I recently did a modelling style photoshoot with a couple of women. The pictures came out very nicely, but I'm looking at doing some expermenting with Photoshop to produce some extra artistic effects. I've convereted some of them to black and white, which is nice, but I'm looking for different stuff. Does anyone have any secret techniques they like that they want to share?

I would suggest getting Photoshop Elements. It is geared more towards photo work.

But, now that you mention it, I do have a tip, and this works with video in Premiere as well. If you have something that has come out too dark, copy the layer, and place it over the original. Choose the new layer, and up near the Layers tab, is a drop down menu. Select screen, and adjust the opacity level until the image looks right. There are other methods and options for images that are too dark.

There are all kinds of plugins that do special effects. What did you want to do? There are filters to add grain, boost contrast, sharpen (USM) take out blemishes, you name PS can pretty much do it. Look at the filters and play around a little, post some results and you'll get suggestions. If you need a place to host images, look at pbase.

Jeff

I think I heard something about that photoshoot...

I think you mean "effects" more than "improvements"...right, Dylan? The sky's the limit on that...from slick to mottled.

One that I use sometimes to jazz up photos is to duplicate the photo onto a second layer. Then, cut out the subjects on the second layer to delete the background (you'll need to hide the layer underneath to see what you're cutting away). Next, add a zoom blur (crank it all the way up) to the bottom layer. That'll make the background zoom out around the subjects...as if you took the photo at a slow shutter speed on a subway train.

(By the way, you'll see that effect soon. I used it for the poster image for the next Lady X episode.)

The type of thing John Locke described is exactly what I had in mind. I've done colour correction and blemish control, but don't usual count that as effect work, since it has to be done anyway.
Most of the filters in Photoshop produce nice effects, but on their own, most of them scream "PHOTOSHOP", if you know what I mean. Combinations or multiple effects like JOhn suggested are what I'm looking for.

you might want to experiment with adjustment layers and really tweak up the colors and saturations. sometimes you can get some really cool looking pictures by turning the yellow all the way up and bringing out a different color skin tone. you could also do things with the background like converting just the bg to black and white or blurig it slightly to give it more depth.

you could also do a color filter layer over the picture to get a cool color effect. looks like high speed film. experiment with layer settings and blending modes...it works wonders!!!

good luck!:D