Vignetting is an effect where edges of a photograph are dark in colour and appear to be block by something around the lens. It normally occurs if you taking a wide angle photograph.

In some situations, vignetting is undesired but in some special exceptions, having vignetting effect will add more artistic touch to the whole photograph. How to add vignetting effect to a photograph in Photoshop?

There are times where the subject of a photo is "outshined" by the distracting background and thus failed to bring out the feeling that the photographer meant to portray. To ensure a subject is really outstanding, the colour must be contrasting enough and the background must be blur enough to make the front subject really seems outstanding. With photoshop, you can literally bring any subject out to make viewers focus better on the intended effect.

I had helped to cover for an basketball competition organised by one of my close friend in NUS sometime back last year. There is this really interesting photo that captured the expression of this guy in "total despair" when trying to block his opponent shooting a basket.

There are several techniques in Photoshop that can be used to convert a full colour photograph into black and white. Typically, a Photoshop "newbie" like me in the past will just pull the saturation bar to the minimum to desaturate the colour or choose "Grayscale" in the image mode.. However this kind of conventional method, you tend to lose control over the details and contrast that you wish to preserve in the photo. You will end up with a photo that is flat and "normal".

Ever wonder how the pros create special effects like the one below where only certain parts of the photos are in colour? Don't worry, the task is not hard at all, in fact you can replicate the entire effect just after 5 to 10 minutes of hands-on and learning!