Photoshop Techniques

Happy Wednesday!! I hope you are having a great week!! My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the horrible storms that hit on Sunday. Our tornado sirens went off, which meant spending the day in the basement, and the power blinked off for a bit but came right back on. We had strong winds and hail but were thankfully spared from damage.

This isn't really a crafty post today...well, it sorta is...photography can be art:) As if I needed any more distractions keeping me from my craft room, I have decided to relearn how to use Photoshop. I used to use the full version all the time, but the last few years, I've strictly used Photoshop Elements. It's great, but there are so many more things you can do with the full version. So I wanted to show you some of the techniques I've been practicing with :)

Just to warn you, this is a pretty picture-heavy post. And before I get to the Photoshop techniques, I wanted to share some with you my attempts at bokeh.

I've been wanting to try to photograph bokeh ever since I saw Missy's post at Quick Chick Designs. Any excuse to put up the Christmas tree early and I take it :) So the above is my first attempt at bokeh. Then on to shaped bokeh:

Isn't this fun??!! I used the smallest Spellbinders Classic Heart die to create the effect. Thank you Missy for the awesome tutorial and the inspiration!!

When you look closely at the lights, you can see the embossing from the die. Fun!!

Okay, now on to Photoshop CS6 Techniques. The first one I want to share is turning a photo into an IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING.

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Next is the COLOR SPLASH technique:

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And this one is by far my favorite!! Turning a photo into a 3D IMAGE.

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Thank you for letting me share these with you today!! I know I need to get back to the craft room but I'm having so much fun relearning these techniques and snapping pictures :) Have a great day!!