The power of Photoshop

I like Photoshop. For a newbie photographer like me, Photoshop is a blessing. With Photoshop I can correct mistakes I've done when shooting the picture. And yes, I do correct a lot of mistakes too, I don't just improve and finish the photo. But sometimes I run into trouble. Maybe one day I get so good that I can just do what I want without the despair, scratching my head, full time panic and all that. (I hear you go: Yeah, right, wishful thinking. Not to worry, I thought the same...Haa... )

The other day I started on a photo that I was quite sure that I couldn't get to look the way the model would expect. (Like all the other ones, what's the trouble?) At the time for the shooting, she had a picture that she showed me and asked if we could do something similar. I said ok, let's try, but when looking at the raw photos I realized that I wouldn't be able to do it. Obviously I have been too god at faking my photographer skills... (Please don't laugh, you know, eat your words and all that.) I'm not that good at photoshopping nor at photography,  not yet. Maybe one day when I have had a lot of practice, but not yet. I sincerely hope that day will come before I die, but I kind of doubt it.

You can do almost anything in Photoshop, people do it all the time. The problem is doing it and making it look good. I still have serious troubles with some of the features in Photoshop, I just can't get it right and looking good. There is always a trace left, a trace that tells, and the whole thing about photoshopping is to do it in such a way that it isn't noticed. I think most of you have seen those awkward photoshop mistakes-collections published all over Internet, right? Those are the ones I'd like to avoid. If possible.

So, what to do when you are stuck? Like all other times, you find a workaround. I did too, but as soon as I got started, I realized once again that I was in over my head. (I've had that a lot lately. Blonde....) But this time I got such a stupid idea that I realized that I could actually get away with it. Doesn't happen too often so I got right at it.

I had already processed the photo I took of the model. (A friend of mine helped me a lot, he also tried to show me how I should do it, but this blonde was not smart enough to get it done the way it should be.) So, I took a second photo of something as plain as a piece of paper. Folded. And then I got started on combining the two. That was a lot of fun. The second time I did it, the first time it was plain pain...

But I do think the result is ok. Not excellent, not fabulous, not even good, but ok. And for someone who has been photographing and using photoshop very irregularly for about nine months, that is pretty much acceptable. This is a hobby for me, I have no inspirations to go professional. (Good for me, otherwise I would be starving....)

This is the finished picture:

Model: Vera Missyris

I don't know what you think but I know that it is great fun to fool around with the warp tool. It's better than ..... (No, not that! Who do you think I am? Really?)