Working with patterns could be a lot of fun, but creating a custom pattern is another level of creative fun. The best part is that in Photoshop we can do it fast while paying more attention to creativity. Photoshop will do the technical part for us. So let me show you how we can have more fun in Photoshop.
Create a new document any size and feel free to use any color for your background.
Create a new layer and use the Curvature Pen tool (or any other tool you are more comfortable with) to create the artwork you want to make a pattern from.
While the artwork layer is selected, click on the “View” menu and choose Pattern Preview.
Click OK on the pop up notification
And your pattern is ready!!!
You can still modify your artwork if needed. You can add extra details or objects, change/modify colors, etc. The best part is that you will be able to preview all modifications/changes in real-time.
Now open Patterns panel > Window > Patterns
At the bottom of Patterns panel, click on the “+” icon to add the new pattern to your Patterns.
Rename the new pattern.
Congratulations, you have created your first pattern. Enjoy!
If you would like to learn how to apply a new pattern to a mock-up, here is a helpful video I recorded for you.
Hello everyone. Thanks for visiting my blog today. Today is all about how to use small spaces for product photography. I posted on my social media a few product images I made for my client, and some of you asked me to share my process. Use a small space to your advantage: 1: For product photography, you don’t need to have a lot of space. I had a situation when I had no space at all, so I use a bathtub for all my product shots. I used a school project board positioned on top of a bathtub as a table. Shooting using small spaces can be very helpful to eliminate a reflection in your product. Smaller spaces have less “environmental chaos” reflected in your product, which means less post-production. It’s cheaper to buy a small flag to block the reflection. You even can use one school project board divided into two pieces. 2: Light. Small spaces require less light. So it’s cheaper.
Must have: 1: it’s necessary to have the right surface(s) or backdrop(s) for product photography. The right surface will help to tell the story of your product along with the simplicity of post-production. I use surfaces I bought from Replica Surfaces. They are beautiful realistic-looking surfaces, easy to shoot with, and easy to clean up. Another big plus is that having even only two surfaces you can create 4 different sciences. 2: Excellent lighting is a must to have. You don’t buy new lights every month or year. So invest in good lighting. I use Westcott FJ400 with a Westcott FJ-X2M trigger. 3: It’s necessary to shoot tethered. Shooting tethered will save time on post-production and eliminate mistakes you will notice after the photo session. You sow something you’d like to improve – you will be able to change/ improve it right away. I use Adobe Lightroom and tethering cable from tether tools.
4: Gloves and lint free cleaning cloth. A clean product is the first step in any product photography. So take time to clean the product using a soft cloth before the session. A glove will give you the ability to move the product without leaving any fingerprint on it.
5: Tripod. I use a tripod in all my sessions. I can’t imagine my photography life without one. Don’t buy cheap tripods. Buy a sturdy one that will make your photography life easier and more enjoyable.
Below is the setup for my last session
I used two replica surfaces and two foam boards on a side to block surrounded reflection.
I used only one softbox (yes, you can shoot product with only one light)
I positioned a softbox a little above my product. So I have enough light with fewer hot spots in the bottle.
A few final images
The Bottom Line
Product photography is fun and the best part is that your subject is always available and never gets tired. You can shoot products whenever the mood strikes you. Try it and have fun.
a symbol presenting the memory of 1.5 Million Armenians who were massacred and killed by the Ottoman empire of Turkey
This year on April 24th, we once again remember all the Armenian people who lost their lives during the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. My great-grandmother’s entire family was killed along with 1.5 million Armenian people. My great-grandmother survived concentration camps in the Syrian Desert. She was only 16 years old and the only one from her entire family who survived. She went through hell, but she stayed alive. She survived, she preserved her heritage, she was a proud Armenian woman. Turkey failed to kill her, and they failed to make her forget who she was and who her family and nation were. She did not speak a lot about what she saw and experienced during the Genocide (she tried to protect her daughter and grandchildren). When she spoke, we saw how strong she was. Even after going through everything she went through, she still was an incredibly kind woman and grandmother who loved her children more than anything. She passed away when I was a child. I remember the day she died and the day of her funeral. So many people came to pay their last respects to this strong woman. As a child, I loved her and respected her because she was my great-grandmother. After the massacre of the Armenian people in Baku, after I went through what my great-grandmother went through, I understand how strong she was to go on with her life after everything. I don’t know if she had “bad dreams” every night as I am having. I do know every single generation of women in my family went through genocide and massacres by Turkey and Azerbaijan. Every single woman from my great-grandmother to me. Every generation in my family (from both sides) experienced genocide, massacres, deportation, and relocations. We say to each other that we are lucky, we survived, we escaped. We did more than survive. We are Armenian people, and we remember who we are and where we came from. We are people of the Armenian nation. We are alive; we create, we build, and we are preserving our heritage. Turkey and Azerbaijan tried to kill us; they wanted to erase us from the face of the Earth. They failed. We are still here and going nowhere. The entire world saw what they did and do and will never forgive them for that. If I could, I would say all the names of the people who lost their lives in Turkey during the Armenian Genocide in 1915. I don’t know all of the names, but I know the name of my great-grandmother, the woman who SURVIVED the Armenian Genocide. Her name is Sonya. I want the world to remember this brave and strong woman, and I want the world to know her name.
My family has only one image of my great-grandmother Sonya and I painted it today
great-grandmother Sonya
We know what Turkey did to us, to Armenian people, because of the many brave people worldwide who saw it and told the world about it. We know it because of the stories of survivors. Aurora Mardiganian is one of the survivors who told the world the truth about the Armenian Genocide. I re-read her booka few weeks ago, I was reading the book, and I was hoping that maybe she would mention the name of my great-grandmother or her family. I was hoping because Aurora and her family were in concentration camps in the Syrian Desert as my great-grandmother was. In memory of Aurora, I painted her as a small thank you.
Aurora Mardiganian
As an Armenian woman, as a survivor of Armenian massacres by Azerbaijan people in Baku, I will continue telling my story and the story of my family to anyone willing to listen. I will continue telling what I saw because this could help to prevent the next genocide or massacres. I don’t want anyone to see what we saw, and I want people to sleep at night without trying to escape in their dreams over and over and over. When we try to survive, we have no other option but to fight, try to do everything possible to stay alive and keep our loved ones alive. We are in survival mode. To let go of survival mode is the most challenging part, and I am still working on it.
If you want to make a difference and have the ability to do so, please, consider donating to the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
During the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire in 1915, the biggest part of the Armenian male population was killed. The survivors are mostly women. This year for April 24th, I painted the image of the Armenian woman who survived and who brave enough to protect her loved ones, who were brave enough to preserve Armenian culture and nation. The dove in her hands represents all of us, all Armenians around the world.
Navigating in the real world is difficult for everyone, but for women, it’s more difficult in many ways. People around me always tried to tell me what I should and should not do. It doesn’t matter what I did; I always heard that I did something wrong because “I am too young,” or “I am too old,” ‘I don’t smile enough,” or “I smile a lot.” As a little girl, I learned how to ignore bullies. As a teenager, I learned something new. I realized that if you are a woman, you should work three times harder than a man (doing the same job!) This is not because you are less talented than a man is. Some people and society decided and assigned a “specific place” for women to be in. I always worked three times harder than men. It’s was a priority for me to be better, to know as much as possible about my work or anything else I am doing. It was and still is important to me. As a freelancer, I know that I could not get a project just because I am a woman. Yes, it’s that simple. It’s always someone who has an opinion about what women should and should not do. It’s always someone who thinks that a “woman’s place is in the kitchen,” or a woman is not strong enough, or someone who disagrees with a woman’s outfit “it’s too short” or “it’s too long”. It’s always “something” or not enough. I spent a lot of time in my life trying to change something about me to look “more professional and be acceptable in the man dominated world.” I thought if I change my hairstyle or dress style, wear makeup, not wear makeup, or change anything else it will help me. I tried to find “that one thing” that will help people to understand that I am as smart and hard-working a professional as any man in my profession. I did not find “that one thing” for a long time. It took some time to understand that I don’t care about what society decided for me. I am not spending my time anymore to find “that one thing.” I know who I am, and I don’t need to prove it to anyone. If you ask me if everything is better now and sexism disappeared from my life? My answer is no. I still need to prove every single day that I am who I am. Sexism still exists. Some people with a twisted understanding will always try to show a woman her place. But, news flash: no woman will accept it, keep silent, or cry anymore. It’s the 21st century, and it is long overdue for the world to understand and accept that a woman is a full member of society, that women belong in the office, business, meeting, project, or any decision-making place. I decided to share this today with you, women and girls, because I want each of you to understand earlier than later that YOU ARE a full member of society. I want you to realize that you are intelligent, beautiful, strong, and can build any business you wish. You don’t have to waste YOUR time to find “that one thing.” You have “that one thing,” and it’s YOU.
It’s always a big plus (at least for me) if we can work non-destructively in Photoshop. What is it non-destructive editing? Non-destructive editing means that we can apply edits to our image and without permanently changing the pixels. You can always come back and make changes or remove the edits.
One of my favorite non-destructive features is the Smart Filter Layer. Converting a layer to a Smart Filter layer I can apply filters, non-destructively to my image. If I want to adjust my filter, delete or hide it, I can do it at any time (as long as all layers are not merged or flattened, and the document saved as a PSD file).
Note: Lens Blur, Flame Picture Frame, Trees, and Vanishing Point— don’t work with layers converted to Smart Filter layers.
To convert a layer to Smart Filter > Click on a layer you want to convert to a Smart Filter layer chose the menu Filter > Convert to Smart Filters (image 1) or > Right-click on a layer > Convert to Smart Object 9 Image2)
Image 1
image 2
The layer you applied the Smart Filter or converted to a smart object looks like any other layer, but at the right lower corner of the thumbnail you can see a smart filter/smart object icon.
Now it’s time to apply a filter. I will apply the Camera Raw Filter. You can see in the image below that a Camera Raw icon was added to my layer under Smart Filters.
If you want to adjust a filter > double click on the filter’s name and you will be redirected back to the filter.
To edit a filter blending mode > double- click on Edit filter blending option
Now I can change the filter’s blending mode
Also, I can change a filter’s opacity value.
Note: you can apply multiple smart filters to the same layer. You can reorder, and duplicate smart filters.
To hide a single Smart Filter, click the eye icon next to the Smart Filter. To show the Smart Filter, click in the column again.
To hide all Smart Filters applied to a Smart Object layer, click the eye icon next to the Smart Filters line.
To show the Smart Filters, click in the column again.
Right-click on a smart filter and choose any option from the drop down menu (if needed)
P.S. Photoshop creates a Smart Filter with a filter mask already applied > White box in a smart filters raw
It’s very helpful if you wants to hide parts of the applied filter. Double-click on a Smart Filter mask to display the Properties Panel.
To hide part of an applied Smart Filter > click on a Smart Filter’s mask icon > choose any brush and black color > paint over the area you want to hide. If you painted more than you wanted > change color of your brush to white and paint areas back.
Today I would like to share with you a few updates from me.Â
Many artists, photographers, and designers are asking me for a recommendation on an affordable graphics tablet. The Wacom Intuos Pro is the tablet anyone would be happy to have. I’ve worked with the Wacom Intuos line for years, and they are the best tablets for graphic designers and photographers. Here is my full review.
Are you an Adobe Dimension user? If your answer is yes, this video is for you. In these videos I show how you can create a unique design in Adobe DImension for any occasion.
The next update is for my readers who just started their journey in Adobe Photoshop. For you, I recorded a new “How to get started with Adobe Photoshop” video. Enjoy 🙂
Lastly: Spring is here! I love Springtime. Everything is blooming, fresh colors, warmer weather, and a lot of new inspiration is everywhere. This spring flower is for you.
Happy International Women’s Day, ladies! I wish all of you to be happy, strong, and love yourself. I love this day, and I was celebrating this day for as long as I can remember. Whether it was with greeting cards (made by myself or bought from the store), perfume, and flowers, a lot of flowers always were in the house on this day. My favorite flowers were yellow tulips. I still love them. Also, this day was associated with early spring. Today I want to share this day with you. I have news I want to share.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, I painted Frida Kahlo. Frida represents everything that I adore and respect in women. She combined a fantastic talent and beautiful artistic soul with incredible strength. She was a brilliant painter. Frida painted what she felt. She never thought about how to “fit into society,” not in her art and not based on what society believes how a woman should look. “Feet, what do I want them for if I have wings to fly.” She was a feminist, so am I.Â
I painted Frida many times. But I painted today’s portrait of Frida differently. I painted it in black and white (just like a picture of her that I saw). Look into her eyes, and you will see the beauty and the strength of her soul.
Painted in Adobe Fresco on Apple iPad Pro using Apple pencil.
Frida Kahlo
My other news for today, and I so proud and happy about it: Every year I mentor two girls for one year. During the year, I will build their knowledge in digital imaging. This program is free. The only requirements are: 1: a willing to learn 2: be from immigrant or minority community 3: be from a low-income family 4: have internet access I am doing this by myself, and I don’t have any support, so I can’t provide my students with the internet, iPad, or anything else. I hope one day I will be able to help with these requirements as well. P.S. If any of my readers want to help with anything, please let me know.
Now drum roll, please! I want to introduce my first student for this year – Tiffany Ferguson! She is 9 years old and a very talented girl. She loves working with Adobe Fresco, Adobe Photoshop, and traditional painting. We had our first two classes, and to be honest I am impressed with her progress and willingness to learn! I will be posting our progress every month.
Image by Renee L. Ferguson
Thank you Renee L. Ferguson for the behind the scenes images she took during our classes.
In this blog post, I will show you how to combine multiple images together to create your final image. Last week I was shooting in my studio for Adobe Stock submission. I had my simple setup for a high key session. In this blog post, I will not go deep into my setup, but if you want to learn more about my settings, please let me know using the contact form below.
When you are working with product photography, and especially with a glass or reflective object, it is important to make reflections more smooth or don’t have any reflection at all (unless it is intentional). We have many different ways of shooting products, and every photographer has his/her own way. What I will show you today is the quickest and easiest way on a small budget. I had two lights. One light is behind my product, and the other light right in front of it.
Main Light
Using this setting I got this result
My next step was to bring my main light (which is in front of my subject) up
This is the image I got. This image doesn’t have any reflection (including Softbox reflection).
I always shoot tethered to Adobe Lightroom Classic so now we jump from the studio to Lightroom Classic. In Lightroom Classic, I will select the first image > right-click > Edit in > Edit in Adobe Photoshop 2021
I will do the same with the second image.
Now in Adobe Photoshop, I will place the first image on top of the second one. The image with reflection is positioned on top of the image without a reflection.
Next step: apply a layer mask to the top layer > using a soft brush with black color, paint off the reflection.
Just like this, I removed all unwanted reflections/highlights from the subject. The next step will be merging all layers and simple adjustments in a Camera Raw with a little cropping.
Finally, we are ready to submit the image to Adobe Stock (as an Editorial image since this is an obvious brand). I did it and my file was accepted!
Everyone, I hope now you will start shooting for Adobe Stock and shoot from anywhere, even from the smallest studio, kitchen, or from anywhere else.
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Hello everyone. It’s Monday, so today is the day for my new blog post. Today I want to share with you a tip that will help you in your photography workflow. You asked me, and I heard you! Very often, we want to apply the same feeling, atmosphere to multiple images. Today I will show you one of my favorite tricks in Photoshop. I have opened my image I would like to work with
Window > Adjustments
Click on “Create a New Color Lookup adjustment layer”
You can choose any LUT from drop down menu. My favorite is “Fall Colors. look”
After you click on it, Photoshop will add it as a separate layer with a layer mask applied already, which makes everything much easier.
I changed the blend mode for this layer to “Screen.”
My image is ready!
Now you can apply the same steps to any other image(s) you would like to have the same look. This is how easy you can apply the same atmosphere to as many images as you wish.
It’s Black History Month, and I would like to start this month with a portrait of the woman I admire the most.
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery. From her childhood, she was beaten by the various slave owners. She suffered a traumatic head wound that affected her life. She had pain, dizziness all her life. Despite all of this, she escaped to Philadelphia and RETURNED to rescue her family! After that, Tubman returned many times more to rescue others. She was traveling at night and had her strategy. Tubman never lost a passenger.
During the Civil War, she worked for the Union Army. Tubman started as a cook and nurse, and later on as an armed scout and spy. Harriet Tubman became the first woman to lead an armed expedition during the war. She guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 enslaved people.
Tubman is the woman who was a fighter, the woman who did not keep her head down as she was told and forced to do. She was fighting for human rights, for equality, for freedom. It was dangerous and painful, BUT she did it! She said, “I would fight for my liberty so long as my strength lasted, and if the time came for me to go, the Lord would let them take me.”
Harriet Tubman is my hero. She stood for the right things, and she believed in them. In so many situations, it’s not easy to do. Even when it is not easy, even when we are not sure how we can do this, we MUST try. As Tubman said, “I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other.” It doesn’t matter how tired we are, and it doesn’t matter how many times people showed us the place they think we need to stay at; we MUST fight for human rights, for woman rights, for equality for everyone! Never say “I can’t”, because you are strong and you CAN. Harriet Tubman did show us that we can do it all!!!
P.S. I hope that one day we will notcelebrate Black History for only one month. I hope we will celebrate it every day. I know we can do it. Harriet Tubman said, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
I painted a portrait of Harriet Tubman in Adobe Illustrator on iPad
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