Tips for Editting Photos in Photoshop?

I can tell you how they achieve this look (hell, I'm a good friend of Roterwolkenvogel ) and I also photograph quite often.

Things you need:
- a good camera, best would be DSLR or a normal digicam where you can at least change a few of the settings (shutter speed etc.) + a fitting lens (Vogel uses a 35mm prime lens) in case of a DSLR.

- Photoshop or a similiar program, in my case it's PS CS3.

A few basics before we start the editing part:
1) Stop shooting from close above the doll, take a step back and show them a bit more in their fullest.
That will also help with this bobble head syndrom in your photos.

2) Your start photos need to be as crispy and clean as possible, so try to focus with your camera on the face of the doll (especially the eyes), and if possible try not to overcast anything.
Glowy spots, especially in the face, are going to be a major pain in the ass when you start editing and a picture that has a moderate brightness (not too dark or too light) can be edited the best.

3) Use the right light.
Andreja most likely uses a bright, cold lamp to achieve this kind of look.
When you are outside on a sunny day try to find a more shadowy place.

Now to the editing.
I know that Vogel herself doesn't edit that much, but I can tell you the basic route to how achieve a clean and crisp look.

1) I prefer to resize the picture before editing. So if you want, resize them before via Image -> Image Size -> type in your preferred size (mine is usually either 900x600 or 750x500 pixels) -> choose "Bilinear", Resize.

2) Use the curves to make the pictures brighter and with more contrast. Contrast usually helps in achieving crispiness, but don't over-do it.
Image -> Adjustment -> Curves (or CTRL+M).
Choose "Lighter" and maybe pull up the little thing a bit more to achieve a brighter look.
Press okay, choose Curves again and this time "Linear Contrast". Use it once or twice, it's up to your taste.

3) Take the sharpen tool (R or a triangle on the left), set it to 15%, take one of the soft, round brushes and use it once or twice over certain parts of the face (eyes + mouth) and other, already sharp and in-focus parts.
You need to watch out here, using it too often will look TOO sharp and even lead to visible pixels.

You should have now an already quite bright and sharp picture.
You can also use Levels (CTRL+L) for changing brightness/contrast etc., but in my opinion it's harder to handle than the Curves and it also looks different.

4) Certain colors look softer than others.
If your picture is overly yellow/red it will look softer, more blue leads to a colder but also harder and crispy look.
Open the Curves again, open the RGB menu and take RED. Pull the line down for a less red look, and up for more red.
Have in mind that when you take away red it will look more green etc., it needs a while to master the curves but they usually have a nicer look than the Color Balance tool.

Now to this soft and dreamy look.
That's actually very easy to achieve.

5) Open two layers, put both on top of the picture.
Set the first Layer (the one directly over your picture) to Multiply, the second to Screen (on top of the Multiply Layer).
Fill the first Layer with a color like a warm yellow (#fee28b), lower the opacity to something along 10-15% or less.
Fill the second layer with a color that should be mostly visible in the shadows and should tone the picture in a color you think fits the most.
A dreamy light violet fits well to yellow (#c277a3), set the opactiy to 5-10%.
Merge the layers (CTRL+E) and done

Here a little before after, but I'm using one of my pictures.
Before ->



After ->


Pretty much used all the things mentioned here + used the saturate/desaturate tool to make his suit more black and the background black/white.

Another one, a bit more dramatic in contrast:






And here I used the Multply/Screen layer method for a more dreamy color tone, in this case it was light blue (multiply) and light grey (screen):

 

Like Ara* already said, I don't edit that much - just adjust the light/contrast with the curves (and in general just shoot in the shadows or during/after rainfall to avoid photos that are too overcast).

Otherwise just listen to Ara*, I've learned everything I do from her and she can explain it better anyway :B

 

Another big thing not mentioned is practice.
It's rare to come right out of the gate and have gorgeous photos, and I don't think I'd be lying, roterwolkenvogel, that you've been doing this awhile.

Differently from what's already been suggested, I just shoot in RAW format and then use adobes raw editor to fix my colors.
I fix my coloring, exposure, and sharpening in raw. I also add my vignetting (darkening of the edges of the photo)
In photoshop, I use levels rather than curves, in the end - and then I do my touch-ups and styling that I generally do.

I did this quick video lighting tutorial using levels here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dheeVOfyQC4&list=UUn0dqVzedIk7XnbC7aYVY-Q&index=7&feature=plcp

I think another thing that you're really interested in is depth of field (DOF) and with that, that's really where a DSLR comes in handy. As mentioned before, a 35mm is a good lens for dolls (low DOF while short focal length) and many members also use a 50mm - it's going to be pretty much the same effect - that short DOF.

now, you can do an artificial DOF using photoshop, and if you look it up on youtube, there should tutorials out there. It's pretty much all lassoing with background and making it progressively more out of focus as you go further back.

 

Like Knibitz said, practice is also a really important point (@ Knibitz: yes you're right, I'm doing this since a good while now and my first pictures were simply horrible) - I usually easily take 200+ pictures to get out 1 or 2 I really like.

 

Not to mention that all of us use a DSLR.
A normal point and shoot/digicam can take good pictures, but with a DSLR (as long as you use it right) the chance is higher to achieve an already nicer base for future editing.
However, the basic tips and editing apply to every kind of photo.

 

This isn't always correct.
They do might high end point and shoots that compete with DSLR quality.
You just have to know how to use your point and shoot.

You're right, a DSLR is only as good as you abuse it, but the same goes for P&S cameras.
Many point and shoots now can compete with the quality and clarity of DSLRs, but they cost as much as a DSLR and most people who care about photography, if they're going to spend that much, will just opt for the DSLR.
But high end P&Ss can take just as great of pictures if the user understands the camera.

DSLRs are built for great versatility with more ease.

 

@Knibitz: Of course, if you want you can find a P&S that can take as good photos, quality-wise, as a DSLR, but it's also correct that you usually have to spend A LOT of money to find such a high-end P&S.
And honestly?
If I can choose between a P&S and a DSLR for the same price I'd take the DSLR, since in the long run it's usually more worth it. The fact alone that you can customize a DSLR a lot more to your personal needs makes it, in my opinion, worth it in the end :'D
Anyway, there's no need to debate about that, in the end you have to choose what suits you the best, like always.

 

My point being - People often say P&S = poor quality DSLR = high quality.
That's not true.
I see that so often on this forum and it's really misleading members to discard good quality P&Ss to get a cheap DSLR and then get frustrated when their photos look even worse.

That is the tune I felt you were playing with that original comment.


(speaking consumer DSLR - which is what majority has)


SO! OP, depending on what camera you have, we may be able to help you work with it and get you up to a better quality that you want to be at

 

This is a fantastic resource for photos. I have a high end DSLR (it was a gift) and I'm functional with Photoshop, but my pictures are still horrible because I don't know how to use either to their best. The resources here are an inspiration though, I can't wait to try it out!

 

Walk through (this is actually a different try at it, but it's the same concept):
my video turned out crap quality I had to compress it to upload it where it wouldn't take a million years, and some how I screwed it up and made it tiny. But hopefully you get the idea? >.<
[video=youtube;chVif2_defg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chVif2_defg&amp;list=UUn0dqVzedIk7XnbC7aYVY-Q&amp;index=1&amp;feature=plcp[/video]