If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try Try Again!
Love how this image turned out with a beautiful texture added to it. This is a very sentimental favorite plant for me since it came from my parents home in Indiana many years ago – it loves Florida. It is a Dieffenbachia, which is a poisonous plant around animals and kids so not the plant for everybody, but is very pretty in your home.
This image was processed using my basic Lightroom workflow. (See my How to Use Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) or Lightroom 4 Quickly blog.) Once in Photoshop, Karen Burn’s Day’s End texture was added on top (check out her Flickr account – great textures and images here), flipped (CTRL+T), and set to Normal blend mode at 58% layer opacity. A white layer mask was added and using the Photoshop Charcoal brush set to 250 pixels and a low opacity 12% brush, the leaves were lightly painted back in the mask – this brush gives a bit of a gray rough edge result that blends with the background nicely. I use it a lot for this effect. Just keep painting over the area you want the focus of the image to be. I was not really happy with the overall pastel feel of the image, so a Curves Adjustment Layer was added and the Blue channel and Red channel curves were adjusted to get a better colors. I still was not happy with the color so a Selective Color Adjustment Layer was added on top and in the Reds selected – Cyan was set to -48 and Yellows +46, in the Cyans – Cyan was set to +60, in the Blues – Yellow was set to -46, and in the Neutrals – Black was set to +19. That really made the color sing – sometimes it takes several different methods to get the look you are after. Overall, with just a little effort, this rather average image was turned into something quite stunning!…..Digital Lady Syd
I Didn’t Know That! Use A Pattern Fill Layer to Add a Painted Texture
Love my Day Lilies! This was a yellow lily but using Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Clarity, I was able to turn it to this pretty pink color. (My preset I call Crazy Color Palette settings are: Clarity Section – Dynamics: Micro Contrast -0.36, Low Contrast 0.39, Medium Contrast -0.36, and High Contrast -0.39; no Tone Level settings; HSL Filter Section settings: Hue – Red -1.00, Yellow -1.00, Green +1.00, Blue +1.00, and Magenta -0,52; Sat – Red -.50, Yellow 0.27, Green -0.09, Blue -0.03, and Magenta +0.59; and Lum – Red -0.03, Yellow 0.41, Green -0.23, Blue -0.20. All not mentioned are set to 0. Then I changed to Micro Contrast slider to 0.55.) Apply and then go back to Photoshop and opened Topaz Simplify and apply Oil Paint preset. A layer was added on top and Fay Sirkis’s 03 Palette Brush Blender was used to smooth out the flower rough edges from the Simplify. A old Florabella Action (that is no longer for sale) was run on the flower and and Kim Klassen’s Cloth & Paper Prague texture was also applied at 15% opacity. The flower was painted out so the texture did not affect it, only the background. Created a New Layer using the Sponge Tool to saturate more in the flower itself. A little burning and clean up was done on the flower. A Curves Adjustment layer was added to add back a little contrast. Then a Pattern Fill Layer was added with one of the patterns in Jack Davis’s Wow Patterns (see my blog Can You Get a Painting Look With a Photoshop Action? Jack Davis Can! for download link) and set to Soft Light blend mode at 59% opacity. I have never used the Pattern Fill Layer to add a painterly texture to an image, but it turned out really nice……Digital Lady Syd
Clarity with Texture!
I love how this image turned out – totally me! This is a beautiful pink variety of a Day Lily – huge beautiful blooms that I bought at WalMart! Nothing was done in Lightroom other than the checking Enable Lens Profile and Remove Chromatic Aberration, and adjusting the Crop. In Photoshop the layer was duplicated and the new Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Clarity plug-in was applied using the settings shown below. Note that the Red Hue slider was set to -0.59 along with the other settings in the screenshot.
These settings bring out the pink a little more in the flower. A burn layer was created using my The Best Dodging and Burning Technique! blog, and a paint clean up layer to make the stamen stand out more. Now what really made this image pop was using the beautiful Texture 86 by Lenabem-Anna – check out all her fabulous textures on Flickr that can be downloaded for personal use. It was duplicated and on the bottom layer a layer mask was added where the pink flower was lightly painted out. I did not want to completely cover up the background purple flowers in the image so the opacity was set to only 61%. Since I wanted the flower to have some texture but not pick up the color from the it, two steps were performed: 1) the texture layer was duplicated and a black layer mask was added where the flower was lightly painted back. This time the layer as set to Hard Light and the layer opacity was only 35%; and 2) a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer was clipped to the texture (ALT+click between the layers) and the Saturation slider in Master was set to -100 and Lightness +13. Now the texture color only appears in the background. Totally loved the final result! …..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Getting a Nice Painterly Landscape Effect with Topaz Simplify and Texture
Where Am I?
Digital Lady Syd Reviews Topaz Clarity
Using Old Wallpaper for a Vintage Look
Just another pretty image of my zinnias growing in my front yard. In Lightroom a preset I created from Jack Davis’ video (see my Can You Get a Painting Look With a Photoshop Action? Jack Davis Can! blog for link) – this was another part of the video where he shows you how to make an Antique Looking preset in ACR, but it can be done as easily in Lightroom. (It is also in his Facebook link for Lightroom presets download.) Once brought into Photoshop, a New Layer was created and the Mixer Brush was pulled out to define the leaves more, especially the ones in front. Fay Sirkis Four Season Classic FX Highlilghts #1 was used along with her 03 Palette Knife Blender brush, downloaded from her webinars on the NAPP website. She just completed a series of four videos where she goes over each season – wonderful videos if you want to learn to paint! Eventually this layer was set to 82%. On top of the Mixer Brush layer, Caleb Kimbrough vintage wallpaper2 was added (he has several free wallpapers to download) and set to Darker Color blend mode at 39% opacity. A layer mask was added and the flowers painted back into the image. Next an Overlay created from Kim Klassen’s Cloth & Paper texture Touch was applied and set to Multiply blend mode. A medium green Color Fill Layer was added, clipped to the overlay, and set to 70% opacity to add a little green tint to the edges. A Selective Color Adjustment Layer was added to get just the right color of red/magenta in the image. Then a Vibrance Adjustment Layer was added and set to +100 to add back a little color. The last step involved sharpening using a High Pass Filter, setting the mask to black, and painting back just the center of the flower and little bit of the wallpaper. Really loved the final vintage feel to the image……Digital Lady Syd
Bleach Bypass Look on a Landscape Image
This may be the most beautiful and interesting library ever made. I posted a couple times on Flickr with other images (see Minsk Library, Inside Minsk Library, and Minsk Library at Night) but this time I decided to process the inside ceiling which is all glass – totally breathtaking! As you can see, I caught the eye of the guard down below, but he lends a wonderful scale to the image. I had a hard time deciding what to do with the image as the original was not that bad but I wanted to enhance the light and airy feel in the image. So I tried everything I could think of and this is what I got!
First applied Topaz (see sidebar for website link) DeNoise 5 – the image was shot at ISO 1600 so it had some issues. Used the Overall Strength set to .17 and set the Shadows to .82. The layer was copied and Topaz Detail 3 was applied using the Architectural Detail II preset – this image was perfect for this preset. Next Black & White Effects was applied where I mainly applied a regular black and white preset and started moving sliders. What I think really made the image pop was the application of the Creative Effects Diffusion effect where the Softness was set to 0.10, but the Diffusion slider was set high at .91 and Diffusion Transition set to 0.61. This really made the roof lines pop without being too sketchy looking. Then Kim Klassen’s Cloth & Paper Reign texture was applied and set to Soft Light blend mode to lighten the image and add some blue tones back into the image. It was duplicated and this time set to Multiply at 24% layer opacity. Next a Levels Adjustment Layer was added to lighten the image more by moving the Output Levels to 23/255 and the midtone slider to 1.39. Next a Curves Adjustment Layer was added to lighten it even, and a bit of a vignette was painted around the edges of the layer mask. It still did not look quite right – almost blown out. That is when I tried a Color Lookup Adjustment Layer and clipped (ALT+click between the layers) it to the top texture layer. The 3DLUT File was set to Bleach Bypass.look in the drop-down, although several look rather nice. The last step involved creating a composite (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) on top and adding my SJ B&W Border Frame. I really like how the diffused settings made the ceiling lines look. Anyway, it was once again a lot of fun to experiment!…..Digital Lady Syd
Some Vintage Zinnias
Just playing with my Zinnias. I was trying to a vintage, wallpaper feel behind them. I actually opened Topaz (see sidebar for website link) photoFXlab from Lightroom. Here are the steps completed: Applied Topaz Clarity – SJ Illustrative Look – with a few adjustments, duplicated layer, set Dynamics slider to 9 and Saturation -17, duplicated layer, enter Topaz Adjust and apply my Rick Sammon Spicify Soft Artsy, back in photoFXlab the Adjustments settings stayed on this layer, duplicated layer, duplicate layer, in B&W Effects applied SJ_Quad_DkB_GR_Yel_Wh preset, an exited the plug-in to Photoshop. Just a few steps here. Guess what I am trying to show is that there is a lot of versatility here with photoFXlab. Once in Photoshop some clean up was done and French Kiss Studio Selections 3 White Wash texture was applied (I use this texture a lot and it is in a very reasonably priced set). On the white was I used Brush Lovers Art Flowers 2000 (liked the brush best when applied directly to the French Kiss WhiteWash texture – just looked better). This brush was set up as a preset – had to select the dark red color 4e322e and dark green color 3c3e38. In the Brush Panel I turned on Shape Dynamics, Scattering and Smoothing, Size 394 px, Spacing 434% and then Color Dynamics was added and size changed to 201 px. A layer mask was added to the layer to lightly brush out texture from the flower, but leaving a little to keep the grain intact. A Curves Adjustment Layer was clipped to the texture to bring out the cool texture a little bit more. 2 Lil’ Owls Studio Color Bokeh Grunge Set 4 (see sidebar for website link) was applied at 50% opacity and in the layer style, the Blend If This Layer’s white tab was set to 164. The last step involved adding two New Layers where just a couple strokes were applied, one layer using green and one the dark red color to add a little grunge feel to the image. The brush used was Nakatoni Custom Brushes texture brush (does not appear to be available anymore but any soft grunge brush would do). The preset settings are listed below. ….Digital Lady Syd
Here are the plug-in preset settings used if you are interested:
Topaz Clarity SJ Illustrative Look settings: If you would like the illustrative look, here are settings: in Clarity Section – Dynamics: Micro Contrast 1.00, Low Contrast 0.28, Medium Contrast -0.50, and High Contrast 0.06; Tone Level: Black Level 0.61, Midtones 0.14, and White Level 0.72; and in Hue/Sat/Lum Section – Hue: Only Red 0.16, Yellow -0.05, and Green -0.17 were adjusted; Sat: only Green -0.22 and Overall -0.45 were adjusted; and Lum: Only Orange 0.36, Yellow 0.89, Green -0.91, Aqua 0.30, and Blue -0.09 were adjusted.
Topaz Adjust Rick Sammon Spicify Soft Artsy settings: Adaptive Exposure section: Adaptive Exposure 0.50, Regions 25, Contrast -0.56, Brightness -0.13, Protect Highlights 0.03, and Protect Shadows 0.03; Details section: Strength 0.87, Detail Boost 1.15, Threshold 0.12, Radius 25.00, and Sharpen 1.01; Color section: Adaptive Saturation 0.33, Color Regions 10, Saturation 1.00, Saturation Boost 1.00, and Hue 0.00; and Noise section: Suppression 3.24, Amount 0.51, and check Use Topaz DeNoise.
Topaz B&W Effects SJ Quad DkB_Gr_Yel_Wh settings: Quad Tone: Color 1 Region: Color (R1/G1/B12) and set to 15.08, Color Region 2: Color (R63/G78/B85) and set to 143.9, Color Region 3: Color (R216/G211/B129) and set to 227.5, and Color Region 4: Color (R255/G254/B237) and set to 255.0: and Transparency: Overall Transparency 1.00.
I Must Have Flowers!
Here is another example of some of the beautiful flowers that people grow around their dacha’s outside of Minsk in Belarus. I saw so many unusual and gorgeous flowers when visiting there a few years ago. In Photoshop, Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Detail 3 and Simplify (Watercolor II preset) were applied first. Kim Klassen‘s 1612 texture was added on top at the Normal blend mode. A layer mask was added and the flowers were painted back in with a soft edged, low opacity black brush. A pink to white to pink diagonal Gradient Fill Adjustment Layer came next and set to 40% opacity. Kim Klassen’s Cloth & Paper texture Touch (one of my very favorite textures) was set to Soft Light at 64% opacity. The last major step included adding 2 Lil’ Owls Studios (see sidebar for website link) Dream Freebie 1 texture set to Soft Light at 100% opacity, where the layer mask from the first texture was copied and added to this texture (ALT+drag the mask to new layer to copy). A Levels Adjustment Layer’s Midtone slider was adjusted to bring back some contrast to the image. Text was added using the free fonts Ruthie and Batik Regular. That was it. I love the soft feel to the image and the little bug in the flower…..Digital Lady Syd
Zinnias Ready for Springtime!
Love my Zinnias! This image was first processed in Lightroom before going to Photoshop for an overhaul. Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Detail 3’s Overall Detail Med II preset was applied. A black mask was added and just the flowers were painted back to be nice and sharp. Lightened the image with a Levels Adjustment Layer. Used Kim Klassen‘s Sunkissed texture set to Soft Light blend mode at 100% layer opacity, and then Julytrio ToBe texture set to Soft Light at 47% opacity. For the wallpaper effect, a New Layer was created and Brush Lovers Art Flowers brush 2000 (these used to be posted at BrushLovers.com but they do not appear to be available anymore-they have a lot of other nice little flowers brushes that would work) was selected – in Brush panel the Shape Dynamics, Scattering and Smoothing sections were turned on at default settings, and the Brush Tip Shape settings were Size 394 pixels and Spacing 434% before painting in light brown background effect. The layer opacity was then set to 41%. The font is a really old one from Cosmi named 31. A Curves Adjustment Layer was applied to add a little contrast back in the image after adding all the texture. Last a little brownish tinge of grunge was brushed in using Kim Klassen cloth and paper extras brush 2188 on the upper corners…..Digital Lady Syd
The Polaroid Photo Look
I really researched for what kind of flowers these are and could not figure it out – the image was taken while at the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden on the Big Island in Hawaii. In Lightroom the image was processed using the standard sliders to get a nice image. Once in Photoshop, the image was set to a square size with a blank area created on the right side using the Crop Tool (or Canvas Size command). The flowers were selected, the selection inverted (CTRL+SHIFT+I), and in the Channels Panel, the New Channel icon was selected to make a new Alpha Channel. Now back in the Layers Panel, Content-Aware Scale was applied. First check Protect Alpha 1 channel in Options Bar before dragging the right side handle out – this keeps the flower from distorting, but just the background area. Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Detail 3 was used to sharpen the flowers a little. Next three of Kim Klassen‘s textures were added: Cloth & Paper Venice Texture at Soft Light at 100%, same texture set to Multiply at 27%, and UggLove Texture set to Soft Light at 75%. A Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer was used to desaturate the background just a little and the flower and stem were painted back in a layer mask. A Levels Adjustment Layer was also applied using the same flower layer mask used. A composite was made. The frame used above is one Kim suggested using from fuzzimo, but there are numerous other free downloads if you do a search for Polaroid templates. Once the frame was opened, the center was selected and put on its own layer (CTRL+J) A composite of the image was brought into the frame and clipped (ALT+click between the layers to clip) to the center area of the frame. With a little adjusting and adding some text and it was finished. This image used Quilted Butterfly and Batik Regular fonts. Really nice vintage feel to the image…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Using a Template to Create Your Own Unique Valentine
Five Image Template Creates Beautiful Collection!
Hibiscus Beauty
Love my beautiful hibiscus plants blooming on my back porch. This one has particularly lovely blooms. It was very quick and easy to process. Just processed a little in Lightroom and then in Photoshop applied my old standard Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Detail 3 using the Overall Medium Detail I preset. Painted over where the petals were blown out (see my Getting Rid of Those Blown Out Areas blog) on a separate layer. Than added French Kiss Tableaux Collection Creation texture and added a layer mask. Just painted back the flower – that is all it needed! It seems that if you have a really strong texture, it sometimes works best not to change blend modes but leave it set to Normal. Last step was to add the text using a really nice font called Quilted Butterfly at 78.01 points. (This font does require a $2 donation to use.) I loved the final effect!…..Digital Lady Syd
InstaTone Sunset
Wanted to change up the look of all the 24th Annual Native American Festival images I took so using Topaz (see sidebar for website link) photoFXlab’s InstaTone feature, I got this beautiful sunset look. Basically I went into the InstaTone tab’s 500 px website and applied a beautiful yellow and gold tone from Men on Fire image by Uwe Braun at 68% layer opacity. Then a preset I created using Topaz Adjust’s Spicify was applied that gives a slight illustrated look. (Here are the settings if you want them: Adapt exp +.30/25/-0.71/-0.76/0.02/0.04; Details +1.24/1.15/ 0.12/24.67/1.98; Color +0.33/10/0.89/1.92/0.00; and Noise +1.47/0.22.) Next I cleaned up signs and spots in the image (should have done this first but oh well!). 2 Lil’ Owls Enchanted texture 4 (see sidebar for website link) was added from their Texture Workshop E-Book bundle was applied as a PNG file frame next and a dark brown Color Adjustment Layer was clipped to the frame to apply it. I had to paint in a few areas around the trees that were too light on a separate layer using a low opacity brush and sampling from the near colors. Took awhile to complete but really like the changed look. I can imagine this image at an Indian campsite in the past…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd’s Related Blogs:
InstaTone in photoFXlabs – Great Fun and Great Results!
Topaz DeNoise 5 and InstaTone
Coral Pink Blanket Flowers
Just bought some beautiful textures from Distressed Textures and had to try one out. This is just a point and shoot image from my little Kodak camera that I used to take these pretty pink flowers called Gallardia Galya Coral Spark or common name Blanket Flower. Just did the regular adjustments in Lightroom and then opened it up in Photoshop. The background was duplicated and this new layer was opened in Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Detail 3 and set to Medium Details 0.38, Large Details 0.16, and Contrast 0.30 was applied. A New Layer was created above and the Mixer Brush was selected. Fay Sirkis‘s Signature Watercolor Smooth Blender brush was used to smooth out and sharpen the edges of the flower in the front since the low end camera does not always give sharp edges. Next I added Distressed Textures The Artist’s Palette Museum Canvas texture. A layer mask was added and the flower painted out softly. French Kiss Savoire Faire Overlay was added and set to Color Dodge at 100%. A layer mask was added and the writing was painted off the flowers. The last step was to add a Curves Adjustment Layer to increase the contrast of the image just a little. I wish I had had my better camera with me, but at least I got the shot – some beautiful pink flowers!…..Digital Lady Syd
Macro Magic
I just love Melissa Gallo’s textures – they are so soft and beautiful and they never cease to surprise me how pretty they look on an image. The macro shot above is of my Painted Lady Hibiscus Tree that is growing on my back porch. She blooms year round for me with these huge soft pink blossoms! Basically all I did was a little noise removal and then applied Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Simplify 4 using a preset I created called Hawaii Landscape. (Settings are Simplify Section: Simplify Size 0.20, Feature Boost 0, Details Strength 0.66, Details Boost 1.00, Details Size 0.27, Remove Small 0.06, and Remove Weak 0.10; Adjust Section: Brightness 0, Contrast 1.00, Saturation 1.04, Saturation Boost 1.32, Dynamics 0, Structure 1.00, and Structure Boost 1.00; and Edges Section: Color Edge – Normal, Edge Strength 1.89, Simplify Edge 0.58, Reduce Weak 33.33, Reduce Small 0.20, and Fatten Edge 0.) Next Melissa Gallo’s Painted Textures Winter Wheat from her Cyber Monday Set 1 was set to Linear Light blend mode at 100% layer opacity, and Seafoam from her 2 for Friday Set 2 was left at Normal blend mode and 67% opacity. A layer mask was added to Seafoam and the pistil and stamen were softly painted out to remove the texture and color on these parts. Kim Klassen’s Cloth & Paper Magicfilm 3 texture was added on top and set to Linear Dodge blend mode at 79% opacity. This one gets a little tricky as I used the Blending Options dialog in its Layer Style – turned off the B Channel and set the Underlying Layer right white tab to 197/255 (split the tab by pressing ALT and sliding). This gives the pretty yellow glow grunge effect throughout the image. French Kiss’s Tour Eiffel 1903 overlay was added and set to 25% opacity. A Linear Gradient Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped to the overlay layer using a free colorful gradient called Picasso-16 from Graphix1 Picasso Inspired Gradients set. (To clip to a layer, ALT+click between the layers so only the top layer will affect the layer below.) French Kiss’s free Glorious Grunge Edging was added on top as a border and set to an aqua color. Try the Layer Style trick for an added dimension to your images…..Digital Lady Syd
My Parisian Violets!
These beautiful violets I recently bought at Wal-Mart and they are so pretty. They really like the filtered light from my south facing window in my kitchen. I used my handy, dandy 60 mm Nikkor macro lens at F/4.8, 1/90 sec, and ISO 200. A Bower 0.5 x High Resolution Digital Lens with Macro was added to the lens. In Lightroom 4 I just followed my workflow in my blog How to Use Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) or Lightroom 4 Quickly. I painted over the center of the flower using an Adjustment Brush set to a high sharpening and just a little Clarity. In Photoshop a Curves Adjustment Layer was used to selectively remove a shadow behind the front flower (see my Using Curves Adjustment Layers to Get Rid of Shadows and Highlights blog). Painted Textures Seafoam textures was added and just the flower lightly painted back using a white layer mask and painting in black. Next 2 Lil’ Owls Affetto Grunge Mosaic texture (see sidebar for website link) was added and the center painted out so only the darkened edges remained on most of the image. French Kiss’s Vintage French Brush No. 2 set -Dec 1924 was placed on the left side of the image and set to 89% opacity. A Layer Style was opened on this overlay layer. A dark Stroke set to 3 pixels inside was added, a Pattern Overlay using that wonderful default Photoshop pattern Bubbles was checked to add some variation in the text (I think this is the first time I have ever used it!), and an Outer Glow at 39% opacity was used. A Color Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped to the overlay and set to a light blue color. On the upper right French Kiss’s Vintage French Brush 1903 (same link as above) writing was applied and another Color Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped using the purple color from the flower. That was it! Lots of fun to do!…..Digital Lady Syd
Red Flower-Blue Bokeh
This Canna Lily flower is similar to a bright orange variety I have growing in my front year but this one was at the Hawaii Botanical Tropical Gardens on the Big Island. To post-process, the flower and plant were selected from the background which had lots of shadows and highlights from other leaves nearby that was very distracting. Topaz (for website link see sidebar) Detail 3 Overall Medium Detail II was applied to this layer. Jill Wellington’s Bokeh free 94 textures – texture 24 was added behind the flowers. Once placed above the light blue texture, several rough edges appeared – the flower and plant were selected (CTRL+click on the thumbnail), then Select -> Refine Mask was chosen where Feather was set to .5 and the Shift Edge set to -40. A Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer was clipped to the flower layer (ALT+click between the layers so only flower layer is affected) and the bottom leaves’ color was adjusted from bright green to darker tones – the layer was mask was turned to black by clicking CTRL+I in the mask. The last step involved using a Levels Adjustment Layer to increase the contrast just a little and to soften the whole look (Output was set to 60 and flower painted back gently in layer mask to bring out color a little)…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Soft Bokeh Texture for a Flower Image
Happy New Years!
Textured Pink Orchids
Just loved the way these beautiful orchids look with this luscious texture applied to them. These orchids were growing at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden on the Big Island in Hawaii. Just did my basic image adjustments in Lightroom – used the Adjustment Brush to add some Clarity and Sharpening to the foreground flowers, and another one to smooth out the highlights and soften the background which was pretty harsh. Once in Photoshop, the background image was duplicated (CTRL+J). Next the texture Winter Wheat from Painted Textures Cyber Monday set was added between the two layers. A layer mask was added to the top orchid layer and the background was painted out with a soft black brush to cover up most of the background color. A Curves Adjustment Layer was added using a slight S-curve to add a little contrast to the image. The last step involved a black vignette set to 59% opacity so it barely is noticeable. Very simple processing and I loved the results. Melissa Gallo’s textures are so pretty!…..Digital Lady Syd
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Painterly Red Berries
Red Flowers in the Snow
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A Vintage Landscape Look on a Scottish Monument
I loved the way this image turned out – never expected it to be this pretty considering it was an image I snapped while standing on the street in front of our hotel. It is Nelson Monument (in center) and Acropolis (aka National Monument of Scotland on left corner) on Calton Hill – I did not get to visit this site but wish I had. This was not difficult to process once I got going. After cleaning up a rather boring image, Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Simplify 4 was opened and a preset I call the John Barclay BuzSim Setting preset was used, (The settings are: Simplify: Colorspace RGB, Simplify Size 0.19, Details Boost 1.00, and Details Size 0.20; Adjust: Brightness 0.01, Contrast 1.08, Saturation 1.03, Saturation Boost 1.15, Structure 1.00, and Structure Boost 1.00; and Edges: Edge Type – Color Edge Normal, Edge Strength 0.00, Simplify Edge 0.30, Reduce Weak 10.00, Reduce Small 0.20 and Flatten Edge 0.00.) I listened to one of John’s excellent videos on Topaz Labs and created this preset which has a very subtle result. Next I added 2 lil Owls (see sidebar for website link) Workshop 6 – Texture 1 which has the beautiful turquoise and light yellow sky color – the layer was set to Overlay Blend Mode. The beautiful text was supplied by my favorite Shadowhouse Creations – his Text Brush 5. I actually clipped a bright green Color Fill Adjustment Layer to the text (to clip just ALT+click between the two layers and the color fill adjustment layer will only affect the layer below) – then the text layer was set to 55% opacity. Another 2 Lil’ Owls Texture – texture 4 was used as an overlay frame (follow the steps in my blog How To Make Frames or Borders – scroll down to the section called “To save the frame you created as an overlay to use again”). A light yellow Color Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped to the texture file. A Curves Adjustment Layer where the red, green and blue channels were adjusted to get this slight vintage feel. The last thing done was to add a Color Fill Adjustment Layer to the whole image using a soft cream color (#c6c3bd) and then Nelson Monument was painted out in the layer mask so the eye is drawn to that area of the image. Had a lot of fun as usual – never get tired of this!…..Digital Lady Syd
Winter Violets
Just liked the way my purple-blue violets turned out so I decided to post them. When I took this image, I held an old Cokin Gradual Blue Filter 122 B1 in front of my macro lens. In Lightroom David duChemin’s Iceland Split Greens preset (from his newest book The Print and the Process: Taking Compelling Photographs from Vision to Expression) was applied and then the Basic Panel sliders were tweaked. Topaz Detail 3’s (for website link see sidebar) Overall Detail Light I preset was applied. Next a Levels Adjustment Layer was applied and the mid point was moved to the left (2.57) to really lighten the image. The layer mask was filled with black (CTRL+I) and just some of the purple edges were painted back so the purple was not so bright. Next 2 Lil Owls (see sidebar for website link) Scripted Brush 34 at 2500 pixels was painted in upper right area – a layer mask was applied and any brush color was painted off the flowers. The layer was set to 68% opacity. A green Color Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped (ALT+click between layers) to change brush strokes to green. Kim Klassen’s Unleashed (a beautiful texture that was free by signing up for her newsletter) that I converted to a PNG texture was applied and a light purple Color Fill Adjustment Layer was clipped to the layer. The texture was set to 62% opacity. Another Levels Adjustment Layer was placed on top and the black Output Levels tab was set to 38 to soften and lighten the whole image. In the layer mask, the two main flowers were lightly painted out to sharpen just a bit. That was it. I really enjoyed just doing a fun image…..Digital Lady Syd
Painterly Red Berries
These little red berries were growing in my neighbors yard – I really did not think they would look that great but I took a photo anyway. By adding the soft painterly texture, they turned into something quite beautiful. In Lightroom the basic panel sliders were manipulated and an adjustment brush was set to increased clarity and sharpening to paint around the edges of the front berries. The image was then opened in Photoshop where Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Detail 3 was opened and the Desaturated Blush I preset was applied. Painted Textures Creamsicle texture was set to Linear Burn at 100% opacity. A Levels Adjustment Layer was added and the Output level was changed to 54 to add a slight light haze to the image. The berries in front were painted out in the adjustment layer mask so they would appear slightly sharper. That is it! I love this texture – gives a real painterly look!…..Digital Lady Syd
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Beautiful Christmas Flowers
The Kiddie Tractor Revived!
Riding my toy tractor may be the first recollection I have. Since I grew up practically in the middle of a corn field (although my parents were not farmers), my first ride-on toy was a tractor exactly like this one. It was my favorite toy and I put miles on it! I did not have a tricycle, just a tractor. I had to get a picture when I went to the 39th Annual Turkey Run in Daytona Beach, Florida, last fall. Looks like we are missing a pedal here.
Used my basic Camera Raw steps (see How to Use Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) or Lightroom 4 Quickly) in Lightroom 4. Next Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Detail 3 was applied using Overall Detail Medium II preset first, and then the Soft and Dreamy II preset was applied. The tractor was painted back in a layer mask so just the background was softened. On a duplicated layer Topaz Adjust 5’s Low Key II preset with Transparency slider set to .28 was applied to the layer. A Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer was used to desaturate the greens and yellows. 2 Lil’ Owls (see sidebar for website link) Workbook Bonus Texture 16 was added at 85% opacity. A High Pass Sharpening effect set to 8 pixels was applied and a final Curves Adjustment Layer for added contrast and give a nice orange color to the tractor was added. Lots of fun to work on something from your childhood……Digital Lady Syd
Snowy Butterfly with Akvis Sketch
This is a female Palamedes Swallowtail Butterfly (the males are smaller and blacker in color) that was so much fun to photograph – my favorite type of butterfly to photography as they as not so skiddish to shoot. I decided to try out the Akvis Sketch plug-in that I recently reviewed. (See Digital Lady Syd Reviews Akvis Sketch Plug-in for Photoshop.) To get this image, first I opened up the image in Photoshop. To sharpen the image Calvin Hollywood’s Freaky Amazing Details action was applied – see my Tidbits Blog A Little Hollywood for My Butterfly Model to get information on how to do this and the action download link. A composite was created on top (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) and Akvis Sketch was opened – a preset I created before was applied, (Used the Classic style, Strokes section Color Pencil was set to 63, Edge section Edge Width was set to 56 and a Good Colored Sketch preset was created.) Next a Shadowhouse Creations Vintage Soft Grunge V27b texture was applied. A New Layer was added on top where French Kiss Spatter4 Brush 22 was set to 5000 px at 30% brush opacity to create the soft purple splotchy layer. Next Shadowhouse Creations free Cabin/Trees brush was applied at 49% layer opacity. The top layer used my free SJ Snow2 Overlay slight blur at 100% layer opacity. Anyway just another way to have fun with Akvis Sketch…..Digital Lady Syd
Red Flowers in the Snow
Once again here is an image I never thought I would process, but thanks to all the beautiful textures out there, the flowers end up looking like I remember them – well sort of – minus the snow. These Celosia flowers were taken in the courtyard at Flagler College (the old Ponce de Leon Hotel) in St. Augustine, Florida. This image was first processed in Lightroom where cropping and Basic Panel sliders were adjusted. An Adjustment Brush was applied to sharpen some of the foreground flower tips. In Photoshop Melissa Gallo of Painted Textures in her tutorial video Turn Your Photo into a Pastel Painting, Pencil Drawing or Pen and Ink, the second example, was followed. First the background was duplicated and the top row was set to Screen Blend Mode. A black layer mask was applied and with a white brush, the dark areas of the flower was painted in white to lighten the color on the mask. A Levels Adjustment Layer was applied the Midtones set to .78 to increase contrast just a little. A composite was created on top (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E). Next 2 Lil’ Owls Mosaic Set’s Claude texture (see sidebar for website link) was added and a layer mask added where the flower was painted back into the image using a soft 30% opacity black brush. A text layer was added showing the name of the flower using Flakes font at 131 pt size and a brown color. Another line of text was created using a quotation from Emily Dickinson using Chopin Script font and set to a grayish brown color. My free SJ Snow Overlay-slight blur was duplicated several times, merged, and set to 75% opacity. A Curves Adjustment Layer was the last step to add a little contrast. I loved the final result, and for some reason the snow just added a special effect to a red flower look…..Digital Lady Syd
Happy Valentines Day!
These flowers were growing in the countryside in Belarus several years ago. I am not sure what kind they are, but the blooms were huge! And the colors are incredible! Not a lot of processing here. After some basic slider adjustments in Lightroom 4, the image was opened up in Photoshop and three inches were added the left side of the image to create an area to add type by going to Image -> Canvas Size. The image was sharpened using Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Detail 3 and the Feature Contrast II preset. Some of the contrast was removed from the image by duplicating the top layer and setting it to Screen blend mode. A black layer mask was added and the high contrast areas were painted back in so they were not so obvious. (See a wonderful video by Melissa Gallo of Painted Textures called Turn Your Photo into a Pastel Painting, Pencil Drawing or Pen and Ink on how to do this.) A New Layer was created and some of the too bright highlights on the pink and purple flowers were lightly painted out. (See my Tidbits Blog Getting Rid of Those Blown Out Areas in Your Image.) Added a Levels Adjustment Layer per Melissa’s suggestion and then Topaz Simplify 4 was opened and the Painting II preset applied. The centers of the large blooms were brushed out to bring back the detail a little using a brush set to 33% opacity in the Local Adjustments section, the Dynamics slider in the Adjust section was set to 0.38, and Tone in Finishing Touches was checked. Back in Photoshop Kim Klassen’s Reentry Texture was added – beautiful texture that was free by signing up for her newsletter. On a white layer mask the flowers were lightly painted out to reveal the flowers just enough. Next on another New Layer some pink hearts were added to the background using Obsidian Dawn’s hearts-glitter brush set’s Glitter Brush set to 4100 px. Once again a white layer mask was added and the flower painted out so the hearts do not cover them. This layer was set to 68% opacity. The text was added using my favorite Freehand575 BT font set to a default setting of the Bevel & Emboss layer style. A basic texture image turned into a Valentine for you!…..Digital Lady Syd
Vintage Effect on Hanging Pots
The image was taken at the 24th Annual Native American Festival in Ormond Beach, Florida recently. I just loved the way this image turned out since it started out with a very cluttered background. It was an three image HDR image that was processed using Photomatix Pro’s Merge to 32-bit HDR in Lightroom. The resulting TIFF file was adjusted and Matt’s 70’s preset was applied before taking the image into Photoshop. Some background clean-up was done and the Kim Klassen cafe simplicity texture (sign up to get several beautiful free textures including this one) at 55% opacity was added to the image – really gives it that vintage feel. The pots were painted out with a low opacity black brush on a white layer mask. A Curves Adjustment Layer was added to give just a little more contrast in the image. That was it – very simple processing but one of my favorite images from the event.
It is amazing how pretty the results can be by trying different textures on an image. Really loved this one….Digital Lady Syd
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