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Singing Orchids in New Costumes

Image of Orchids Singing

Just had some fun with these orchids again – Lots done in Topaz (see sidebar for website link). Mainly used Studio’s AI Remix Neon Rise preset, Glow Adjustment, Smudge Adjustment, and Texture Adjustment. Used French Kiss’s Solstice SeaSprite texture set to Linear Dodge at 53% layer opacity and on a stamped layer applied Topaz ReStyle’s Cream and Plum preset. Added some crazy eyes and painted a few lines for definition. Finished off with Nik Viveza 2. Totally just a fun image to create……Digital Lady Syd

01/18/2019 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave A Comment »

Tomorrowland Comic Book Drawing

Comic Book Drawing image of Tomorrowland gateway at the Magic Kingdom.

Just had some fun creating a bit of a drawing look by following Jesus Remirez’s video called Smart Way to Quickly Make Comic Book Drawings from Your Photos. For my image the Texturizer Filter was also added – it gave it a little different look. Topaz Studio was used to add the border and – used a Texture Effect called Dahlia Dreams preset. Topaz ReStyle’s Tradewind and Tana preset gives it the metallic effect which I thought looked appropriate for this image. That was about it……Digital Lady Syd

01/15/2019 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Photoshop Filters | Leave A Comment »

A Fuming Old Cannon

Image of an old cannon at Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida.

This image was taken on the top side of the Castillo de San Marcos old fort in St. Augustine, Florida. So many things were done in this image that it would take a long blog to explain. Mainly following one of Hazel Meredith’s Topaz Studio (see sidebar for website link) webinar examples from a few days ago and just started playing with all the settings and adding new adjustments like Edges Adjustment, Motion Blurs, and Color Themes. Grut’s Cloud Brushes (none better than these) were used to create the smoke from the cannon – even though they are cloud brushes, the smoke effect is very nice also. Topaz Adjust was added as a last step back in Photoshop. It took a long time to get a result I liked – many attempts to get a good look. I forget about how good Topaz’s original star plugin, Adjust, really is. This plugin gave me the final result that I really liked…..Digital Lady Syd

01/10/2019 | Categories: Photoshop Actions, Topaz Studio | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

A Flamingo’s Private Park

Composite image at Waimea Valley in Oahu, Florida.

This image was created because I watched a couple really interesting videos and thought I would try them out. The original image was pretty nice, every image taken in Hawaii is usually pretty good, but it was boring. This is actually an image from Waimea Valley on Oahu. One technique I did try out was Dinda Unmesh’s technique for adding a Saturation layer mask to a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. The video was called Saturation Mask? A Great Way to Enhance Colors. (This is very similar to my blog and video called Using Adobe Photoshop’s HSB/HSL Filter as a Saturation Mask). The Flamingo is one from PixelSquid – a polygonal looking bird that had to be painted to smooth him out. The Flying Birds are also from PixelSquid. The other bird near the water is free stock image. A shadow was created for the Flamingo using another new technique by Jesus Ramirez called How to Make Realistic Shadows in Photoshop – it used a 3D technique that was quite easy to do. Then his Color Matching in Photoshop Fast and Easy Method video was followed – this is major easy and works great using the Curves Adjustment Layer settings. Amazing! It blended all the objects into one image. Otherwise just followed my workflow to finish up and added a white painterly looking texture I created a while back. It was a lot of fun to try out some new techniques……Digital Lady Syd

01/04/2019 | Categories: Photoshop Tips | 1 Comment »

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year message with a Christmas Cactus image

Happy New Year to everyone – thanks for visiting my blog when you get a chance. This image is of my Christmas Cactus that was in full bloom for my holiday this year. To get the soft background, used Topaz (see sidebar for website link) AI Remix (A Neon Rose preset with the leaves brushed out at 50%). Painted some texture and snow on the image. Last step was to add Nik Viveza 2 to sharpen up the petals a little. The font is called Buffalo Inline 2 Grunge. Looking forward to have a wonderful 2019!…..Digital Lady Syd

12/31/2018 | Categories: Photoshop Filters, Topaz Studio | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

Santa Relaxing after Busy Holiday Flight

Just an image of one of the my son’s favorite tree ornaments. Nothing like a warm dip after a hard night’s work. Workflow included a few changes and a crop in Lightroom. In Photoshop used Topaz (see sidebar for website link) AI Clear, Lucis Pro 6.0.9 applied with a black layer mask and painted in on Santa’s beard and Reindeer face, and some clean up and line accent. A spotlight layer was created on Santa and the Reindeer’s faces. Last step was to add a little Nik Viveza 2 to add a slight vignette effect. Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday!…..Digital Lady Syd

12/26/2018 | Categories: Topaz Studio | Tags: , | Leave A Comment »

Posing for the Family Christmas Picture

Merry Christmas to everyone! Enjoyed making my annual Christmas images – this one was particularly fun since I really like the free funny vector characters in the image from Spoon Graphics. The really cool spiral was created using the Hibiscus flower in Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Studio using the Motion Blurs Swirl set to an angle of -1.00. Back in Photoshop, the Hibiscus flower was selected and taken back into Studio where the Impression Adjustment was using Jai Johnson Oil Glaze Light preset (see her In the Digital Studio January 6 2017 video for the settings). Then some snow was added on the ground and a white texture added and set to Multiply blend mode. My free SJ Snow 2 Overlay slight blur PNG was placed on top at 54% (I still think mine is the best out there since it is a png – no blend modes needed to use it). The font is Honey Script. Maybe you can download or use some of these resources. Anyway, have a very Happy Holiday!…..Digital Lady Syd

12/25/2018 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Photoshop Filters, Topaz Studio | Tags: | Leave A Comment »

Happy Place for a Hornbill

Love this guy! This Hornbill is definitely in charge of his domain and seems to blend right into it. This image is exactly why I love Topaz (for website link see sidebar) – this Studio Adjustment called AI ReMix never ceases to amaze me. The original image was not good and I had basically decided this Hornbill would never be used. But I am finding AI ReMix is a game-changer for me – this guy turned out pretty nice! (The Studio settings were: AI Clear – Remove Noise Medium and Sharpen High; and AI ReMix: Desert Prism at 65% opacity, Low Style Strength and Brightness -0.35, Contrast 1.04 and Sat 0.75.) Back in Photoshop, a little spotlight effect with a white brush was used to brighten up the tree fronds to get a bit of a translucent effect. It took a little clean up to get the final, but overall, this plugin saved an image…..Digital Lady Syd

12/17/2018 | Categories: Photoshop Filters, Topaz Studio | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

Mockupped Sailboats

I have never used a Mockup File before to show off my images, but this one sort of seemed to fit this image since there is a strong triangle effect. First a free Abstract Mockup file by Best Pixels was opened up in Photoshop.  The top layer is a Smart Object layer which must be opened by double-clicking on the thumbnail icon and then your own image can be placed in and aligned with a Free Transform (CTRL+T) if needed to fit the frame opening – must Save this image when warning comes up (the file does not appear anywhere in your folders but you still have to save to add in your image). This is where my Sailboat image from Camachee Cove was added into the image. On top of the bottom layer a Solid Color Fill Adjustment Layer was added using a light blue sky color. Next one of several free beautiful Watercolor Clouds Textures by Presets Galore was placed under the Smart Object ans set to 45% layer opacity. In a layer mask, the picture frame areas and few other places were masked out with a black brush. On top a Curves Adjustment Layer was added. Nik Viveza 2 was added on top where a little warmth was added into parts of the mockup. That was it. I love the dreamy feel this created…..Digital Lady Syd

12/13/2018 | Categories: Just Being Creative, Photoshop Filters, Textures | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

Joyous Ornaments Lining Up for the Tree

Image of Christmas Ornaments
This is just one of those crazy photos that make me laugh. It is not all that sharp but sort of exemplifies the total chaos it is for me to get all the ornaments up and hanging right! Biggest issue I had was to get this image sharper without deteriorating the quality. In Lightroom’s Develop module, used my SJ Sharply Dark LUT (created in my blog and video called How to Create Profiles in ACR from LR Presets and Some PS LUT Files) and set it to Amount 81. Then did just the normal adjustments. Radial Filters were used to help sharpen up some of the ornaments I wanted particularly in focus. Went into Topaz (see sidebar for website link) Studio from LR and used AI Clear (applied it twice to get some additional sharpness and it worked!), the Precision Contrast adjustment, Topaz Lens Effects Diffusion Adjustment to soften overall just a little and Topaz Studio Focal Blur Adjustment, placing it over the main ornaments to keep sharp. Then back to LR where it was opened up in Photoshop. Did a little clean up of some edges and used Nik Viveza 2 to emphasize the focal point on a few ornaments. That was it. I find this a really soft sort of happy image – not one that goes up on the wall but one that reminds me of Christmas!…..Digital Lady Syd

12/11/2018 | Categories: Photoshop Filters, Topaz Studio | Tags: , , , , | Leave A Comment »

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