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Colorful Blown Out Look Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw Preset

While in Hawaii, after taking a lot of beautiful flower images, I created the above effect as a Lightroom preset that I have used many times. It looks especially nice for a calendar image. Hover over image above to see the original.

This preset I call “Colorful Blown Out” and mainly has Basic and Luminance settings. You can download the free Lightroom preset here and the Adobe Camera Raw preset here. For a softer look, try increasing the Recovery slider and the Brightness slider. It is a good starting point for a very nice flower look. For information on where to download the calendar template and how to apply it, see my Photoshop Fun Blog Free Calendar Template for instructions.

Give it a try on other types of images too. Hope you enjoy!…..Digital Lady Syd

10/12/2011 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Photoshop Tips | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Sunny Preset for Topaz Black and White Effects

This image of Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor in St. Augustine, Florida, was adjusted using Topaz Black and White Effects. I wrote a longer blog on trying to achieve this same effect using other plug-ins on my Fun Photoshop Blog “Same Image – Different Plug-ins.” Hover over the image to see original. It took literally two minute to get this effect. There was just one further adjustment made in Photoshop which, unfortunately when adding most plug-ins, there is some noise created. I took the image back into Adobe Camera Raw (see my blog “Edit Layers with ACR Script“) which I prefer over the other Noise Reduction plug-ins. The Luminance was set to +75, Detail +37 and Contrast +48. I was really pleased with the color and how it looks on the water and the sky, especially around the horizon line.  I wanted to share with you how I created this sunny preset in Topaz’s Black and White Effects.

First the Van Dyke Brown Collection was used with the Wenge Dynamic Preset. This gives the correct settings in the Conversion Section on Basic Exposure sliders and the Adaptive Exposure sliders.

In the Finishing Touches Section, Film Grain should be unchecked unless you want some graininess. This image does not use it. Next the Quad Tones needed to be changed for this effect. By clicking on each of the color swatches, the following colors can be changed: Color 1 Region set to R1G1B12 and slider to 9.60; Color 2 Region set to R63 G78 B85 and slider to 95.97; Color 3 Region set to R216G211B129 and slider to 141.2; and Color4 Region set to R255G254B255 and slider set to 237.0. This is the key to the effect and gives the preset the sunny feel.

The Edge Exposure area is optional but the above image used these settings. The Edge Exposure settings should be set to: Top – Edge Size o.26, Edge Exposure (-0.22), and Edge Transition 0.32; Bottom – Edge Size 0.19, Edge Exposure (-0.43), and Edge Transition 0.27; Right and Left set to their defaults since there is no edge on the sides – Edge Size 0.20, Edge Exposure 0.00, and Edge Transition 0.20.

Finally check Transparency and set the Overall Transparency slider to 1.00.

It is important to create a preset now either in My Collection or the individual Effects Presets so it can be reused again and again.

Hope this will give you a chance to try out a new Quad Tone look (see Tidbits Blog “Quad Tones in Topaz Black and White Effects Plug-in“) – I plan on making some more presets in this program soon. Try out this look and see if you like it as much as I do…..Digital Lady Syd

10/10/2011 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

“Perfect” Perfect Layers!

I keep finding excuses to use Perfect Layers, this fairly new plug-in for Lightroom, by OnOne Software. I really did not think that I would use it that much, but then I start playing around with an image, and there I go, back into Perfect Layers! It is so easy to try out the effects of my favorite textures on my images, and it is easy to stack virtual copies (and other textures or images – the layers can be dragged up or down in the stack) to get a totally unexpected look.


For this image of the London Eye, I cropped the original image and then created a Lomographic Preset (follow this very simple video from Michael Rather at the Digital Photography Connection on “Creating a Lomography Image) on a Virtual Copy of the cropped image. Select both the original and virtual copy images and open them up in Perfect Layers to create two layers stacked. A new image, Shadowhouse Creations Oil Painting-5 texture, was then imported and stacked as a layer on top and set to Hard Light. The top two layer’s opacity was adjusted to taste, and voila – a pretty nice texturized image! (By the way, I keep using this set of textures all the time – gives a real painterly canvas look to the image.) Here is a link to Lomo Presets from Matt Kloskowski’s Lightroom Killer Tips that have similar settings but a slightly different color and look. I have actually seen presets with a blue tint instead of green for this effect.

Definitely give this plug-in a try if you have Lightroom. I believe there is room for a lot of creativity and it is much quicker than going into Photoshop to see what results you are getting. Have fun creating!…..Digital Lady Syd

10/07/2011 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Quad Tones in Topaz Black and White Effects Plug-in

This image is of an old cannon on the grounds of the Historic Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia. I do love NIK’s new Color Efex Pro 4 plug-in, but I keep going back to Topaz’s new Black and White Effects plug-in. (Hover over image to see original shot.)

The Topaz Black and White Effects preset I created gives a really nice sunny vintage feel and I think it is great for that historic look. To create the preset, select the Van Dyke Brown Collection Effect and Chamoisee Cyan preset as a starting point. The trick to getting this look is to set up in Finishing Touches the Quad Tones using these settings:  Color 1 Region (R1 G1 B12) – 15.08; Color 2 Region (R63 G78 B85) – 143.9; Color 3 Region (R216 G211 B129) – 227.5; and Color 4 Region (R255 G254 B237) – 225.0. The sliders will need to be adjusted depending upon the image used. The Transparency setting was set to 1.00. For this image a small light Edge was added.  Also, I was able to brush away the distortion over the back part of the left wheel using the Burn tool with a large brush and lightly clicking a few times, then using a smaller brush to run over the details just a bit. It totally disappeared! These brushes work wonders! To bring out the cannon a little more, back in Photoshop the image was sharpened using a High Pass Filter set to 9.1 Radius, a black mask was added to cover up the effect, and then by painting just the cannon on the mask, only it becomes sharp.

I really like the Quad Tone effect in this plug-in. Topaz has created a very nice video on how to use this section called “Quick Tip – Quad Toning Explored.”  This may be the key to why it is hard to reproduce this look in other plug-ins.

For more information on this plug-in, see these related posts:

Fun Photoshop Blog: “Topaz B&W Effects Plug-In-A Real Winner!”
Tidbits Blog: “Topaz B&W Effects vs. Nik’s Silver Efex Pro”
Tidbits Blog: “Just Another Topaz Black and White Effect Example“

10/05/2011 | Categories: Photoshop Filters, Photoshop Tips | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

The New Film Efex-Vintage Filter From NIK CEP 4

I love this image – the clouds reflecting in this building on I-4 in Orlando were beautiful! Hover over image to see original image. The stack contains these filter effects: Darken/Lighten Center, Brilliance/Warmth, Tonal Contrast, Image Borders, Dark Contrasts, and Film Efex: Vintage (another one of the new filters that has so many different film types that it is hard to choose one). Below is what the Film Efex: Vintage screen looks like to give you an idea of how many choices you have just for this one new filter.

In this NIK interface image, you can see how all the filter effects stack. For just this filter there are 29 film types to choose from – the one showing is Type 17 but I actually ended up using Type 11. There are so many sliders to adjust to get just the look you want. (In case you cannot read them, from top to bottom they are: Saturation, Warmth, Vignette, Brightness, Grain per Pixel, Film Strength, Film Type (drop down list) and Opacity. The Opacity slider at the bottom will do a final effect amount so the image does not look overdone. Below is another example of what a nice effect this filter will give. Only this filter with Film Type 16 was applied and it brought out the texture of the wall very nicely.

Just using this one filter and trying out different effects will be a lot of fun! Definitely give this filter a second look – much more than it appears at first glance!…..Digital Lady Syd

PS:  Check out my Fun Photoshop Blog “NIK Color Efex Pro – Digital Lady Syd’s Review” and my Tidbit Blog “NIK Color Efex Pro 4 – First Try!” for more information on this great plug-in from NIK.

10/03/2011 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Tree Brushes and a Little Grunge

Having some Lightroom and Photoshop CS5 interface problems today so I am just going to post a little more tree fun I had a few days ago. I guess with the Fall coming upon us, I think about the trees losing their leaves and winter around the corner.

Both these images use tree brushes from Winter Trees by Melbrushes and Trees from c4grfx brushes. The first image used a texture from Shadow Creations Old Canvas 4 and the Glitter Brush Set by Obsidian Dawn. The bottom background was created using Paper Damaged brushes, Gorguss Grunge Again 3 and 9 (click upper right hand corner for link), my SJ-Basic Soft White Cloud Brush (for dark area behind trees), and the plug-ins: Topaz Effects Black and White plug-in (see sidebar for link) , a Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 Bi-color filter plug-in, and an OnOne PhotoFrame plug-in (see sidebar for link). Check out my Tidbits blog called “Just a Tree!” for another example.

Hopefully I will be back up and running with both my programs by next week.  Until then, try downloading some of these brushes and play around a bit. You can get some pretty interesting looks!…..Digital Lady Syd

09/30/2011 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

NIK Color Efex Pro 4 – First Try!

Well, here is my old standby image from the London Eye used as an example of what the long-awaited NIK Color Efex Pro 4 upgrade will do. Hover over image to see original. I am still sorting through all the new features they have added to this wonderful plug-in. Check out my Fun Photoshop Blog “Nik Color Efex Pro 4 – Digital Lady Syd’s Review” for a more in depth discussion.

One of the major new features allows you to stack any number of filters and save the whole group as a preset to use again. I really stacked up this image just to see what results I could get. The filters in the order they are stacked are:  Tonal Contrast, Brilliance/Warmth, Vignette: Lens (a new filter), Contrast Color Range, Remove Color Cast (Plus Control Point set on faded green trees on left – click to see original problem area), Graduated Filter, and Image Borders.

I believe the final result is quite striking. In the meantime I will still be playing with the filters and trying different stacks to see what really looks good. If you get a chance, go download the trial version and see what you think…..Digital Lady Syd

09/28/2011 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Spotlight Effect With the New Subtract Blend Mode

This beautiful sculpture, called Cherubs Playing with a Swan and created by Jean-Baptiste Tuby I in 1672-73, is located in the West Garden Court of the West Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.  I used an effect I learned from Calvin Hollywood recently in a video called “New Blend Modes – Divide and Subtract.” In this technique, the Subtract blend mode creates the dark feel to the image. Hover over the image to see the original camera raw image.

The basic steps used on the above image above are:

  1. Cropped image to balance in Lightroom.
  2. Opened image in Photoshop and duplicated the Background Layer.
  3. Change the top layer blend mode to Subtract.
  4. Went to Filter -> Bur -> Gaussian Blur and set Radius to 250. The image now has a night effect and not that blurry.
  5. Added a Layer Mask and painted white using a low opacity brush on the mask to emphasizing the sculpture and the areas to be lightened.
  6. A Curves Adjustment Layer and a Color Balance Adjustment Layer to adjust contrast and color were applied.
  7. A Composite Layer (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E) was created on top of the layer stack.
  8. Image was sharpened using the High Pass Filter set to a 9.1 radius and the blend mode changed to Soft Light.

I was surprised by the beautiful effect created on this image! It was interesting to learn that there is a useful purpose for this blend mode. Give it a try on an image and see what you get……Digital Lady Syd

09/26/2011 | Categories: Art Tidbits, Just Being Creative, Photoshop Tips | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Where Am I?

This image was processed as an HDR image in Photoshop CS5 using five images. I used Scott 5 preset (see my Fun Photoshop Blog “With One Good Photo – Try the Pseudo HDR Effect“) as a starting point and adjusted to my taste. I also changed out the sky as the day was very overcast when this image was taken and the HDR effect looked terrible in this area. The Puppet Warp Tool was used to straighten the left tower (see my Tidbits Blog “Straightening with Puppet Warp“).

So where am I?

If you have been to Washington, DC and spent any time on The Mall, you would have seen this very distinctive building called the Smithsonian Castle. I was interested in checking it out as the DC area experienced a 5.8 magnitude earthquake on August 23, 2011 and five decorative turrets on the east side of the Castle sustained damage. I did not take pictures on the east side of the building, but as far as I could tell, the building looked in good shape. The Castle was built and finished in 1855 by Mr. James Renwick, Jr. Apparently the museum did not expand beyond this building until the 1960s. I wish I could go back a 100 years in time for a few hours and see what was going on in this building. If you get a chance to visit this area, go check it out…..Digital Lady Syd

09/23/2011 | Categories: HDR, Where Am I? | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Get Rid of Those Power Lines Fast – with Paths and Spot Healing Tool!

Since I like to shoot old buildings, and there always seems to be a never-ending batch of power lines in these images, here is the technique that works best to clean up those lines.This tip is from Bryan Hughes, Product Manager for Adobe Photoshop, called simply “Remove Power Lines.” Below is an example of an image of the State Capital Building in Jackson, Mississippi, that had some real problems with lines. Hover over the image to see the original power-lined shot. It was processed with Topaz’s Black and White Effects plug-in.

Most of the lines were removed following the steps below:

  1. Select the Pen Tool (P).
  2. Go to the Path Panel and click along the wire setting anchor points as you go.
  3. Next select the Spot Healing Brush (J) – in Options Bar be sure that the Content Aware box is checked and that the size of the brush is roughly twice the size of the wire you want to remove.
  4. In the Paths Panel, click the “Stroke Path with Brush” icon at bottom of panel (2nd over from left).
  5. Once the wire disappears, delete the Work Path by clicking on the Trash Can. If the wire did not completely disappear, just paint with the Spot Healing brush over the exposed area to clean up.

This technique works great as long as you are not in front of areas like the building columns or details. I found in this case, still use the Spot Healing Brush on these areas – but just click once and move along.  It will do an amazing job in most cases. Note: To get rid of the path line on the image, open Path Panel and press DEL to remove the work path.

In the image above, the only areas that caused a problem was where one line went through the large ornamental balls – these had to be copied onto another layer, transformed, and layer masked to line up. Otherwise, no major problems and very fast even though there were lots of power lines. The traffic light was cloned out, and street light was removed using Edit -> Fill – Content-Aware after selecting with Lasso Tool. The new Topaz Black and White Effects was used to create the color effect on this image.

Try using this tip – it is really fast and great to have in your arsenal of quick tricks…..Digital Lady Syd

09/21/2011 | Categories: Photoshop Tips, Photoshop Tools | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

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