This is just a little composite of various elements that I put together for the fun of it. I love the little girl clip art that was from Mary Bailey, I believe as a magazine download – I could not find a link to her. Thought I would mention the use of Axeraider70 Edge Brushes to make the fence and tree trunk. Lots of splatters and one of my painted backgrounds were used. The butterfly shape was from Nicky Laatz and the wreath and London text were from Graphics Fairy. The bird was from the Old Design Shop. The flowers are from another one of my images. The foreground grass was from brushes by Aaron Blaise. Topaz (see sidebar for website info) Len Effects Toy Camera filter using the Memories preset with no vignette, than applying Polarization Filter set on High to brighten the image up. Nik Viveza 2 was used to direct focus to the girls. It was a lot of layers and step, but a lot of fun to do……Digital Lady Syd
Latest
Summertime!
These are just some flowers I started painting in Corel Painter 2015. This used the Basic Paper with the default settings. Only an oil paint brush and a blender were used. Just a lot of fun to paint. I then brought the image into Photoshop and duplicated the background. Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Glow was opened and my SJ Mysterious II Water preset was applied. This mainly made the image more vivid. Once out of the plug-in, Grut’s O Rooster Suit brush was used in PS to smooth out uneven lines and do general clean up. Nik Viveza 2 was used to make sure the red flower was the focal point. I really enjoyed doing a little free-style painting……Digital Lady Syd
Still Life Fun
This is just a still life image I took a while ago of some flowers. Added one of my painted textures underneath, then with a black mask added to the flower layer, painted back in the flowers. The texture was copied twice and placed on top – one was set to Multiply blend mode at 54% and the other set to Color blend mode at 76%. A table and shadow were added using Grut Oil Rooster Suit brush. On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) Nik Viveza 2 was used to further bring out the color of the flowers. Several clean up layers were used and a few adjustment layers were added to create some contrast. I really love flowers….Digital Lady Syd
A Little Birdie Told Me So!
This was just a little bird I photographed near my home that was just walking around with a group of other little birds. He was placed under a couple painted textures, one I created in Painter and one by Jai Johnson called Clouds Over the Pasture. His eyes were brightened using the Exposure Adjustment Layer. Then on several different layers, the Mixer Brush was used to paint the bird. Finally on a stamped layer, Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReStyle’s Smoke Gray Veil preset was used to give the different color effect. I love what this plug-in can do to an image! Next Nik Viveza 2 was used to direct the eye to the focal point. Another one of my textures was added on top and set to Overlay at 47% to add the really nice orange tones into the image. That was it – lot of fun here!…..Digital Lady syd
The Blushing Bride
This lovely Snowy Egret with her magnificent plumage was another bird shot taken at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm rookery a few months ago. She was placed above Jai Johnson’s Emerald Green Canvas free texture (all her textures are fabulous) and with a black mask, was painted into the texture. This texture was chosen since the bird had lots of dark green foliage around her – the thin feathers could be seen better. Next a Corel Painter texture I created showing some soft plant-life in the background was placed on top and set to Hard Light blend mode at 39%. On a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E), Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Lens Effects was opened and two filters were applied: Reflector (Settings: Gold Top – Type Golden, Strength 0.65, Transition 0.37, Position 0.36, and Angle 176.4) and Add Vignette-Selective – Burnt Sienna (Settings: Placement Adjustments Focus Width 0.66, Focus Height 0.48 and Effect Center: (1751,806); Tonal Adjustment – used default sienna color, Vignette Strength 0.35, Transition 0.75, Contrast 1.63, Brightness 131.2, and Opacity 47.03). On a duplicate layer Nik Viveza 2 was used to bring out the sharpness of the eye a little more and the structure in the bird’s back. A black and white Adjustment Layer was used to adjust the focus just right and then set to Luminosity blend mode at 44% opacity. Then on another stamped layer, Topaz ReStyle’s Tuscany Memories was applied and set to Hard Light at 45% for the ReStyle section. That was it!…..Digital Lady Syd
Jumping Whales
These Killer Whales were performing a few years ago at SeaWorld Orlando. I decided to place them in a water texture created in Corel Painter. I wanted them to look like they are in their natural environment. The biggest problem I had with this image was getting the lighting to look natural on the sharper whales. First the whales were painted through a black mask on top of my SJ Stormy Weather at Sea texture. Several adjustments layers were used to even out the tonal contrast and color. Then Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Lens Effects was used on a stamped layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) and the Vignette Selective using the Golden Halo preset was used. Nik Viveza 2 was used the get rid of the color cast and turn the spots on the whale white. The texture was copied twice and placed on top of the layers – first set to Multiply blend mode at 49% layer opacity, and then set to Hard Light at 21% layer opacity. Some water splatter layers were created to get the water splashing effect using Aaron Blaise Water Splatter Brushes (all his brushes are fabulous!). On yet another stamped layer, Topaz Lens Effects was opened up again and the Toy Camera effect was chosen – used the preset Awesomeness for starters and tweaked it to get the correct sunlight effect. The last step was a Levels Adjustment Layer to even out the contrast. This was really a lot of fun to do!…..Digital Lady Syd
A Face in the Crowd
This image was taken at The Lost Continent area of Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. It is a rather interesting engraving in the mountain. The bokeh was actually on the image I took. Not a lot was done to time, just Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Glow (my SJ Inter Web Variation preset) set to Soft Light blend mode at 50% layer opacity and Nik Viveza 2 were used to emphasize the lines and the lighting in the image. On a New Layer set to Overlay, several of the face lines were painted over to darken so you could see them more clearly. It turned out rather painterly looking!…..Digital Lady Syd
Horses Checking Me Out
Created this image using a texture I painted in Corel Painter and a horse image from Belarus. This is basically just painting the horses into the texture by using a black layer mask on the horse image above. Then used Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Lens Effects Toy Camera filter Awesomeness I preset as a start, then applied the Reflector filter to lighten up the whole image. On a stamped layer Topaz Restyle was used and just the bottom colors were changed to darker tones. Then mainly just some clean up – love the the results……Digital Lady Syd
A Somber Effect for a Somber Image
I thought this post-processing technique suited the somber image taken a few years ago portraying the Khatyn Memorial Complex in Belarus – a reminder of the devastation caused by the Nazi of the 5,295 settlements destroyed during WW2. The names in stone represent the settlements that were devastated. One of the most moving places I have ever seen.
This is a cinematic effect applied following Colin Smith’s technique in his Photoshop Secrets: Photographic Effects videos that are for CS5, but work fine in newer versions of PS. This effect looks good on architectural photos and landscapes. Mainly uses 3 adjustment layers and a gray layer that adds grain. Really liked this treatment for serious places…..Digital Lady Syd
Seashells on the Beach
These shells were actually inside the base of a lamp – just did a close up phone image. By adding one of my Corel Painter textures and painting back in the shells in a layer mask, the busy original background could be replaced. Now for a change up – Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Impression’s Oil Painting 1 preset was applied. Next on a New Layer, some image clean up and painting was done. Last step was applying on a stamped layer (CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E) Topaz Restyle’s Soft Sienna Veil preset with a few adjustments in the color sliders. This was the final result and I loved the colors in it whole image……Digital Lady Syd
Topaz Labs AI Gigapixel
Check out AI Gigapixel stand-alone software for upsizing your images. It’s incredible! And it can now be used as a plugin when in Photoshop. Also Topaz Labs Photo AI has some great sharpening and denoise tools along with Photo Video AI.
Luminar Neo
Click here to visit Luminar for more info and check out their new AI Filters.
GRUT BRUSHES – Photoshop Brushes for Digital Artists
Click here to visit GrutBrushes.com
And be sure to check out his Free Brush of the Week and Brush Sampler! These are the best brushes you can find!
Topaz Studio 2 and Legacy Topaz Labs Filters
Unfortunately Topaz Studio 2 and other Topaz Lab filters are no longer available for sale as of 2020. If you had bought these filters and would like to put them back on, here is a link to the Legacy Apps where they can be downloaded again. Below is an example of the wonderful Remix AI Filter from Studio 2. The wonderful Impression still works fine in Photoshop right now along with Adjust (all versions), ReStyle, and even PhotoFXLab!
On1 Photo Raw
Wonderful software to use as a substitute for or plugin with Photoshop. Many great filter effects and lots of AI capabilities!
