Photoshop Weddings – Enhancing Wedding Pictures

Photoshop weddings – or rather, wedding pictures that are being subjected to the surgical, enhancing tools of Photoshop – are perhaps one of the most popular uses for Photoshop.  What better occasion for a Photoshop artist’s creative juices to work and blend out than in enhancing and tricking up pictures from weddings?  Weddings are perfect events for photographers to capture raw joyful, even comic expressions filled with romance and tender familial bonds.

Photoshop artists enhance and trick up pictures in Photoshop weddings is by using the objects and/or subjects associated with weddings to build a certain effect on, which may or may not include the pictures of the happy couple.  The pictures of wedding objects and subjects would include:

• The Bible with the rings.
• The rings with an object of sentimental value to the couple or any object related to the wedding.
• The pillows for the coins and the rings.
• The bride’s veil and wedding dress.
• The bouquet and/or the flower arrangements.
• The ceremonial tokens (veil, cord, candles, and communion elements).
• The aisle and the altar.
• The bride and the groom, posing in a certain way, or just a close-up view of their hands with the rings.
• Solo shots of the bride.
• Solo shots of the groom.
• The bride with only her female friends and/or female entourage.
• The groom with only his male friends and/or male entourage.
• Either or both of the couple with their families and/or friends.
• The entourage, principal sponsors, and secondary sponsors.
• Flower girls and bearers.
• The wine and the wine glasses.
• The wedding cake and/or the wedding figurines.
• The wedding invitations, ceremony and reception programs.
• Landscape shots that contain the whole venue (church, garden, or beach).
• Romantic shots of the couple by the staircase, balcony, love seat, hallway, gazebo, trees, highway, and every other romantic spot conceivable to the human imagination.
• Even animals, where the male and female of the same specie wear wedding rings or garments.

The types of effects one can incorporate in Photoshop weddings are:

• Vignette effects – lightens or darkens the edges of the picture, which effectively draws the viewer into the picture without knowing why.
• Wineglass effects – the picture of the couple is placed inside a wineglass or is blurred by the wineglass’ reflecting effects.
• Bubbles – just to add a somewhat cute and charming touch to the couple’s romance.
• Lighting effects – whichever way the Photoshop artist uses this effect, it would be to shift and focus onto a certain perspective in the picture.
• Movie poster effects – to bring a bit of movie-like drama.
• Retouch effects – which help to improve the color and tone of the picture through masking, overlaying, and diffusion.
• Coloring effects – good for bringing out the best hues and tints in colors to make them more alive and jump out from the picture.
• Modes and blends – the use of black and white/grayscale and sepia modes or to make a particular color jump out against a black and white/grayscale backdrop.
• Layouts for wedding invitations, letterings, and programs.
• Background effects – where the picture itself is used as the backdrop.
• Frameworks – pick out any style of frames to outline the couple’s picture.
• Soft focus effects – which softens the tone and look of the picture to achieve a warm and pleasant effect.

Photoshop weddings serve as priceless visual mementos of the couple’s most wonderful and most important day.  As such, couples have the choice of giving the Photoshop artist complete freedom in doing what he/she will with their wedding pictures; should they choose to do this, they have to have complete trust in the Photoshop artist and not be too frustrated or frazzled if the effects do not always meet their expectations.  But to really achieve great and suitable effects for the wedding pictures, both the couple and the Photoshop artist must reach an agreement as to what suits the tastes and preferences of the couple; couple must be willing to take the time to explain what it is they like best to see in their pictures, and Photoshop artist must be willing to cater to the demands of couple – if permitted, he/she can go beyond what the couple is asking for (just so his/her creativity isn’t stifled) yet still create and edit within the bounds and parameters set by the couple.