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Red Hibiscus Holiday Cheer!

Image of a Chinese Hibiscus
Thought I would post a little Holiday Cheer with this beautiful Chinese Hibiscus flower. Just had fun doing a little painting and playing to get this image. There was one really handy items that was used with this image – a Watercolor Mockup Template from Edimahendra – a set of wonderful watercolor splashes set up to use in Photoshop file as Smart Objects. I put these layers in a group and then added my own layers on top using different brushes – Magic Dust Pretty Actions Brush, Kyles Real Watercolor Spatter Dense brush, Melissa Gallo’s Scatter Brush, and Grut’s Inky FX Romato Brush. I put one of my Corel Painter textures on top and clipped a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer on top with Saturation set to -37. Then in a layer mask, used a soft round brush and painted out some of the texture over parts of the flower. Text layers were added to finish up. Merry Christmas Everyone!…..Digital Lady Syd

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12/20/2016 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Leave A Comment »

Tiger in Snooze Mode

Image of a tiger trying to take a snooze at the Jacksonville Zoo
This Sumatran Tiger was trying to get a little snooze at the Jacksonville Zoo. What a cutie – guess he had to keep his eyes open a little just keep up with all the goings-on in his part of the zoo. Since he made an appearance in my 2016 Inexpensive Gifts for the Photoshop Lover on Your List Fun Photoshop Blog, I thought I would cover some of the things done to get this interesting effect. First the fencing in front of his face had to be removed and the very handy Spot Healing Brush worked wonders on this. A stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) was then placed on top. Lucis Pro 6.0.9 (no longer available) was applied.  On another stamped layer, Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Lens Effects Reflector filter was used to even out only the parts of the face in the shadows. The eyes were brightened using an Exposure Adjustment Layer (see my How To Do a Quick Eye Sharpening In Photoshop blog.) All these tiger layers were grouped. Next Jai Johnson’s Unpredictable Collection Texture 25 was placed underneath this group. It was duplicated and the second one was set to Multiply blend mode at 82% layer opacity. Now, on the group on top, a black layer mask was added (CTRL+I in the mask to make it black). I just painted in white with a rough edged chalk brush the parts of the tiger I wanted to show up. A little of the free Nik Viveza 2 was added, and a canvas texture set to Soft Light blend mode at 42% layer opacity was placed on top. Love the effect of these textures by Jai…..Digital Lady Syd

12/16/2016 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

A Bird Christmas Tree

Image of a Masked Lapwing
This bird is a Masked Lapwing that was photographed at the Palm Beach Zoo. I decided I needed to practice some painting so I picked this funny guy who sort of waltzed into my shot. Since the background was not too exciting, I decided to give him a little more holiday spirit by both painting and adding several filters. This image uses a lot of different filters and textures. The background texture is from Kim Klassen called Papertrio Paper and Paste (not sure it is still available but she has some beautiful textures) – applied twice, the second time set to Hard Light at 49% layer opacity. Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReMask was used to select the bird and put him on his own layer – then used the Mixers to paint him. Used Grut’s MI Sues Hedge brush to soften and get the pretty edging between the brown and white feathers and am finding this to be a very useful mixer! Also used one of Fay Sirkis’s hair blenders. Have to find the right brushes to paint these guys! French Kiss (see sidebar for website link) Myrica Gale png was used for the plant – color was painted on a layer underneath it to add some colors. On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) Topaz Impression 2 was opened and Cezanne 2 preset was applied but masked out the bird to retain my painting strokes. On another stamped layer Topaz ReStyle’s Emerald preset was applied. Set the opacity to 69%. Corel’s Partical Shop was opened and used the Flame brush to paint a little color in the tree leaf and used Cluster brush to add some lights to the plant. Then used the Star brush to create the bright star on top and added a little color in by turning off the Glow and painting a little on the branches. Its Eraser brush was used to soften the effect a little. (See my Intro to Corel ParticleShop Brushes for Photoshop blog.) Back in PS, this layer looked pretty bright so lowered the opacity. Magic Dust Pretty Actions Brush was used to add a little white snow effect on tree and underneath text. Added some texture and clean up was done to finish up……Digital Lady Syd

12/13/2016 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Purring Tiger

Image of a Malaysian Tiger at the Palm Beach Zoo
This image is of a Malaysian Tiger at the Palm Beach Zoo – I think he was actually purring – I sort of connected with him. I tried a couple different plug-ins on this guy. Started with Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Clarity, then Topaz Clean’s Cartoon preset where a black layer mask was added and just the whiskers were painted back to give the sharp effect. First time I have used this plug-in so it was really good to see the results. Used PS’s Select and Mask panel and then followed up with a Defringe of 1 px to get rid of the gray edging. Used two of Jai Johnson’s new Unpredictable Textures for the interesting painted look behind him. On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) and applied Topaz Texture Effects 2 – one of Blake Rudis’s from a while ago (check out his videos on Topaz Labs). On another stamped layer Nik Viveza 2 was applied and that was it. It has a bit of an engraved feeling to it and was a lot of fun to try…..Digital Lady Syd

12/09/2016 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Bird of Paradise

Image of a Bird of Paradise plant with white bloom
This beautiful white flowers in a Bird of Paradise in my front yard was fun to post-process. Used Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Clarity to sharpen overall, and Topaz Simplify with the Simplify Size slider set to 0.17 which removed some of the bad spots on the leaves. Painted on the flower stems and stalks to further remove bad areas and add a little texture to them. Used the Corel ParticleShop plug-in to remove the background area using Blend brush and the Blender Tool. This plug-in can be very handy! On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) Topaz Texture Effects 2 was used – used Fall Foliage Foggy Morning (downloaded from the Topaz Community) with a few adjustments to the Basic Adjustments section. In the Texture section, masked the texture off the focal point with the Brush tab set to a Strength of 0.66. Did some clean up and added the free Nik Viveza 2 to enhance the focal point. Added Sarah Gardner’s Frame Collection Paper Frame 05 on top that is a free download. That is all that was done for this nice vintage effect!…..Digital Lady Syd

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12/06/2016 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Flowers Enjoying the Day

Image of Crepe Jasmine white flowers
These cute little flowers are Crepe Jasmine, I believe, and are growing in my front yard. Not a whole lot post-processing on this image. Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Clarity was used to sharpen up the overall image. On a duplicate layer Lucis Pro (unfortunately no longer available) was set to Enhance (R161/G169/B67). Duplicated the layer again and applied Topaz Texture Effects’ Winter Wilderness preset. On yet another duplicated layer, Nik Viveza 2 (now free) was applied to darken the corners slightly and sharpen the focal point at the center of the flowers. Finally, a New Layer was opened on top.  Used a soft round brush to paint with black at a very low opacity to reduce the brightness of the stems of the flowers and leaves. Applying the Lucis Pro plug-in gave the very well defined effect on the leaves and flowers. This image was a lot of fun to do!…..Digital Lady Syd

12/01/2016 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Feeling Fancy

Image of Gray Heron with fancy painted plummage
Thought I would do another image to show what the Corel ParticleShop brushes can do for an image. Here is a little gray heron recently taken sitting on my porch screen (see link to original image).  The Exclusive Pack of brushes was used to create this image – these come with the plug-in when it is purchased. Here are the brushes that were used in this image:  used the Fabric brush and painted out the fancy wings – Size 73/Opa 52; used Hair to add in more bluish lines in the wings – Size 120/Opa 100/Value Variability 5/Min Length 25; used the Wild Grain to some texture to sky used bluish tones – Size 75/Opa7/Count 15/Grain 55; used Cluster to add some little flecks in the head feathers Size 73/Opa 67 with yellow/white flecks and no Glow; used Fur to add some yellow cast on the light side of the bird; used Lightwaver to add the feathers on his breast; and used Fur to adjust the yellow over the breast areas. On a layer above Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Texture Effects 2 was applied with a few adjustments. That was about it! Love this regal bird!…..Digital Lady Syd

11/29/2016 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: | Leave A Comment »

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Card
Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends celebrating the holiday today!

This was a really quick image to create – just used one of 2 Lil Owls Workshop textures for the background (see sidebar for website link). On New Layers above: Selected a Snow Brush to add a little holiday feel; added some brush strokes using a leafy floral clip art that was turned into a brush and a Bevel and Emboss layer style added to the layer; used Grut’s Inky Leaks FX Il Romato brush (one of my favorite in this great set) to paint over the stalks for some nice detail; and a chunky brush to add in different colors. On a stamped layer above (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E), Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Texture Effects 2 using a Dingy Cream preset was applied. A Stroke, Gradient Overlay and Outer Glow Layer Styles waere added to the text layer. The clip art is from Graphics Fairy and used Stroke, Inner Shadow, and Outer Glow Layer Styles. Fill Color and Pattern Fill Adjustments Layers were clipped to the clip art (ALT+click between the layers to clip)……Digital Lady Syd

11/24/2016 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: | Leave A Comment »

The Jumper

Image of Oheo Gulch in Maui, Hawaii
Just had some fun taking some pictures at Ohe’o Gulch (also called Seven Sacred Pools) on Hana Highway in Maui, Hawaii, a while back. The original image was much larger with people standing on top and swimming below! Very popular place! Note: people are not encouraged to dive or jump into the water here as it is very hazardous and many fatalities have occurred. Just wanted to see if I could get a nice waterfall effect using an old tip on how to smooth out waterfalls. (See my Smoothing Out Those Waterfalls blog.) Two Motion Blur filters had to be used since the water was falling in slightly different directions. To get the soft look in the rocks, used Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Texture Effects 2 and a preset I created called SJ Soft Pastel Effect which uses a Basic Adjustment (need to set to individual image), Diffusion (Strength 0.57, Softness 0.38, Blur 0.39);  Split Tone (Highlight Saturation 0.12, Highlight Hue 0.48, Shadow Saturation 0.07, Shadow Hue 0.70, Balance 0.63, and Opacity 1.00), Vignette (use setting to fit your image), Borders (the second row up from bottom on left; Texture – Soft Grunge light beige/gray vertical lines (middle column, 7th row) – Size 1.00, Opacity 0.63, Blending Mode Saturation, Detail 0.07, Saturation 0.08, Color Strength 0.14, Color 0); and Light Leaks (a gold and yellow disk from upper left (2nd row from bottom and left column), Size 1.05, Blending Mode Color Dodge, Saturation 0.68, Color Strength 0.46, Color 0.45). A little burning around the jumper was the last thing done. This was a pretty neat place to visit!…..Digital Lady Syd

11/22/2016 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: | Leave A Comment »

A Guilded Age Bathroom

Image of the bathroom at the Flagler Museum (Whitehall) in West Palm Beach
This image was taken at the Flagler Museum (Whitehall) in West Palm Beach, Florida. The image was actually post-processed without the border or vintage effect. Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Clarity, Lucis Pro (no longer available), Topaz ReStyle and Topaz Lens Effects were used to begin the process. I was actually really happy with the results, and then Adobe came out with Photoshop CC2017. If you open a New Document, now a New Document Dialog box opens – select the Photo tab at top and Templates is one of the choices. I scrolled down to Vintage Photo Effects which was downloaded and my image was placed on top. In the template I changed the background layer color and added a grunge overlay set to 47% layer opacity. I also clipped (ALT+click between the layers) a second texture under  the Vintage Photo Paper. The Vintage paper texture was set to 47% layer opacity. Last step was to open up the now free Nik Viveza 2 to sharpen up the bottles and detail throughout the pix. The lighting was a little difficult to handle in this image due to the mirrors and the light coming in through a bright window off to the left. Try out Adobe’s free templates if you want a little different look……Digital Lady Syd

11/17/2016 | Categories: Borders and Frames, Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , , , | Leave A Comment »

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