 4: 3
- any digital format file including DV, Windows Media and QuickTime
- sound accompaniment missing or you are its copyright holder
- absence of logos, recognizable faces and brands in the frame without a permit release.
Secondly, the topic. This is a very important point, which not all beginner stockers manage to meet.
Topics are in demand: business, people, health, sports, subject photography (mainly on a white background).
Unclaimed: flowers, cats, dogs, view from the plane's window, forest.
Third, the keywords and description of the photos on english language... The most important thing to remember here, despite the fact that you can write descriptions of photos immediately after uploading the file to the stock, it is completely inconvenient, since with a large number of photos and stocks, this is a rather laborious work.
But the way out of this situation is simple. After processing the file in Photoshop, just open File - File info, in the window that appears, fill in the three fields of interest to us:
Title (title);
Description (discription);
Keywords (keywords).
We will use the keyword selection system - the Service for the selection of keywords, by entering in the "Key words for search:" one or more keywords in English vividly describing your work (for example, if you photographed a tree, you can enter "nature tree") and from the appeared works, select the ones that are most similar to yours, then you will be taken to a list based on your choice. Shutterstock has a lightweight keyword search feature (more info at).
Next, select the required ones (30-50 pieces) and fill them in keywords in Photoshop. Put your keywords in a specific order - the most important words come first. This determines where the image is on the search pages. IN keywords should be what is in the photo, and not what is not there. Spam in keywords and descriptions can lead to account blocking.
The title (title) can be described in a few words, and in the description (discription) it is necessary to write what is shown in the picture, and perhaps some nuances, such as isolated on white.
If the photo shows an architectural monument, a building with a special design, then you may need to prop a release (), which can also be found on photo banks. You should not be afraid of this, because, as a rule, many architectural structures are entered in the register of permitted for filming, and if you yourself, for example, painted a picture that you photographed, you can fill out a proper release for yourself.
In what sequence to master banks of photos:
There are 2 ways here, and it's up to you to decide which one is more suitable for you:
1. The most common way is to start with
Here is a cycle of lessons that teach you how to use graphic editor Photoshop is an incredibly popular and indispensable tool in web design that allows you to create not only buttons, banners and logos for your website, but even entire layouts. The design of almost any site you visited was originally drawn in Photoshop, so knowledge of this program will be definitely useful for a webmaster, although the skills of image processing and creating your own drawings will not harm a common PC user either. Digitizing photos, retouching old pictures, creating postcards and collages - this is just the beginning of a long list of useful actions that the editor allows you to perform, and a series of lessons will help you get comfortable with it.
Bookmark this page so you don't lose the table of contents and consistently study article after article, comprehending more and more new techniques of working in Photoshop.
But what will you learn in these lessons?
- 1 Getting Started in Photoshop - Quick Selection and Filling
Here you will get acquainted with the program interface, find out what the main interface elements are for, learn how to create documents and save them, master the selection of areas on the canvas. Also from the lesson you will understand how to fill areas with color, you will understand the principles of working with the program. After mastering the information, you will learn how to perform simple actions and you can learn other editor tools on your own.
- 2 Layers and text
Everything photoshop images are built on layers. That is why editing in the program is so convenient. The lesson will tell you what layers are, why they are needed and how to work with them. In addition, it describes techniques for creating and processing labels, as well as moving objects on the canvas. After completing the lesson, processing multi-layered documents will not be a problem for you.
- 3 Filters
You will become familiar with a huge library of image-changing scripts. The filters of the editor can not only give the finished image this or that effect, but even create new objects and frame the photo.
- 4 Working with images
The article provides the basics of processing existing graphic files... Editing several images at once, moving objects from one drawing to another, resizing and removing unnecessary parts - this is just an incomplete list of lesson topics.
- 5 Transformation
The lesson will teach you to scale image elements, change proportions, tilt, distort and deform them
- 6 Drawing - brush and pencil
The first in a series of articles about tools for creating your own masterpieces. A long time ago computer techologies have evolved to the point where they can simulate drawing on paper. Learn to create with a virtual pencil and brush - watercolor sketches and paintings can now be easily drawn and shared on electronic mediamaking an unlimited number of copies and not worrying about the safety of labor.
- 7 Drawing - Shapes
Freehand creation is one thing, and accuracy and speed are sometimes paramount. The lesson tells about the tools with which in just a few clicks you can create perfectly flat geometric shapes of the given dimensions. From a simple square to an ellipse, a star and even a musical note, this article covers everything.
- 8 Drawing - paths and bitmaps
You will remember once and for all how a vector differs from a raster, what the pros and cons of both approaches, and you will also learn why shape outlines are needed in Photoshop and what pixel mode does.
- 9 Drawing - Pen tool
To continue working with paths, explore the tools of the Pen group. Purpose, method of application, description of parameters, and as a result you will learn how to draw atypical contours and create the most complex geometric objects.
- 10 Drawing - Magnetic pen tool
The Magnetic Pen tool has become so popular that it is called the Magnetic Pen, although there is no such separate tool in Photoshop. What this function allows you to do, why users love it so much and how it will help you personally - read the article.
- 11 Image Retouching Tools
To use these editor functions on the Internet, you do not need to be a layout designer, or a designer, or a webmaster - anyone at all. It is enough to be an active user social networks... How to make your face more beautiful, remove moles and freckles? How can I process an old scanned photo so that the colors become brighter, and scratches, spots and dust particles are not so noticeable? How to carefully cut an object, move it or clone it? Where is the tool that can help you get rid of the red-eye effect from a photo in just a couple of minutes? Look for answers to these and other questions in the article.
- 12 Image correction tools
You already know so much that mastering new tools is not a problem. All I had to do was make an overview with a description of the possibilities to improve the quality of pictures - to lighten where it is too dark, darken where it is overexposed, blur and sharpen, mix and smear colors. Generally, additional Information how else to make the image better is waiting for you in the lesson.
The pinnacle of creativity for the web is rendering site templates. When you have mastered most of the tools, and you have enough skills to draw dividers with shapes, buttons for menus, beautiful lettering, there is nothing stopping you from creating a good, complex layout. The article tells what it consists of standard template, describes the principle of creation, and also teaches you how to cut a layout using tools that are previously unfamiliar to you.
Paying attention to each of the lessons, analyzing practical examples and experimenting on your own, as you master the course, you will go from beginner to advanced user. photoshop programs and you will be able to delve into it yourself by going to new level mastering, and will help you with this strong and reliable foundation laid by the cycle of our articles.
Quite often, PC users tend to learn new programs in order to be able to design images to their liking and even earn income. One of the most complex and powerful charting tools is Adobe Photoshop... How to use, where to start - all this will be described below.
Interface, tools and menus
First you should run installed program... It is recommended for a beginner to go through the menu (horizontal at the top), explore the tools on the left. To find out what the icon is and what it is responsible for, you need to move the cursor. A tooltip should appear. If you left-click on a tool, for example, "Fill", then it will be active. At the same time, the settings appear below the horizontal menu at the top of the screen. Experienced users almost always install required parameters tool.
Note the triangle in the lower right corner of some tools. If you press the right mouse button, additional options will open.
And now we should talk about the menu in Adobe Photoshop, how to use it when working with photographs and drawings. First you need to go to the File menu to open an existing image for editing, or create a new document. This menu also contains the function of saving the work done.
The rest of the items located after the "File" and before the "Help" refer directly to the work on the image.
First steps in work
It is worth starting to study the program using an existing photograph. To do this, go to the "File" menu, click "Open" and find the desired picture. When it is added, you can start working.
A small tabbed window will appear to the right of the image. When working, you almost always need the "Layers" tab, since all actions on the image take place on it.
At this point, every beginner asks the question about:
- how to use Photoshop (Adobe Photoshop);
- why can't work with the picture;
- is it possible to correct errors if they appeared in the process.
You should immediately answer the second question: by default, an open image is locked, that is, it has To turn it into a layer (that is, unlock), you need to double-click in the window to the right of the image and the inscription "Background" in the "Layers" tab. Now you can work.
Why are layers needed?
To understand how to use Adobe Photoshop, it's worth understanding layers. The fact is that they can serve as a reserve image ("create a duplicate layer") in case of unsuccessful actions with the photograph, and as an area for applying new effects. For example, you need to make an inscription for a wedding photo and an image of translucent doves, hearts. In this case, you need to create new layer above the main photo and activate it. Then you can either insert a new image with pigeons, or draw using the Brush and Pencil tools located on the left of the toolbar.
Layers can be made transparent or semi-transparent. To explain their meaning, you should imagine a real photograph lying on the table. Next, translucent or transparent printed paper is applied to it. So the main photo is Layer 1, and the transparent art paper is Layer 2.
Effects and colors
Work with color and effects should be carried out using the horizontal menu or in the right window (the "Layers" and "Properties" tab). It should be noted that it makes no difference for a beginner how to use Adobe Photoshop CS6 or other versions. Almost any generation of Photoshop will be fine for learning the program. The same goes for color modes, filter gallery, image manipulation (for example, mirroring, rotating, moving).
Is Adobe Photoshop complicated
Often, beginners ask: is it difficult to master the program? It is impossible to answer unequivocally. You need to understand why a person needs this tool. Let's say you often need to make light adjustments, for example:
- trim,
- mirror,
- make an inscription,
- discolor.
In this case, it is enough to understand how to use Adobe Photoshop. But if there is a desire to become a professional, learn how to make ordinary photos fabulous pictures, it will take perseverance, a lot of time to practice up to learning the theory of color.
Often there are nuances on the forums, when watching training videos, where participants ask how to use Adobe Photoshop CC, how it differs from SC6. Let no one be confused by the last two symbols, meaning the version of "Photoshop". For simple operations with pictures, both versions have everything necessary tools, they are located in the same places.
