💡 This is how I ADD a BACKGROUND LIGHT or SPOTLIGHT into my pictures using PHOTOSHOP

So today (after having had a Direct Message and request come through Instagram) I have recorded and uploaded a new video showing how to add a Backlight / Spotlight into your pictures; a great technique if...

a) You didn't have the space to use other light during the photo shoot
b) You had a light but didn't use...and now wish you had
c) You didn't have another light at the time

In this technique I make use of a (very) quick selection and a Levels Adjustment Layer​, and the result is VERY effective.

Hope you like it,
Glyn

👁👁 EYES: BRIGHTEN , ADD CATCH LIGHTS + MAKE THEM POP: One Technique that does it ALL!

I love how we can use techniques in Photoshop to do more than one thing. In this video I show how a GREAT technique that I call the Never Ending Lighting Rig for adding in more lights to your picture can also be used to enhance eyes in portraits by brightening them, adding in fake catch lights and making them POP!

LONG EXPOSURE with NO FILTERS 🚫 Explained Step by Step 👍

I LOVE Long Exposure Photography BUT what do you do when you're out with your camera and have NO Neutral Density Filters with you? Well, here's a GREAT TECHNIQUE for creating a Long Exposure Effect by combining a number of images together in Photoshop and using a Smart Object and the Median Stack Mode. Quick. Easy and VERY Effective!

Photographing The Joker

Looking through some files in my Lightroom Catalogue the other day and I noticed a series of images that I took when presenting for Sony at their Roadshow last year showcasing the new Sony A7IV.

I put together a video giving my feedback on the new camera that I only got my hands on the day before the Roadshow started, and in that video you can see snippets of when I was photographing my friend Graham Currey who was dressed as The Joker..

As for the set up, I used just the one light which was positioned above Graham, slightly forward of him and angled directly down to the floor so that I could also bounce some light into his face using a silver reflector.

The resulted in a version of what is commonly called horror lighting or up lighting, and which I thought would work great for the Joker character and give the pictures a much more dramatic look.

Kit:

• Camera: Sony A7IV

• Lens: Sony 85mm f/1.4 G Master

• Lighting: Westcott FJ400 + Silver Reflector

Settings:

f/5.6 , 85mm , 1/160sec , ISO 200

Hope you like the results, and as alway, if you have any questions / comments, please do make use of the comments section below and I’ll be sure to respond.

Cheers,
Glyn

❓WHO is Glyn Dewis and WHAT is this CHANNEL❓

At the beginning of the year, one of my priorities and things I wanted to spend more time on developing was my YouTube Channel, and over the past (almost) 6 months I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm having so much fun putting videos together the way that is 'me' and each week learning and trying something new to add to the production value.

One thing that's been missing though is a Trailer; something that in 60 seconds or less tells folks that haven't subscribed, the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, WHEN and HOW of me and what the Channel is all about, but yesterday I put some time aside and did it…

Hope you like it 😉

✅ SUPERB technique for REMOVING STUFF in your pictures and making it DISAPPEAR

This is a SUPERB way to remove distractions in your photographs. In this video I'll show you step by step how to get superb results removing stuff like people and vehicles (or anything else that moves) quick and easy using Smart Objects and Stack Modes, that would be impossible using regular tools in Photoshop like the Clone Stamp Tool and Content Aware Fill.

I DID IT 🌳 I used my DRONE to photograph this INCREDIBLE Lone Tree (Settings + Editing)

Using a Drone for Photography is FANTASTIC! So many new and unique compositions!

In this video I finally photograph an incredible tree that would have been impossible to do on foot BUT thanks to my Drone it became possible! I go through the Drone Camera settings and then dive into Lightroom to create a HDR and finally into Photoshop and jump in and out of Topaz Studio 2 to create a painterly effect.

Hope you enjoy it
Glyn

The Lone Tree and my Drone - An Obsession

This tree has become a bit of an obsession.

I first noticed it when helping friends move home. They didn’t move far. Just further down the lanes in Mid Devon but to a beautiful new spot. So incredibly peaceful. The silence only broken by the sound of the wildlife and that’s to be relished.

It was when driving through the lanes on the back and forth trips I saw the tree high up on a hill, all alone. Couldn’t decide if it felt proud or lonely. It was screaming out to be photographed though.

With it being across a ploughed field perched on top of a hill in another field and quite some distance from the lane I’d stopped in, there was no way to get close on foot. But then I do have a drone. That could work.

I was thinking of maybe doing a long exposure with the clouds over the top of the tree but I’ve lost count how many times I’ve headed over when I thought conditions were right. It’s only a short drive. Well 30 minutes-ish from home but incredible how in such a short journey the conditions can change. Maybe that’s just a Devon thing.

I tried an evening shot with the setting sun but got there a little too late. Didn’t work out too bad though I guess.

Then followed several more aborted missions.

The other day though things started to slot into place.

Blue skies. Fluffy white clouds. No wind. Well…very little.

Using my DJI Air 2S Drone, I took off vertical from where I’d parked up to make sure there were no livestock over the other side hill. Didn’t want to disturb them or worse still…scare them.

All clear.

Set the drone to take 5 Raw photographs at 5 different exposures. Made a HDR image in Lightroom.

Originally thought about just including the tree and the arc of the hill.

Changed my mind and included part of the ploughed field.

Glad I did.

Edited the resulting file in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Finished off with one ‘look’ using Topaz Studio 2.

Hope you like it.

I’ll do a Behind the Scenes video showing this on my YouTube Channel.

Talking Gear on the He Shoots He Draws Podcast

Had such a blast last week catching up with my mates Dave Clayton and Alan Hess on the He Shoots He Draws Podcast talking ‘all things gear’.

We chatted for an hour about the kit we’re using and why, covering the computer, monitor choice and graphics tablet, and with me having had my iMac recently die on me and to be replaced with the new Apple Mac Studio M1 Max, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Always great fun catching up with the guys, and as always, even though miles apart (Dave in Swindon and Alan in San Diego, USA) it still felt like 3 mates sat in a bar chatting.

You can catch the episode on all the great podcast platforms.

Using my Drone to take Photographs of Sunrise at Lyme Regis in Dorset

Over the moon with all the results from taking photographs with my drone (DJI Air 2S) at Lyme Regis, Dorset. The light was incredible and the conditions couldn't have been better!

Being a morning person, setting an alarm for 4am and heading out, definitely has its advantages…

Lyme Regis is a place that's quite special to Anne and me. So many great memories of times when we first starting holidaying in Devon and visiting River Cottage and would always pop down the road and over the border to Dorset to get a 'fix' of sea air and our tradition of a bag of chips on the beach...no matter the weather.

As a Portrait Photographer, I've always found it fascinating how moving around your subject, once you have placed the light, can give so many different looks...from the same set up.

The same can definitely be said for landscape / seascape as this photograph I took of Lyme Regis in Dorset yesterday with my drone was taken moments after the first one I posted ... the same height but with a shift to the right, further back and changing the angle of the camera.

This panorama of Lyme Regis, Dorset consists of 24 photographs taken with my drone and then blended together in Photoshop…

Completely BLOWN AWAY with the quality of the file; so bloomin' happy

Couldn’t resist some top down shots too…

I remember a few years ago, Joe McNally relaying a story of a portrait assignment that he went on and once finished and kit packed away, upon leaving, the owner's cat appeared and jumped up onto his owner's shoulder; Joe quickly grabbed a few frames with his camera that he'd kept to hand and THAT was the picture that ended up being used.

Not quite the same, but this picture from yesterday made me think of Joe's story. Once I'd landed the drone on some Beach Hut Decking having taken the pictures I wanted, I then started to pack away and just happened to glance at the screen on the remote controller and saw this…

Roll on the next flight!