Following your advice...

[Annie S]

..about improving top side techniques to help my underwater pictures.
I've been playing a lot with the camera over the last couple of weeks. I'm making myself get out of the habit of just leaving everything on auto, trying out various aperture settings and generally trying to become more aware of the limitations of me and my camera. I'm also making time to learn more about photoshop as well.

These are some of my efforts....and hopefully I will be able to put some of this effort to good use on my next lot of underwater pictures. Only three weeks to go now!!

[TimIngmire]

These are great Annie - seems like you you are really getting to grips with the software.

The 2nd and last stand out for me but then the first shows good use of depth of field and compostion.

Very nice indeed.

Tim

[triplefin]

Well some really superb pics and great effects. You've really done some interesting things with them. The ivy just lends itself to that effect with the way it grows and I love the background effect you have got on that second one.

[Annie S]

Jane, it gets addictive, trying out new ideas in photoshop, thinking of new ways of doing things, just even looking at pictures in a different way.

The second picture was just a macro shot of some grass on a frosty morning. I added a layer,desaturated it then put a mask on to reveal the colour layer. It needed something extra so I put some motion blur on the desaturated layer and tweaked the opacity slightly. I'm still looking for easier ways of making selections, there are so many to choose from. Haven't found any good short cuts, patience is the most important part ( and the thing i have least of!!)

I have also been playing with a couple of my underwater pictures that were almost consigned to the recycle bin. I'll post one later (it's on the other computer). It'll be too much of a gimmick for the photo purists but it was fun to do...

[Bombebit]

Annie,

they are really good.. how did you do the effect of the ivy out of the frame on the 4th shot... I am still on my very first tentative steps with photoshop so any advice would be gratefully received..

Berit

[Annie S]

Berit, I don't know if I can explain it so it will make sense, but I'll try! I have to assume that you understand a little about layers and masks,

Create a new layer and fill with your chosen colour. Use the rectangular marquee tool to select the inside of the frame.Fill this with a contrast colour. Use the recangular marquee tool to cut out centre area. Now put a layer mask and spend ages wiping out the areas of the border that you don't require. Any mistakes are easily rectified by just changing between black and white on the mask. Do a rough selection first witha larger brush then zoom right in and use a small brush setting to get the edges as accurate as possible.
There are all sorts of ways of making your selection, I stick with layer masks because nothing is permanent that way. You will find it easiest to toggle between layers when making the selection so you can see what you are doing. Just remember to cut on the correct layer. If you do go wrong just hit undo in the edit menu, or click back in the history window.

There are many , many photoshop tutorials available on the internet, some crazy ones but lots are very useful. The most important thing you need is time to play, which I've always found very difficult to justify and always felt guilty about - but not any more. It feels really good to be learning again!

[Annie S]

This picture was destined to the recyle bin so I decided to have one last play with it first. It's just meant to be a little bit of fun...

[Bombebit]

wow.. really incredible.. I am going to see if I can find the time.. amongst working and divemastering...

B x

[TimIngmire]

Annie, that's fantastic - very creative.

[Annie S]

B, I thoroughly recommend it. I snuggle up in bed in the evenings with the laptop these days!!

Good luck, have fun!