And there was Neon Light!
By: Emmanuel Gregorio
Tags: Photoshop, Light, Editing, Light Painting, Photography

As I ventured on in discovering my own style of photography, I came to realize the limit of my skills and reevaluated myself to get over my shortcomings. One of these shortcoming was my poor use of light sources and general lighting. Photographer Calop had been my teacher in learning new techniques and ideas I were able use in my photos. I learned to use Adobe products such as Photoshop and Illustrator to edit photos and illustrations respectively.

With newfound knowledge, I began to apply photo manipulation to my edits, starting with the addition of artificial lighting. I made neon-like illustrations and added them on top of photos as light sources. Being able to do this type of editing made me realize the importance of post-processing. I was able to apply ideas that I weren’t able to do before. With photo manipulation, I had the power to add light objects to photos and even paint in highlights as well as shadows. One of my early projects involved transforming the times of day; I wanted to utilize the neon illustrations I made so I turned the photos to look like it was shot during the night and added in neon objects for style.

First, transform the photo from day to night.

·Use this tutorial as your guide: https://www.facebook.com/100059001435222/videos/pcb.107474634562584/107324377910943/

How to: Paint Lights

· Add new layer and choose the brush tool.

· Choose color of light. (Use light colors and consider the environment of the image.)

· Paint the spot where the light would be in.

· After brushing, click; filter, then blur, then Gaussian blur. Blur the paint slightly to lessen its sharpness.

· Then duplicate the Layer of the brush twice. (ctrl+J or cmd+J)

· Use a slightly higher value of Gaussian blur on one duplicated layer. High enough to have a glow effect on the surrounding of the brush.

· Then do the same on the other duplicated layer but with a higher value to give highlight to its surroundings.

How to: Add Neon Lights

· Add new layer and design the desired neon light with the brush or shape tool.

· The color should be white (for now), and the lines, thin enough to be distinguished as neon.

· After designing, give a slight amount of blur just like the light paint before.

· Duplicate them as well with the same amount of blur (amount depends on size and personal preference), but now, choose the intended color of the neon light. Change the duplicate layer’s color to the neon’s real color.

Tips for adding neon objects to photos in Photoshop

· Analyze and distinguish possible surfaces of the photo; add highlights and shadows to surfaces that may and may not be hit by the neon object to be added. This can be done using the paint tool and masking.

· Give the neon objects a radiant glow using blur (try Gaussian) and blending it to smooth out the shine; this helps in giving the lights a feeling of realness.

· It is advisable to crop out little details that may have an effect on the intended mood of the photo edit. These may include people in the background and other lights that may distract from the subject. This can be done using various methods such as the paint tool, fills, and smudging.

· Give the eyes the glow it’s supposed to have.

What’s most important in the process of photo-manipulation is the photographer being able to express what he/she wants that can’t evidently be seen through a simple, raw photo. Alongside aesthetics and stories, photographers search for feelings they want to express. I believe that the manipulation of photos allows me to create new expressions I deem personal and worthy of audience appeal. There is no limit to creativity; a good photographer will utilize both ideas and technology to their full potential.