Hibiscus Flowers – I Love to Photograph Them!
These beautiful Red Chinese Hibiscus blooms appeared on Mothers Day last week so I had to take their picture! Used my favorite artistic plug-in – Topaz Black and White Effects (see sidebar for website link) – and applied a preset I had created earlier called Water Landscape Sunny (Adaptive Exposure section – Adaptive Exposure 0.18, Region as 26.10, Detail 1.11, and Detail Boost 1.09; Quad Tones which creates the interesting effect used Color 1 Region set to R1G1B12 and 9.60, Color 2 Region set to R63G78B85 and 95.97, Color 3 Region set to R216G211B129 at 141.2, and Color 4 Region set to R255G254B237 and 255.0; Edge Exposure set to Edge Size 0.19, Edge Exposure -0.43, and Edge Transition 0.27 for all sides; and Transparency set to 1.00.) While in the plug-in, the Detail brush was used to sharpen the center of the flowers and to go around the petal edges where they overlap each other. Next ShadowHouse Creations Marshmellow Skies texture set to Overlay at 100% opacity was added to give the soft green-turquoise feel to the background – a white layer mask and a soft black brush was used to take the texture effect off the flowers. A Curves Adjustment Layer was added and OnOne PhotoFrame (see sidebar for website link) grunge 04 set to 75% opacity was also added. Not hard and once again a really beautiful effect. I love Black and White Effects! I could do this all day! As you can see by the number of related blogs below, this is definitely one of my favorite plug-ins – check them out for several other examples on how to use it!…..Digital Lady Syd
Digital Lady Syd Related Blogs:
Black and White Effects on Outside Art
Cleaning Up a Messed Up Photo
Topaz Black and White Effects Quad Tones Are Great!
Sunny Preset for Topaz Black and White Effects
My Office Friend Ted
Loving Both Filters!
The Art Corner: Painting and Sculpture by Tassaert
Quad Tones in Topaz Black and White Effects Plug-in
Get Rid of Those Power Lines Fast – with Paths and Spot Healing Tool!
Topaz B&W Effects vs. Nik’s Silver Efex Pro
Just Another Topaz Black and White Effect Example
Topaz B&W Effects Plug-In-A Real Winner!
Sunny Preset for Topaz Black and White Effects
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This image of Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor in St. Augustine, Florida, was adjusted using Topaz Black and White Effects. I wrote a longer blog on trying to achieve this same effect using other plug-ins on my Fun Photoshop Blog “Same Image – Different Plug-ins.” Hover over the image to see original. It took literally two minute to get this effect. There was just one further adjustment made in Photoshop which, unfortunately when adding most plug-ins, there is some noise created. I took the image back into Adobe Camera Raw (see my blog “Edit Layers with ACR Script“) which I prefer over the other Noise Reduction plug-ins. The Luminance was set to +75, Detail +37 and Contrast +48. I was really pleased with the color and how it looks on the water and the sky, especially around the horizon line. I wanted to share with you how I created this sunny preset in Topaz’s Black and White Effects.
First the Van Dyke Brown Collection was used with the Wenge Dynamic Preset. This gives the correct settings in the Conversion Section on Basic Exposure sliders and the Adaptive Exposure sliders.
In the Finishing Touches Section, Film Grain should be unchecked unless you want some graininess. This image does not use it. Next the Quad Tones needed to be changed for this effect. By clicking on each of the color swatches, the following colors can be changed: Color 1 Region set to R1G1B12 and slider to 9.60; Color 2 Region set to R63 G78 B85 and slider to 95.97; Color 3 Region set to R216G211B129 and slider to 141.2; and Color4 Region set to R255G254B255 and slider set to 237.0. This is the key to the effect and gives the preset the sunny feel.
The Edge Exposure area is optional but the above image used these settings. The Edge Exposure settings should be set to: Top – Edge Size o.26, Edge Exposure (-0.22), and Edge Transition 0.32; Bottom – Edge Size 0.19, Edge Exposure (-0.43), and Edge Transition 0.27; Right and Left set to their defaults since there is no edge on the sides – Edge Size 0.20, Edge Exposure 0.00, and Edge Transition 0.20.
Finally check Transparency and set the Overall Transparency slider to 1.00.
It is important to create a preset now either in My Collection or the individual Effects Presets so it can be reused again and again.
Hope this will give you a chance to try out a new Quad Tone look (see Tidbits Blog “Quad Tones in Topaz Black and White Effects Plug-in“) – I plan on making some more presets in this program soon. Try out this look and see if you like it as much as I do…..Digital Lady Syd
