Several bloggers asked how I got the "painterly" look to my photos. I use Photoshop Elements software (which is the lite version of Photoshop) to work with my original photos. I make changes to the histogram, the lighting/contrast and also apply some sharpening, usually to the whole photo, but sometimes only to areas. If I decide to try to blur identities or just be more artistic I use filter packages that I purchased from
Topaz. If you buy the whole kit it is expensive and to my mind not worth all that money since I would not use much of all of it. The two that I purchased were Topaz Adjust 5 and Topaz Simplify 4. They do enhance photos but as you probably know cannot really sharpen an out of focus photo or improve something that is just too cluttered or too over-exposed or too underexposed.
Below is the original with some histogram work and some sharpening but that is all. I just grabbed a photo from my long file, and this was not the best in terms of sharpness. But I have a short window to write this afternoon.
This is an HDR filter in Topaz Adjust 5 above. I normally tweak these filters as they have many sliders and later adjust lights, shadows, etc. But this is just to give you a clue of how using the preset looks.
This is the Spicify filter in Topaz Adjust 5. Again I just applied it without tweaking.
This is a filter in Topaz Simplify 4 called Oil Painting. They have several versions of Oil Painting.
This last is using a filter called Cartoon. I hope this answers those questions for those who are not purists in photography..
Thanks for the explanation. I used Photoshop back in my working days, but I was never very good at it. I'm always looking for something that I could use that isn't as expensive. I might take a look at Topaz. Thanks! :-)
ReplyDeleteI used to use Topaz (Adjust and B&W mostly) and liked the specify filter. I have since migrated to ON1; I find that it suits how I think better. But Topaz can certainly do wonderful things.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
ReplyDeleteAmazing what the computer can do.
ReplyDeleteI, too, love to play with photos. It's part of the creativity for me. I've never used Topaz. I do use Lightroom and love Snapseed on my iPad. I also have a couple watercolor apps, but I haven't used them for awhile. The butterfly was posing for you.
ReplyDeleteI like the effects you illustrate but have never tried any of them. Maybe...
ReplyDeleteIt is always fun to have something new to play with.
ReplyDeleteAmazing how you change things that way, i don't understand the terminology or how you do it, but i like the results!
ReplyDeleteYou are quite artistic with your tools. You do have the knack! -- barbara
ReplyDeleteI like the effects you get. I guess I am somewhat of a purist, or maybe just to lazy to experiment.
ReplyDeleteThese are all very pretty. I haven't done much with photos, but I do like to fool around with Photoshop sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly know how to use the applications well.
ReplyDeleteYou are so far ahead of me. Applause.
ReplyDeleteThey are all so gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteFun to play with images. You can create some interesting effects. Picasa and Corel also let me create an oil painting feel but I like your options.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics of butterfly! awesome explanation. I do similar steps on different dialog box settings in Paintshop Pro I paid $70 for back in "01
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteMy techie guy put photoshop on my laptop for me, but I haven't a clue how to use it. Must find a tutorial.
Love what you do with your photos.