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Bird of Paradise Bark

Image of the bark on a Bird of Paradise tree

Took this image of a Bird of Paradise tree growing in my front yard – it is huge and has some great textures in its bark. The little spike in the middle is the beginning of a flower. This image was taken in manual mode (200 mm, F/13, 1/160 sec, ISO 200, and 0.5 EV) and just Basic work was done in Lightroom before bringing it into Photoshop. Topaz AI Clear was used to remove a little noise and sharpen it up a bit. A Gradient Map using pink and blue tones was added and set to Soft Light blend mode at 88% opacity. More blue color was added into the image on a New Layer. On a stamped layer Viveza 2 was used to sharpen up the focal point before a Curves Adjustment Layer was used to add back contrast. Very simple. Lots of fun to work with colorful patterns!…..Digital Lady Syd

09/03/2019 | Categories: Photoshop Filters, Topaz Studio | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

Queen Emma Lily Bulbs

Image of Queen Emma Crinum Lily bulb seeds

The image above is an image taken of the large seeds from my large Queen Emma Crinum Lily plant. They are laying on my sidewalk which gave a great background texture for the image. Very little was done to this image in Lightroom. In PS an Adobe Paper Texture Pro texture called Brushed Rose was added and set to Multiply blend mode at 70% layer opacity. Then the image was taken into Topaz Studio 2 and Impression was applied. I used settings by Shannon Rose in her blog called Created Imagery Driven by Imagination with Topaz Studio a while back which gave an acrylic effect (these settings were saved as a preset with the Impression filter). The only change made was to increase the Yellow Saturation a little more to 0.62. Back in Photoshop a Color Lookup Adjustment Layer using the Crisp Warm Look at 62% opacity was added. Finished off with both a Levels and a Curves Adjustment Layers. Not a whole lot here but the Impression gave a great painterly feel!…..Digital Lady Syd

08/29/2019 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

A Busy Place

Image of a Bird of Paradise with a few visiting ants.

Not a whole lot done to my beautiful Bird of Paradise bloom that I photographed yesterday. Looks like the ants are taking over – eish! In Lightroom just did some basic adjustments and used an Adjustment Brush to sharpen up the ants. In Photoshop Luminar’s Flex was used to further sharpen up the blooms and ants and a Vignette was used to darken the background. Then on another layer, used Topaz Studio 2 and applied AI ReMix – a BW filter preset from Greg Rostami was applied (uses Neon Feathers, Style Strength High, Brightness 0.56, Contrast 1.97, Smooth Edge 0.14, Sharpness 0.44, and Suppress Artifacts 0.79.) and set to Luminosity blend mode to give a colored sketch look (check out Greg Rostami’s Topaz webinar AI Magic with ReMix and Clear). In Photoshop a black layer mask was added and painted the effect back in a few places with a low opacity brush on the ants and some of the texture was added in the petals. That was it……Digital Lady Syd

08/27/2019 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

Where is This?

Image taken at the Infinite Space art show in Washington, DC

This is another image from the totally fabulous art show called Infinite Space in Washington, DC until September 2nd. The art is by Refik Anadol and is an exceptional virtual experience. For another example, check out my recent Star Wars on Steroids Tidbits Blog.

Very little was done in post-processing for this image. Only a little texture added in Lightroom. In Photoshop, just some cropping to even out the edges, Luminar Flex was used to sharpen it up a little using their Structure, Details Enhancer,and Microstructure filters – then selectively adding them with a Masking brush. And of course AI Clear to remove Noise – but is was masked out so in the black areas but left in the colored areas as I liked the natural grainy effect it created. last step was a Curves Adjustment Layer. That was it! I really love this art!…..Digital Lady Syd

08/23/2019 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

Woodpecker on Guard

This little male Downy Woodpecker was visiting one of his favorite snack spots in a beautiful shaded yard. Not much was done with this image as the bokeh effect was from the 70-300 mm lens shot at 300 mm and set to f/7.1 at ISO 200, 1/50 sec and EV -1/2. In Photoshop Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Sharpen AI was used to really popped the bird (Processing Mode Stabilize, Remove Blur 0.50, and Suppress Noise 0.20). Otherwise not a lot here. Viveza 2 was used to further sharpen the bird and a Curves Adjustment Layer was added to add some contrast. What a wonderful little bird!…..Digital Lady Syd

08/15/2019 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

Bison Buddies

Two Bison located at the Smithsonian National Zoo

These two Bison were trying to find a nice shady place to hide from the exceptionally hot day in Washington, DC. Since the original color in the image was so beige and brown already, it was an easy choice to make the image a sepia tone. I started with the color tones from one of the best wildlife photographer’s, Nick Brandt, creating a Lightroom very subtle preset (Split Tone section: Highlights Hue 23/Sat 6 and Shadows Hue 41/Sat 6). There was a large fence line through the bison and two different methods to remove it were used. For Wilma, just a Curves Adjustment Layer and a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer clipped to it. Zora was a little harder – had to select and feather the fence line and then put the selection on its own layer. Again a Curves Adjustment Layer was used, but the edges were still showing so several painting layers using Coyotemange fur and poodle curl brushes were used to sample and match the regular fur. The light color was just harder to match so you do what you have to do! Then a little text and some Viveza 2 to finish them off. ….. Digital Lady Syd

08/13/2019 | Categories: Lightroom, Photoshop Filters | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

Blushing Roses

Pink Roses taken at the Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, Florida

Loved the way these roses were lined up at the Harry P. Leu Gardens so I decided to give them a texture and post them. These flowers were first post processed in the updated Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Studio 2 using the Impression filter’s default with Type 03 brush, then tried out one of my old Topaz Studio 1 presets (now Looks) that was migrated over in to the new program – it had a Texture filter and a HSL Color Tuning filter. Adobe’s Paper Texture Pro was opened and the texture named Newt was added using the Overlay blend mode at 76% blend mode. Viveza 2 was used to sharpen up the top flower, and Topaz ReStyle using a preset from an old image’s colors saved down as a preset finished up the effect. I ended up with the sort of dreamy look I wanted!…..Digital Lady Syd

08/08/2019 | Categories: Textures, Topaz Studio | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

Star Wars on Steroids

Image from Infinity Space Art Show in Washington, DC

Image taken at the Infinite Space Art Show by Refik Anadol in Washington, DC. If you get a chance to see it, definitely go – absolutely wonderful. The silhouette was created from people sitting on soft cushions enjoying the show. This image, shot during a video, reminded me of flying into the Death Star in Star Wars. Not much work had to be done to the image. Luminar Flex was opened and Structure, Details Enhancer and Exposure filters were used to really sharpen up the image. Then on a stamped layer in PS, Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Studio 2 was opened and AI Clear was used to remove the noise in the image. Precision Detail was used just on the Highlights and Precision Contrast’s High Contrast slider was used to really darken the black. Back in PS a Curves Adjustment Layer was added. That was it. This show was full of beautiful color and movement!…..Digital Lady Syd

08/06/2019 | Categories: Photoshop Filters, Topaz Studio | Tags: , , | 1 Comment »

A Rose Hanging In There

A painted pink rose from the Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, Florida

This once beautiful rose was trying its best to show pretty even though its outer ring of leaves were pretty much spent. I decided to paint it since it had some pretty leaves and nice central rosebud. Several painting layers were created using Photoshop’s Legacy Brush called the Fan Flat Blender. I created a couple variants so color could be added easily, but it is pretty much the same brush. What is so nice is that it has a texture in the brush which adds a great effect to the mixer brush. Also Color Efex Pro 4 was added using the Darken/Lighten Center, Film Efex Vintage, and Detail Extractor filters. In PS On1’s Moody 5 Color Lookup preset was added at 61% layer opacity. And the last step was to use Viveza 2 to emphasize the center of the flower and give a slight vignette effect…..Digital Lady Syd

08/01/2019 | Categories: Photoshop Filters, Photoshop Painting | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

The Queen Emma Bloom

Image of a Queen Emma blossom

This is one of my favorite blooms in my yard. I take a lot of images of them and here is another one. This one was shot at using my Nikon 60 mm macro lens at F/5.6, ISO 200, and -1/2 EV. In Lightroom Serge Ramelli’s Safari Warm Dramatic Light preset was applied (to download, check out his How to Edit Amazing Landscape Photos video). In Photoshop Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Sharpen AI set to Remove Blur 30 and Suppress Noise 40 was applied – then a layer mask was added and the effect was painted off the dark background area. Luminar (see sidebar for website link) Flex was applied on a duplicate layer – used these filters: Structure, Brilliance/Warmth, and Advanced Contrast. That was all that was done – pretty simple. ….. Digital Lady Syd

07/23/2019 | Categories: Photoshop Filters | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

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