The Power of Warp, Free Transform Tool I Can’t Live Without

[@fotticelli]

I am a long time Photoshop user (since 1999) but missed this method of warping. I was using Liquify Filter but this is much better when working with small parts of the image. Thank you. Also, I agree that there is no such thing as unmodified photography. Photography as a medium modifies or even distorts grotesquely and we need to fix it to make the subject look the way we saw the it with our eyes. My small tip: Instead of Cmd-C and then Cmd-D (or Cmd-V) use Cmd-J. That copies the selection into a new layer with one shortcut.

[@thedvguy]

I was doing corporate and event photography. I avoided program mode and auto focus for years. But I realized that the client didn't care how I got the photo, as long as I got the photo. So I started playing with those things in certain instances. No one knows which photos I "cheated" on. Photography is fun. Some people want to use all natural light, and some buy all sorts of lights. Some use filters, some avoid them. We all have our own ways of making images. But in the end, it's the image that matters, not how we got there. Thanks for the video. This is an excellent tutorial.

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@soorajraju04]

We need Artists like you out here Joel. Great to be here watching this ! :) Great work....

[@tommynikon2283]

When I think of MASTER PHOTOGRAPHERS, those that can straddle both the commercial world and their own artistic/independent vision/pursuits- melding the two, both behind camera and in post-production, FEW can do, or have achieved, what Joel Grimes has. Been following this dude since the 1980's. He's BETTER than ever TODAY; with a catalog of 40+ years, ....the work, the quality, the technical insights, the ability to convey the "how" behind an image, the process= WOW! Still.

[@joelgrimes]

Wow, Tommy. I really appreciate those kinds words. It means the world to me!

[@dreamwork69]

Ty. Ur the master sir!!!! Pls keep teaching us!

[@joelgrimes]

I'll try!! thank you!

[@matthewryan9935]

Great video. And awesome photos. Thanks!

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@moatazmady1086]

thanks you sir .. you are so inspiring

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@ChristopherBriscoe]

Great presentation. Wonderful tool. More please!

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@TracumsIvars]

What a useful chanel! Thanks, Joel!

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@timstevens5178]

The original image of the agave is the best imo!.

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@DeanAllman]

That's right on. man. Nice job. Since the moment photography has been invented people have been manipulating images. With Photoshop we can now do it in very sophisticated beautiful ways. Keep teaching - very helpful.

[@joelgrimes]

Well said!

[@JD-jv8wh]

Thanks Joel. Great tutorial. Can't wait to read your ebook. 😊

[@IanHylandsPhotography]

Great stuff Joel, thanks! Just a tip which you may already know, if you change the Canvas Extension Color to black (dropbox at bottom of canvas tool) before you expand the canvas your new background will be black and save the step of painting it in.

[@SD_Alias]

Yes, cloning and transforming image areas is a great help. You just have to be careful that the light and shadow directions are still plausible and that you don't transform twisted light sources into the picture...

[@gordroberts53]

Well worth watching, clear and concise. Thanks for sharing

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@hovikabrahamian3801]

Beautiful Tips and guide is an amazing tutorial I learn lot, thank you so much, Joel.

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@HR-wd6cw]

To your last point in the video, about not passing up shots, I used to do this, simply because I was lazy, but later I realized that I was missing several shots that could otherwise have been "saved" in post (normally I don't like to say things like "I'll fix it in post" but I think in this case, there isn't much you CAN do at the time of capture so you have to capture the image, and then fix in post. I think where people get in trouble is they use post processing as a crutch for poor technique or not taking the time to get as much as they can, correct in camera, and then fix the stuff they cannot control (at the time of capture) in post. That's where I think the saying "I'll fix it in post" gets a bad reputation from photographers.... there's the lazy ones who use it as crutch, and there's the "smart" ones that recognize the flaws at the time of capture, try to work around them (at the time of capture) and fix whatever they cannot deal with (at the time of capture) in post. To an extent, when it comes to photographers vs. artists, I think it is possible to be a bit of both. There are obviously the purists out there (such as street photographers) who don't want to manipulate the scene (or do as little as needed to preserve and present the scene), and then there are artists who want to expand what they captured in camera and really show you what they had in their mind (there is some overlap). I think the two sort of go together, and unless you're strictly a purist (I used to be) you are basically an artist with a camera. I used to not like editing photos and felt that things like even correcting perspective or saturating colors caused a photo to lose it's "pureness" but later realized that I was unsatisifed with my work because I was limiting myself to be a "purist" (nothing wrong with that) when my real vision was more art-based. This is not say I go crazy and make things unrealistic, but to expand a scene and show the viewer what I saw in my mind, which may or may not exactly reflect what the camera saw.

[@jannellemerrett8781]

Awesome , I have used the warp tool to straighten a wattle tree that was leaning over unbalanced , it was a snow pic with yellow wattle tree it came up awesome . This is a great way to correct problems you have shown us , Thanks so very much for sharing love it

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@JoseLopez-vx7hw]

This tutorial is insanely crazy cool. I'm into minimalistic photography, and this tutorial blew my mine away, with all the new ideas that went through my mine in seconds. Your new buddy from Puerto Rico. Thanks my friend.

[@joelgrimes]

Wow, thanks!

[@mosheovadya]

Brilliant

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@johnharrington6357]

Very useful tutorial, comprehensive and well explained

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@BulletBarDave]

Joel! I love your energy and your ability to take everyday PS tools and apply them in a more creative way! Cheers!

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@scottbailey2610]

Another shout out... Try grabbing the bezier handles with the warp tool to better manipulate the lines your working with. This will give you more control over the pitch of the curve not just the angle that you get moving the anchor points.

[@nelsono4315]

Thank You for all that you do, Joel. You are an inspiration

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks for listening

[@black-and-light]

I love it! Well done, Joel, thank you

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@leoluzprofessor1983]

That was absolutely astonishing! Thanks for your help, it was so nice to watch. Regards from Brazil.

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@chrisnewman5772]

The warp tool coupled with masking is very powerful. Thanks for showing that. I gotta play with the warp tool some more.

[@joelgrimes]

Right on!

[@sherrioster7012]

Thank you!

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome!

[@runionbryan]

Thanks for sharing!

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@yvonnesmith8731]

Would this tool work in Affinity Photo?

[@joelgrimes]

I'm not very familiar but I'm sure they have a similar function.

[@DanLaFollette]

This is a very helpful tutorial for some of the projects I'm going to be doing in the future. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@joelgrimes]

Wonderful!

[@Metaldetectiontubeworldwide]

whaaw epic soccer shot and tutorial , got me subed

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@silenciowatford]

flippin amazing

[@joelgrimes]

😎

[@simonvanderheijden432]

I truly love your photography and your video's but life's to short for this.. 😂❤

[@joelgrimes]

haha, thanks?

[@EngineFD223]

Is there any difference between going into the menus and doing 'Canvas Size' vs. just cropping outwards? Or is it just the case of multiple way to achieve the same effect.

[@DflyDude]

Have climbed those steps many times - thanks for the tutorial.

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@amyriceartworks]

Now I’m off to fix that sunflower petal that was bugging me this afternoon during my latest editing session! Thanks a MILLION!

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@jonbarnard7186]

I always learn something from you Joel.

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@MrBritishGent]

Eye-opening video! I never knew...

[@joelgrimes]

hehe, glad to help Richard!

[@ewallperschwaznyk4169]

Great tutorial!!

[@joelgrimes]

Glad you liked it!

[@BigMike246]

Love it. I use CNTR C + V + T on every project. I still don't have masking in my workflow. I do things the hard way.

[@tdalton854]

Thank you , this is going to be so helpful.

[@joelgrimes]

Glad it was helpful!

[@paulatcliffe8905]

Interesting ! A new warp user ... and a new subscriber :-)

[@orcaspest]

Great tutorial, thank you!! 👍

[@joelgrimes]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@stevenally8015]

Great tutorial Joel, I always get confused with masks and layers as well so this really helped me.

[@joelgrimes]

Glad you liked it!

[@JerryOConnor]

Thank you for this. Great stuff. "An artist with a set of tools...", a great way to think about it, and identify oneself.

[@joelgrimes]

🤓

[@dennismartineau9147]

I'm going to be using this technique. Thank you, sir. Much appreciated.

[@joelgrimes]

You are very welcome

[@bc-ti4bq]

Great tutorial. One thought, instead of painting black on the new canvas size why not just first set the background color to black and then increase the canvas size to avoid having to paint in the black? Again a great tutorial

[@danbrowning2418]

Great video.

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks for the visit

[@fotoHORYZONT]

Joel - as always informative and inspirational. Thank You :)

[@joelgrimes]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching

[@CraigRodmellMusic]

Thanks for that!

[@joelgrimes]

You bet!

[@markguerin6071]

Thank you for all the great content, Joel. Learning a lot from the Academy lessons. All my best!

[@joelgrimes]

Awesome stuff Mark!

[@csc-photo]

So helpful, and what a beautiful image! You've taken my basic use of the transform tool to another level 🙂 I think the only genre that needs to have the strictest set of post-processing do's & dont's is photojournalism (for obvious reasons). Anyone else that's making non-documentary art - use any tool that helps achieve your vision. In the age of Photoshop, Luminar AI, etc... we all need to set our own rules & boundaries of what's acceptable between "real" and "fake". Very subjective thing, and important to discuss.

[@joelgrimes]

I totally agree. Luckily for me I'm an artist! So artistic license abound!

[@judyboyd9530]

This was a great video and I sure did learn some new maneuvers. Thank you 😊

[@joelgrimes]

You are so welcome!

[@DBBlocker]

Great stuff Joel, opened my eyes to what can be done. Need to go try this out.

[@joelgrimes]

Have fun, Duane!

[@damianpaull8470]

Hi Joel just stumbled across your channel and have subscribed. Love the tutorial and and your mindset …I have always considered my self an artist with a set of tools… although I have been away from photoshop for a while and struggle to keep up with all the new tools. Do you have a standard workflow you use when processing in photoshop? Also loved the tutorial on bit depth …clearly i must have remembered my training as i had both Lightroom and photoshop set for 16 bit..and I have started looking at my black and white landscapes with a fresh eye. Thanks

[@joelgrimes]

Fantastic Damian! Glad you are here!

[@jamesmassa1999]

Good advice Joe. : )

[@joelgrimes]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Spawn666949]

What is that humming? Is that your computer fan? :D

[@joelgrimes]

😔

[@AntonyMeadley]

Instead of Ctrl-C then Ctrl-V you could just use Ctrl-J. Saves a few seconds here and there.

[@joelgrimes]

Old dogs...new tricks... 🥴

[@vangazmicvoyage5077]

It's for advertising and marketing. You're not selling photographic purity, you're selling an idea, a pitch, a hook to bring the viewer to your product or service. There's an expression in marketing: you're not selling the steak, you're selling the sizzle!

[@joelgrimes]

I feel like you are also describing art. You are telling a story, a story you want to tell, the way you want to tell it...

[@dennisclark8766]

For me there was too much talking before you got started, six minutes worth. Loved the lesson.

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks for the feedback

[@engjds]

Call me old fashioned, but to me, this is not photography, I mean it's ok for advertising, but to be displayed as Art in a gallery, it's making mockery of those that took the effort to set up the shot in the first place.

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks for the feedback! The same has been done with film in the darkroom

[@DataJuggler]

Free tool, and then you say in 'Photoshop'. Liar.

[@joelgrimes]

Free Transform is the name of the tool... in Photoshop

[@DataJuggler]

@@joelgrimes Sorry, but I don't pay for Photoshop, as it is not free. Comes with Photoshop is more applicable.

[@antoniobeca5156]

urubutuber bad teaching

[@joelgrimes]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@Charveljay]

Thank you!