Hey Guys,
I have searched through the tutorials and I haven't found anything that will teach me how to create certain affects.

Examples of the type of Stylizing that I want to learn how to create:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/tcamper/RINER/14-21-06_ISO-100_4444_mat.jpg
http://www.perspectiveye.com/theblog/wp-content/myimages/2007/07/_mg_0417.jpg

Examples of vignette that I'd like to learn how to create:
http://www.perspectiveye.com/theblog/wp-content/myimages/2007/07/_mg_6710.jpg

Does anyone have any good links that will teach me how to do these using photoshop 7?

The first two appear to have had the saturation run up and either a levels or curves adjustment to increase the shadows. Then sharpening.

The second one was done by creating a new layer, drawing an oval marquee, inverting the selection then entering QuickMask mode and running a heavy gaussian blur. (Using the QM mode lets you see how much blur you are adding and you can adjust to taste). Exit QM and fill the background selection with black. Then it looks like they drew a black filled rectangle over the left side of that oval blur.

Thanks a bunch it worked like a charm... do you have any suggestions on how to create a nice dreamy affect?

What I've tried before was to

1. Duplicate the layer
2. Gaussian blur
3. Switch layer to overlay
4. Increase brightness via image/adjustments/levels...etc...

However it messes up the colors in the photo.. (dark skin turns into orange etc... when overlay is selected).

Is there a way to create a dreamy affect without messing up the colors then having to revert to skin tone corrections?

I'm not sure what you mean by "dreamy" effect, but "dreamy" to me means softer, desaturated looks rather than adding brightness or saturation. Have you tried other blend modes? You are on the right track for blurring, but try luminacity or soft light.

I used to work for a company that does wedding photography and I used to see and deal with many of those images on a daily basis. The first one can easily be achieved with curves or maybe blend modes. The second and third ones seem awfully similar to the "lomo effect" that's overly used and loved by many wedding photographers. You can achieve the look with blend modes, quick mask, layer mask, etc... There are quite a few tutorials on the web.

Here are examples of the affect that I would like to learn how to implement: These show the dreamy affect that I'm after.

I know the whites are blow in this one but I like the affect.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmueller/162427210/


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/344474656_24f8aaab20.jpg?v=0

and

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/235/449140898_b9838d4bb3.jpg?v=0

Hopefully you understand what I'm shooting for now...

See if this helps your color issue...

Duplicate the original layer twice.

Do the Blur/Overlay to the middle layer.

Set the top layer's blend mode to Color.

Regards,

Michael

Thanks Michael.. that worked very well.. I appreciate it....

Here are examples of the affect that I would like to learn how to implement: These show the dreamy affect that I'm after.

I know the whites are blow in this one but I like the affect.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmueller/162427210/


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/344474656_24f8aaab20.jpg?v=0

and

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/235/449140898_b9838d4bb3.jpg?v=0

Hopefully you understand what I'm shooting for now...

They seem like they're done with blurring and blend modes, and that's exactly what I did with the attached sample.

-duplicate the background layer
-change its mode to "overlay"
-lower opacity to 70%
-apply guassian blur
-duplicate the "duplicate layer" again
-change its mode to "screen"
-apply a subtle vignette

You can use combination of various blend modes, opacity settings, and blurring amounts to achieve different effects. You can also reduce or eliminate the effects with history brushes or masks at certain areas, such as skins.

The thing about the first two images ( in first post ) is not only related to Photoshop. In both images the people have the sun coming from behind, which would mean they must have used some rather big reflectors or strong strobes to get that kind of light on the fronts of the people. Thats a nice effect pre-photoshop to use.

You might check out this action.
CSpringer's Vignette Action
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=21592955

The blown out whites could be a high key effect. Adjustment>levels, move the white point slider below the historgram to the left to maybe around 175, dup layer, add some diffused light to the image (default foreground color), Filter>distort>diffused glow...grain 9, glow 12, clear 15, set to screen mode, opacity 91% or so. New layer, eyedropper to lightest part of pic and Select>Color Range, with active selection, edit>fill>white, now blur this layer with filger>blur>gaussian, radius 78, flatten, burn -shows, exposure 9%. Might be too high key for you, but can play with setings and some masking.