Photo Tips

Photo Enhancements in the Land of the Thunder Dragon

By Rick Sammon

In April 2006, I experienced the wonders of the “Land of the Thunder Dragon,” more commonly known as Bhutan. Photographing in the Himalayan kingdom, which sits on the right shoulder of India and is about the size of Switzerland, was a magical experience, mainly due to the presence of the Buddhist influence – and the fact that I felt as though I was stepping back in time, 100 years or more. During my 10-day trip, I feel I got a higher percentage of “keepers” than I’ve taken on any of my trips around the planet, and I’ve been fortunate to have visited almost 100 countries.

© Rick Sammon

Sure, straight shots are great, such as these that I took with my Canon EOS 1D Mark II and 70-200mm IS lens (dancers in yellow costumes) and my Canon EOS 1D Mark II and 17-40mm lens (woman at prayer wheel). But hey! I like to have fun and be creative with my images. So, during the two-day trip back to New York from Bhutan, I played around with some standard Photoshop CS2 enhancements, as well as with some cool Plug-ins effects.

In this article, I thought I’d share with you a few before-and-after images that I created on my laptop after the sun set in Bhutan. (There’s not much to do there at night, except to listen to the packs of barking wild dogs that, the local residents believe, are barking at spirits as they move through the streets.) Take a look, and think about how you can apply these effects to your images.

Camera Frame/black background in OnOne Software’s PhotoFrame 2.5. (www.ononesoftware.com)

© Rick Sammon

Camera frame/white background in OnOne Software’s PhotoFrame 2.5. Film grain (Filter > Artistic > Film Grain) added in Photoshop CS2 (www.adobe.com)

© Rick Sammon

Drop Shadow Frame Action (Actions > Drop Shadow Frame) in Photoshop CS2

© Rick Sammon

Reduction in Saturation (Image > Adjustment > Hue Saturation) in Photoshop CS2

© Rick Sammon

Channel Mixer Monochrome (Image > Adjustment > Channel Mixer > Monochrome) in Photoshop CS2

© Rick Sammon

Oil Pastel Action (Actions > Oil Pastel) in Photoshop CS2

© Rick Sammon

Paper Toner effect in niksoftware’s Color Efex Pro 2.0 (www.niksoftware.com)

© Rick Sammon

Sepia Toning Action (Actions > Sepia toning) in Photoshop CS2

© Rick Sammon

Aged Photo Action (Actions > Aged Photo) in Photoshop CS2

© Rick Sammon

Ilford Delta 100 effect in Alien Skin’s Exposure Plug-in (www.alienskin.com)

© Rick Sammon

X and Y Photo Corners Action (Actions > Photo Corners) in Photoshop CS2

© Rick Sammon

Yes! That’s me. I am doing a magic trick for the monks at a dzong (fortress/temple). I often do tricks before I start shooting to gain acceptance. It’a technique that has worked for me for years.

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