Bleach Bypass Look on a Landscape Image
This may be the most beautiful and interesting library ever made. I posted a couple times on Flickr with other images (see Minsk Library, Inside Minsk Library, and Minsk Library at Night) but this time I decided to process the inside ceiling which is all glass – totally breathtaking! As you can see, I caught the eye of the guard down below, but he lends a wonderful scale to the image. I had a hard time deciding what to do with the image as the original was not that bad but I wanted to enhance the light and airy feel in the image. So I tried everything I could think of and this is what I got!
First applied Topaz (see sidebar for website link) DeNoise 5 – the image was shot at ISO 1600 so it had some issues. Used the Overall Strength set to .17 and set the Shadows to .82. The layer was copied and Topaz Detail 3 was applied using the Architectural Detail II preset – this image was perfect for this preset. Next Black & White Effects was applied where I mainly applied a regular black and white preset and started moving sliders. What I think really made the image pop was the application of the Creative Effects Diffusion effect where the Softness was set to 0.10, but the Diffusion slider was set high at .91 and Diffusion Transition set to 0.61. This really made the roof lines pop without being too sketchy looking. Then Kim Klassen’s Cloth & Paper Reign texture was applied and set to Soft Light blend mode to lighten the image and add some blue tones back into the image. It was duplicated and this time set to Multiply at 24% layer opacity. Next a Levels Adjustment Layer was added to lighten the image more by moving the Output Levels to 23/255 and the midtone slider to 1.39. Next a Curves Adjustment Layer was added to lighten it even, and a bit of a vignette was painted around the edges of the layer mask. It still did not look quite right – almost blown out. That is when I tried a Color Lookup Adjustment Layer and clipped (ALT+click between the layers) it to the top texture layer. The 3DLUT File was set to Bleach Bypass.look in the drop-down, although several look rather nice. The last step involved creating a composite (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E) on top and adding my SJ B&W Border Frame. I really like how the diffused settings made the ceiling lines look. Anyway, it was once again a lot of fun to experiment!…..Digital Lady Syd
Unexpected Humor in an Image
I was so busy trying to shoot these beautiful McCaws in sharp detail on my camera (Blue Horizons Show at SeaWorld-Orlando) that I did not notice what else I was shooting. What a surprise! Although I must say I did a pretty good job of catching the birds while they were zipping by pretty fast. The birds even look like they are laughing!
After basic processing in Lightroom, I decided the image needed a soft background feel as it was really busy and the birds were getting lost in the background. So I went back to one of my all time favorite filters, Nik Color Efex Pro 4‘s Film Efex-Vintage, to get the look I liked. First the Darken/Lighten Center filter and Brilliance/Warmth filter were applied – both of these filters I use a lot as they always give nice results. But one of my very favorites is the Film Efex-Vintage filter – there are so many options with this one filter that it is amazing. This time Film Type 11 was chosen with the vignette turned off. It turned this image into these beautiful brown tones. Clean up, a Curves Adjustment Layer to add just a little contrast, a Photo Adjustment Layer set to Cooling Filter 80 at 43% density (applied to just the birds by filling the layer to black and painting back in the birds in white), Noiseware‘s Default preset, and a soft painted layer was used to slightly soften the trapeze artist. My Soft Sparkle Overlay Frame was added with a Color Fill Adjustment Layer clipped to it to change the color to a dark brown. To see other results of using the Film Efex-Vintage filter, check out some of my older blog links below……Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
The New Film Efex-Vintage Filter From NIK CEP 4
Loving SeaWorld!
Hawaiian Bliss!
Nik Color Efex Pro 4 Just Does It Right!
