lyndacast

I have been reading so many amazing responses to my previous post and wanted to thank of you who took the time to explain your perspectives, how you use PS, what is best functions are, and how to proceed with integrating it into my workflow if, and when I might need it. I will study each of the excellent responses in depth in the next few weeks, but really wanted each of you to know that I so appreciate the feedback.

Lynda

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

Perfect attitude.

lyndacast

😁

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

srt101fan

I'm coming to this topic late and am probably repeating what has already been said. But I share your frustration in trying to learn a complex photo editing program and I hope you don't mind if I give you my 2 cents worth. I do not have Lightroom or Photoshop, but I'm struggling to learn Affinity Photo, which I understand is very similar to Photoshop.

I made a mistake in the way I tried to learn and a few things worked against me. I felt that I needed to understand everything about the program. I tried to cram too much info into my brain without a critical screening of what I really needed or wanted to do. Too make matters worse, I didn't spend enough time repeating individual tasks. So by the time I wanted to do something I had done before I had already forgotten how to do it. Trying to learn stuff I didn't need and not spending enough time on stuff I did want to learn - not good!

I decided to identify very specific tasks I want to accomplish when editing photos. I started a "How do I .......?" file. I look for learning materials for a specific task, starting with the program's "Help" site, followed by a search of web-based videos and articles. My "How do I .......?" file contains notes based on these learning materials, with appropriate quotes, references and links so that I can easily go back and relearn as needed.

Looking at your photo postings I see that you already are a very accomplished photographer. I suggest you only learn features of Photoshop that let you do things you want to do but can't do now. But don't let the lure of Photoshop's impressive capabilities interfere with an approach that already works well for you....

LCD

I'm good with Lightroom, but PS has so far defeated me beyond the basics. Really need to take a class where I have someone to get me over the huddles that stymie me.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

We all wish you success in your efforts. Don't hesitate to ask questions here as they arise. And show us the results (when you like them).

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

As someone said on this thread, another similar recently, you can learn PS when a specific problem to resolve in an image you've nearly finished in LR. You need to review your external editor definitions in LR and assure you're sending a PSD in the ProPhotoRGB colorspace to PS. Then, that image 'opens' in PS when you invoke the external editor from inside LR with your LR edits included in the image sent.

Then, inside LR you can focus your search for utube video help for the specific fix you're trying to accomplish rather than a generic 'how to use PS'. I mentioned on another thread that I might want to reposition a close-crop bird into the frame and 'build / clone' a missing wingtip from one wing onto the missing wingtip on the other side. This involves a few 'basic' PS tasks:

1. Creating a new and larger (pixels) canvas.
2. Creating 'new' sky around that bird so it can be moved into the center of the larger frame. Here, I'm just merging sky from the original image and blending seamlessly.
3. 'Selecting' the source wing-tip and creating a layered copy of that selection.
4. Flipping that layer of wingtip so it fits on the other side of the bird.
5. Merging / blending that wingtip onto the missing part of the bird.
6. Cropping the resulting bird from the larger canvas back to the original 3x2 crop

All this discuss has me interested in maybe even trying this process. If I do and it works, I'll post the results.

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

I too did as you with learning affinity Photo. I have excellent tutorials now. The best one is learning affinity in 10 easy steps. It was a free video from affinity revolution. Then I purchased 2 courses on Udemy when on sale for 9 dollars each over the Christmas holiday. It has worked miracles and I now have no issues after about 4 months of playing with it 2-3 times a week for an hour or so. Yes I agree with you completely. Pick some task perfect and learn them completely then pick some more. Lol

TimHGuitar Loc: San Francisco, CA

Hi Lynda -
Photoshop can do so many things that there isn't anything it can't do. This, of course, is my opinion and it may be limited by what I'll ever want to do in a photograph. Having said that, I am not interested in many experimental techniques like dipping a print into developer and then bringing the wet print (unfixed) into the light and letting it fog for 10 seconds and then stopping the image from getting any darker. This stuff I did when I was young and I don't experiment like that anymore. Still, if I think about it I can get that kind of effect in Photoshop if I think about how to use the tools to do that. It may not look "authentic" thought.
But for "regular" things like replacing one person in a group shot. PS is easy for that. I shoot a number of shots when I shoot digital captures of a group, When I do shoot I don't move from my position. Then if 3 people out of 20 don't have their best expression on their face, I simply cut them out of the shot where they do look good and then I place them onto a layer above the main shot. I can then have a group shot where everyone looks at their best. When I shot film (weddings, for example) I couldn't do that and had to wait until everyone looked their best, and even then, someone might blink.
Of course you may need to clone in edges so the clone tool is essential to learn. But since everyone is in the same position and size, it's fairly easy. If you want to take an expression from another capture you'll need to resize that shot by using the "Transform" tool to get the head size similar to the one in the main group shot. So, now, you'll need to be familiar with the transform tool. I shot a group family shot where I left room for myself on the edge of the frame. Then I had someone shoot the group shot instead of me. I simply placed myself into the shot where I was the photographer and then I was included in the large family shot. These are examples where you can accommodate the tools available when you are shooting the photograph.
So, in short, the more you know about Photoshop and its many tools, the more you can do. I do everything with PS. I am having a show in a gallery next year. I just came back from the gallery where I shot the walls of the gallery. I place 6 foot wide tables in front of the 4 walls. I will now place the framed photos I want to display on these walls. I know what size to "transform" the framed images to because I know what sizes the frames are AND, based on the 6' wide tables, I know how much to transform the famed images based on their relative size to the 6' wide tables. This is another example. Then I will "float" the frames away from the walls by adding a drop shadow behind 2 sides of each frame. I will "blur" the drop shadow and place it underneath the layer of the framed images thereby having the framed image "cut awayi" the blurred drop shadow that will fall within the framed image. The drop shadow will only appear on 2 sides. This will make the composite look 3 dimensional. This is another example, so you need to know how to "blur" something.
Hope this makes sense and helps.

TimHGuitar Loc: San Francisco, CA

Forgot to add that I clone away the tables that were included in the original captures.

Nickaroo

Very well stated. There are so many YouTube video Tutorials by PixImperfect I believe, Matt Koslowski, I hope that I did not butcher Matt's last name up, The guy that did a lockdown series who's named his channel Photoshop Cafe', then Anthony Morgantti, PHLEARN, and f/64. Trust me it pays off to pull an image up on your Monitor and watch a Tutorial and follow these guys Step-by-Step. I had to learn on my own and I learned a lot of Editing skills in a pretty quick manner. I do like this thread CHG_CANON.