Top 5 image effects and tutorials.

There are days when I log on to Facebook, see hundreds of trendy looking pictures of food and cats and cute outfits, and feel as though Instagram has taken over the world. I wonder if my life will ever be cool/relevant enough to be documented online by a series of tiny ‘Instagrams’. I then cry into my sushi because I don’t own an iphone. Just kidding...

If you’re not familiar with Instagram, you’re probably an adult with a life, a baby who doesn’t use the computer or a hermit who lives in a cave. Either way, it’s fine, because it’s irrelevant. You don’t need to have instagram to make your photos look cool! You just need any two of these three things: Photoshop, a brain, the Internet.

I’ve picked out what I consider to be five of the coolest and most popular image effects and I’m going to hook you up with some tutorials so you can recreate these effects on your own images at home.

1. LOMO



You know it’s the lomo effect when: the colours in the photo appear oversaturated, there are extreme optical distortions, rainbow-colored subjects, off-kilter exposure, blurring and alternative film processing.

Photoshop tutorial video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v86faa0SPR4

If you don’t have Photoshop and you have no idea what you are doing, you can head here and they’ll do all the hard work for you: www.befunky.com

2. TILT SHIFT



You know it’s the tilt shift effect when: the main subject of the image is in focus and the rest is blurry. Sometimes’tilt shift’ specifically refers to the use of tilt for selective focus, often for simulating a miniature scene.

Photoshop tutorial: http://www.tiltshiftphotography.net/photoshop-tutorial.php/
Again, befunky.com will do this for you if you are photoshopless/clueless.

3. POLAROID

This is probably the most popular image effect of all time FYI.
You know it’s the Polaroid effect when: you see the Polaroid film frame! Dead giveaway… the colours are desaturated, the ink appears ‘mottled’, the image appears to have paper texture and colour.

Photoshop tutorial: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/webmaster/photoshop-tutorial-create-the-polaroid-effect-for-images/1460
Befunky.com has your back again.

4. VINTAGE 

You know it’s the vintage effect when: the colour tones lean towards either a blue or a red hue, or a cross-processed look. Vintage photos also have an element of noise or grain that can be achieved through textures, and also a certain amount of vignetting around the edges of the photo.

Photoshop tutorial: http://designinstruct.com/photography/vintage-photo-effect-photoshop/
Free: Befunky.com

5. SELECTIVE COLOURING



You know it’s the selective colour effect when: most of a photo is converted to black and white, but some parts are left in colour. For example, the eyes and the lips are in colour, against an otherwise black-and-white photograph.

Photoshop tutorial: http://www.busyinbrooklyn.com/selective-color-photoshop-tutorial-cs4/
Free: If you’re game, you can download Picasa and it'll do it for you with a few clicks of the mouse.