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Creating Focal Points with Photoshop Elements

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Different Ways to Set Focal Points

When you want to set off a certain focal point in your image, Photoshop Elements has many different ways to achieve this. That's been my focus (yes, pun intended - groan) today. I did this via 4 different ways and each one is described and shown below.

I started with the photo you see here. The dog is a young Redbone Coonhound named Bailey. He was a rescued dog at the BuckHawk Center and has since been adopted. I love the look in his eyes, sad yet intense. He's a heartbreaker for sure. Those long floppy ears of a hound seemed to frame his face. You can see under his eye (right side as you view) the scars that remain from his cruel treatment before he was rescued.

In wanting to understand how to really set focal points in photos, I chose his face to be that focal point. Then I tried many different ways to accent his face while de-accenting the background. I also produced some pretty artistic effects as I played, but this page about just the focal points. Here is how I did each of 4 different effects in Photoshop Elements.

A Little Background Please

Just so you know

This is the second in a series of 30 pages designed to focus in on a new niche topic for me. It's part of a challenging Squidoo Quest and I have a hard time resisting a challenge. Eventually, all 30 of these pages will be grouped together in one lensography - that's required to complete the quest!

Listed below is the first page, just in case you are interested in reading more. Also listed is the page which details the story of Bailey's rescue and all that it entailed. If you want to read that, I recommend having a box of tissues handy. His story is a sad one that had a happy ending.

Here are Those Pages

In case you want to read them

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Photoshop Elements 9

You might want to get a copy for yourself

This is the actual program that I use and am learning how to use through this series of pages.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 (Win/Mac) [OLD VERSION]

Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 (Win/Mac) [OLD VERSION]

Amazon Price: $57.95 (as of 05/31/2012)Buy Now

Setting the Focal Point with Filters in Photoshop Elements

Learned right from my manual

The first thing you need to do is choose a selection point or object. In my case, Bailey's face. I used the basic selection brush to outline his face. There are many different tools to make a selection in Photoshop Elements, but this face was easiest to just outline. I fine-tuned my selection of his face using the Add-to and Subtract-from adjustments for the selection brush.

Next, I went to the Selection menu and chose "inverse" to select all of the background, everything except his face. From there I started playing.

In this photo, I used the Radial Blur Filter in the Spin mode. You can see how his face seems to pop off the page in clear definition.

Think Outside the Box

Focal points don't have to be singular or centered.
For more artistic images, select offset items and/or multiple items.

Using Effects in Photoshop Elements

A different way to set focal points

This effect was created using the Effects Menu, the Distort option and the Twirl effect. I applied the twirl four times to get this effect. You can see that his face does pop, but I seem a bit distracted by the strength of the twirl under his neck. Some of your images may end up creating great looking focal points with the twirl effect. It's worth trying anyway!

Photoshop Elements Manual

And my personal favorite

I've used books from the Missing Manual Series before, so when I saw one for Photoshop Elements 9, I was thrilled. This book has lived up to its name. My best way of learning a new software package is to read the manual first or at least most of it. I want to understand the program and its features at least some before I first touch the computer.

My manual is marked up, dog-eared and bookmarked all over the place. And I continue to refer to it to remember how to do some of the techniques.

I highly recommend this book because of its extensive information, great layout and superb index. Besides, little humor bits are thrown in along the way!
Photoshop Elements 9: The Missing Manual

Photoshop Elements 9: The Missing Manual

by: Barbara Brundage

Amazon Price: $21.80 (as of 05/31/2012)Buy Now

Using Color Saturation in Photoshop Elements

A little less dramatic

In this photo, I used two steps to try it all out. First, I inverted my selection to get just Bailey's face (not the background). Then I increased the contrast in his face and increased the brightness. Just a bit on both, but just enough to bring out his face stronger.

My second step was to again invert the selection to take just the background. Then I used color saturation to reduce the amount of color in the background. That kept my overall photo realistic, but still popped out his face.

Can you imagine seeing this guy available for adoption!

My Favorite Thing About Photoshop Elements

LAYERS!

More About Layers

Photoshop Elements makes it easy

All of these images, and many more, took me very little time to create. And that's entirely due to layers. OK, the Undo History feature also helped.

With Photoshop Elements, you can save layers along with your images. They are then available for you to recall at anytime. I put different parts of the image on different layers and can then go back to that particular layer and do whatever editing or changing I want to do. Even after I have saved the file.

In all the times I played around with Bailey's face and the background, I only had to "select" his face one time. With it on a separate layer, I could play with the background all I wanted and never mess up his face.

The Undo History feature allows you to head back to a spot where you want to change something - like remove stuff that didn't work, but not remove the selection of Bailey's face.

Creating Artistic Effects with Focal Points

Photoshop Elements makes it easy

The final image and effect I'll go through gets a little more artistic. Again using the color saturation option, I reduced the color until the background became black and white. Then I went to the Effects menu, Photographic effects and the Monotone options. I chose the red cast because it complimented his face. He's a Redbone Coonhound after all!

You can see how that gave his face an entirely different effect. And the overall photo is very different.

Artistic vs Realism

Add your voice

Are you the type who likes to keep photos real, even when you are tweaking them? Or do you prefer getting artistic with your photos? Or maybe you are somewhere in between. Take this poll and tell us. There is also room for comments if you want to add more.

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More About Photoshop Elements

It's all over the web!

JessicaSprague.com Announces Free Photoshop Class
?We are so excited to share these essential Photoshop techniques with as many people as possible.? Participants may register for the free Photoshop class by visiting http://bit.ly/JSPhotoshop5. A copy of Photoshop Elements or Photoshop will be required ...
What Adobe offers photo pros, near experts and amateurs
By ANDY IHNATKO ai@andyi.com May 15, 2012 7:40PM OK, maybe I'll go to my ?B? allegory and refer to Photoshop, Photoshop Lightroom, and Photoshop Elements as the Three Bears of photo editing. For any given person who grudgingly admits to themselves or ...
Shaahin Amini's Tiny Giraffe Wins 'Science As Art' Competition (PHOTO, VIDEO)
When engineering student Shaahin Amini magnified the chemical elements nickel, aluminum and carbon under his high-powered microscope, he was surprised when he saw what appeared to be a tiny giraffe. After a color touch-up in Photoshop, the University ...
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Memo to self:

Keeping working! I have 28 more pages to make and 28 more types of effects to try out.

But, I'll have some great knowledge by the time I'm finished!

This Page Supports Animal Rescue

You can, too!

This page, along with all my pages, helps to support the BuckHawk Center Animal Rescue, where rescue is a way of life. Bailey is just one of millions of dogs that are in need of rescue every year. A donation from you could make the difference between saving a life or losing a life. Every penny of your donation goes to the dogs' care. And, remember, no donation is too small!

The BuckHawk Center is a nonprofit organization providing rescue, rehabilitation and adoption where possible for animals in need, located in Southern Missouri.

Did You Like Creating Focal Points with Photoshop Elements?

Let me know what you think

  • awelldressedbullet Aug 6, 2011 @ 10:05 am | delete
    Bailey ..... awwww, pretty puppy.... oh wait, ya, about the lens, awesome! LOL LOL LOL
  • annmackiemiller Aug 4, 2011 @ 7:01 am | delete
    you are far more adventurous than me which is a GOOD thing. :0)
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I'm definitely a novice when it comes to photo-editing, but I'm learning. Come along with me as we explore using Photoshop Elements to create focal po... more »

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Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch

Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch

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A pen tablet or graphics tablet makes life so much easier when using photo-editing software. The Bamboo tablet is the one I use and I can definitely say I love mine!

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