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Keeping Time

Monochromatic image of plant and clock
Just loved how this image turned out. I liked the fact that the dining room was light and bright and slightly out-of-focus and the clock and plant looked pretty nice when put together. The little philodendron was rooted from a clipping of a plant I have had 20 years – amazing! The original image was processed in Lightroom using just the Basic Sliders and Dave Delnea’s Backlight Vertical Right preset. Once opened in Photoshop Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Detail 3’s Shadow Relief III preset was applied to sharpen up the image little. Nik’s Analog Efex Pro‘s plug-in was applied – it is turning into one of my very favorite plug-ins! Basic Adjustments, Bokeh, Light Leaks, Dirt & Scratches, Lens Vignette, Film Type, Frames, and Level & Curves tabs were used. I have created a favorite look preset and just keep modifying it – I think that is the easiest way to use this plug-in. A Curves Adjustment Layer was added to increase contrast and that was it. This is just too much fun to do!…..Digital Lady Syd

Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Digital Lady Syd Reviews Nik Analog Efex Pro
Using Nik’s Analog Efex Pro on a Historic Statue

11/19/2013 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

Using Nik’s Analog Efex Pro on a Historic Statue

Image of figures on top of Gordon Monument in Wright Square in Savannah
I really like what Nik’s Analog Efex Pro plug-in does for statues and historic images. At first I did not like this image of the Gordon Monument in Wright Square in Savannah, but since it had that historic look to it, it seemed like a great fit with this new plug-in. Sure enough, it really created a beautiful image and has a feel to it that suits the image. I believe I used the Vintage Camera 4 preset as a starting point, but changed everything up so it is really hard to tell. I always start with the Basic Adjustments tab. Light Leaks was changed (third down, second over) and the Strength set to 67% – the On Image Control was moved towards the bottom. In Lens Vignette the control was set on the figures and the size and amount adjusted. The Film Type was Subtle (second down, first one) and the fading was increased.I changed the Frame – really liked this one in Whites (third row, second over). Back in Photoshop I did add a Curves Adjustment Layer just to pop the colors a little more. I find it a rather charming picture! See my Fun Photoshop Blog Digital Lady Syd Reviews Nik Analog Efex Pro for more information on this new plug-in from Nik. Personally, I love it!…..Digital Lady Syd

11/14/2013 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: | Leave A Comment »

Happy Veterans Day!

Beautiful US Flag hanging on street in Savannah, Georgia
Happy Veterans Day to all who served! While visiting Savannah, Georgia, recently, I was impressed by how patriotic the city is – US flags were everywhere. I found this image to be quite pretty on a beautiful Sunday morning! In Lightroom the NAPP preset called Hang Ten (the preset is referenced in Scott Kelby’s The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 Book for Digital Photographers) and Dave Delnea’s Backlight 002 Vertical preset (which creates the beautiful lighting effect) were applied along with the basic sliders. This image used Topaz (see right side for website link) Simplify and Alien Skin’s Snap Art 3 in Photoshop. A couple Curves Adjustment Layers were used, one for targeting the flag and the other creating a light vignette effect…..Digital Lady Syd

11/11/2013 | Categories: Lightroom, Photoshop Filters | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

A Day in the Sun!

Image of a Ferris Wheel processed using Snap Art 3 and Topaz ReStyle
I love how this image turned out! This is from a wonderful day in Savannah, Georgia, at the Gulfstream Family Day in October. I wanted to go up in that Ferris Wheel, but did not get a chance to. I used a Lightroom preset on this image called Hang Ten from NAPP (the preset is referenced in Scott Kelby’s The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 Book for Digital Photographers) – gives a real soft vintage feel and then Backlight Horizontal Left from Dave Delnea’s presets, some of my very favorites! In Photoshop two of my favorite plug-ins were used: Alien Skin’s Snap Art 3 was applied using just the Factory Default and adding three layers to bring in some more details; next Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReStyle was applied using Silver and Ivory Cloak preset and then changing: Texture Strength -100; Temperature 0.14, Saturation 0.05, Black Level 0.38, Midtones 0.06, White Level 0.19, and Structure 0.27. A Curves Adjustment Layer and Levels Adjustment Layer were added to get the contrast just right. That was it – very simple. It really has that old County Fair feel to it!…..Digital Lady Syd

11/07/2013 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

A Little Painting Action

Image of two daisies in a pot painted using Jack Davis's action
Here is another example of Jack Davis’s  Mixer Painting SetUp-BETA action. Just a lot of fun to do. It is not as clear a result as with Alien Skin’s Snap Art 3, but there is more individual interpretation when creating the painterly look. Check out my Can You Get a Painting Look With a Photoshop Action? Jack Davis Can! blog to learn how to do each of the steps and for info on how to download the action. What made this image look nice was adding Painted Textures Parisian Pool to the image just above Pattern Fill 1. In the Layer Style dialog, the This Layer black tab was split and set to 108/155 (ALT+click on tab and drag to split) and the white tab set to 139/209. I would encourage to download this action and give it a go!…..Digital Lady Syd

11/05/2013 | Categories: Photoshop Actions, Textures | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

Happy Halloween!

Image of a window with dolls with Halloween embellishments
Well, Happy Halloween from Digital Lady Syd! Got a little carried away with this one but it was so much fun to do! These beautiful Wizard of Oz dolls were in a window of a gift shop in Savannah, Georgia. Unfortunately there were huge reflections coming from everywhere, so it would not process cleanly – but it was not a total loss for some crazy Halloween effects! I was actually pretty upset as I had completed this image and Photoshop CC crashed and did not save my image which I had been working a couple of hours – first time that has happened and made me nervous to do it over, but here it is, all 25 layers. I will just give you a quick recap. Lots of cloning in Photoshop to get rid of a lot of the reflection. Then the image was taken into Alien Skin Snap Art 3 just to give the colors a smoother feel. Back in Photoshop many layers were used to add Halloween object using brushes from : Obsidian Dawn and her free Cobwebs and her Halloween Vector brushes, Anodyne Halloween Skull and Pumpkin Face brushes, and my favorite Cat brush from Altergromit. Different layer styles and opacities were added to get the final grouping. The bat layer was set to Exclusion blend mode to get the weird ghost effect. I love the Halloween Spider font! Overall it was pretty easy to do. Got to love these holiday images!…..Digital Lady Syd

10/31/2013 | Categories: Just Being Creative | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

A Beautiful Morning, I Think I’ll Go Outside for A While…..

Image of a side street with bikes in Savannah
This image was totally processed in Lightroom (could have been done completely in ACR) and it just reminded me of how this day really felt. It was a beautiful Sunday morning in Savannah, Georgia, USA, and could not have been more perfect! What a great city to spend a day in! This image actually looked great as a black and white, but I still liked the fall tones better in this image. Pretty much did a few basic tab slider changes and then found Jack Davis’ Wow-Antique 01 Lightroom preset. (Go to Jack Davis Wow Facebook page and Like his page to get 46 Lightroom presets in his Freebies section – it includes this beautiful preset.) Then the Aqua Luminance and Saturation was boosted to give a little more color into the bikes. To get the blown out look on the street, I used the Tone Curve TAT tool (located in upper left corner of panel) and dragged it into the center of the image until the slight High Key look was achieved. Then saved as a JPG in Lightroom to post. So simple but so lovely!…..Digital Lady Syd

10/29/2013 | Categories: Lightroom | Tags: | Leave A Comment »

More Butterflies Enjoying the World

Image of two Monarch butterflies in a plumbago bush

Can’t get over how many wonderful butterfly shots I got this year. I think they really liked out yard since we had so many blooming plants. These mating monarchs were dancing around my plumbago bushes in the back yard. They were moving so fast it was hard to get a shot where they were both in focus, but this one was pretty good. I actually had my ISO set to 800 in full light to get a quick enough shutter speed! In Lightroom I did just basic sliders and sharpened the butterflies using an Adjustment Brush on just them. Then I applied the Retro Vintage preset I created from Allen Mowery’s free preset (for download link and my preset settings, check out my Fun Photoshop Blog How To Add a Little Retro To Your Shots).  The Radial Filter was used to created to slightly darken and desaturate the edges. In Photoshop Alien Skin’s Snap Art 3 was opened and the Impasto Portrait (soft) preset was selected. Three layers were used – one to sharpen the butterflies a little, one for the white flower, and one for the leaves around the butterflies. Back in Photoshop a layer mask was added and a little more of the detail of the butterflies was painted back. The frame is my SJ Double Edge Frame layer style. The colors turned out so beautiful!…..Digital Lady Syd

10/24/2013 | Categories: Lightroom | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

Where Am I?

Image of an older home in Savannah, Georgia with yellow emphasized
Had the opportunity to visit the beautiful historic city of Savannah in Georgia, USA. This image of an older house is enhanced, but I just felt like adding some yellow and fall colors to a rather overwhelmingly green and boring image in the original. Everything but the kitchen sink went into this image (it felt that way) but finally I got the look I really liked. So here were the steps in a nutshell:

1. Applied Richard Hale’s Sunnyday preset in Lightroom (see A Summery Lightroom Preset for more info on creating it and free download link).
2. Opened Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Clarity’s Landscape Beach Shore I preset and used as is.
3. Back in Photoshop the ACR filter was opened and just the HSL sliders adjusted to get more of a yellow feel.
4. Used Color Range (How To Use the Color Range Command with CS4 Through CC 14.1 blog) to select the sky and added a small amount of aqua color to it.
5. Added Alien Skin’s Snap Art 3.0 using just the Factory Default setting and Photorealism slider set to 100%.
6. Cropped to straighten a little more.
7. Added Levels to enhance the contrast a little.

It took a long time to post-process this image and get it tweaked the way I liked it, but I love the final product. Lots of fun here!…..Digital Lady Syd

10/22/2013 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Where Am I? | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

Just a Little Flowing Water

Image of water flowing past a rock at Iao Valley in Maui
This is not a traditional image for me – I usually do not shoot flowing water, especially in close-ups, but with a little Photoshop help, I got a really nice look. The rock was in a stream at Iao Valley in Maui, Hawaii. Very little was done to this image – just basic changes in Lightroom which included using an Adjustment Brush set to 100 Clarity to smooth out the water areas. The thing that really made this image pop was opening up the Topaz (see sidebar for website link) ReStyle and selecting the Blue Dreams preset. The color combinations really changed a boring image into a beautiful image. I am amazed by what this plug-in can do! The Structure and Detail were increased on just the rocks and flowers using a Mask for this section inside the plug-in. I wanted the water to still look soft. Back in Photoshop a Levels Adjustment Layer was added where the Midtones tab was set to 0.82 and the Output Levels were set to 7/255. The last step was adding a Layer Style by double clicking a composite layer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) that I created on top. A Pattern Overlay was added using Photoshop’s pattern called Dark Coarse Weave set to Overlay blend mode, 65% opacity and a Scale of 128%. These settings can change depending upon the size and resolution of your image. Anyway, pretty easy to do and I love the result!…..Digital Lady Syd

10/17/2013 | Categories: Lightroom | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

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