Create a More Realistic Look on Your Photo

It’s been a long time since I posted a Photoshop Tutorial here on my blog. I think this tutorial is the first one for year 2010. Actually, this tutorial was already planned to be posted earlier, but I wasn’t able to work on it because of my migration from old to a new hosting account. But of course, the delay was worth it because I got a better blogging experience right now.

Anyway, the purpose of this tutorial is to help you build or create a better or more realistic feel on your photo. This tutorial is perfect for Still Life photography, and not for Portraits. And you should be glad because this tutorial is very easy.

What you need:

• Adobe Photoshop CS+
• A nice photo
• Creative mind (optional)

The first thing you must do is to open up Adobe Photoshop and open the image file you want to edit.

Next is to create a Black and White layer on the image.

Create Black and White Layer - Create a More Realistic Look on Your Photo

You can create a Black and White layer by just selecting the “Create a new fill or adjustment layer” button below the Layers Pallet. Please make sure that the created Black and White layer is at the top of the Background layer.

Layers Pallet - Create a More Realistic Look on Your Photo

Then, create a new copy of Background Layer by selecting the Background layer and hit CTRL+J on your keyboard. After that, drag the “Background copy” layer and drop at the top of the Black and White Layer.

The image at the left is a screen shot of my Layers pallet. And that must be proper location of the three layers that we created. “Background copy” then “Black and White” and the “Background” layer at the bottom.

Next is to set the Blend mode of the “Background copy” to “Overlay” or “Soft Light”. You can do this by simply following the image below.

Note: “Overlay” Blend mode is much harder (or blacker) compared to “Soft Light”. But in most cases, “Overlay” is much better than “Soft Light”. But still, you can play with different blend modes by simply adjusting the opacity of the Background layer. And take note, do not overdo it.

Select "Overlay" as the Blend Mode - Create a More Realistic Look on Your Photo

You can select the Overlay blend mode by simply clicking the Blend mode list box at the Layers pallet. And the last thing that you need to do is to analyze your image. Adjust it until the desired image is achieved.

And you’re done.

Here’s the original photo:

Original Image | © Kelvin Servigon Photography

And the processed photo:

Finished Product - Create a More Realistic Look on Your Photo

You’ll see a great difference between the original and the edited photo. The edited one has more realistic look and better contrast, making it nicer than the original image.

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Adobe Photoshop