Every once in a while, I have to toss up a knuckleball!
I take most of my images through a work flow that includes making most adjustments in Lightroom 2.0 with some added tweaks, if necessary, made in Photoshop CS4. What I know about Lightroom and particularly Photoshop would barely fill a thimble while what I don’t know would fill the oceans. So I made a decision over the weekend to try to learn as much as I could about Photoshop. The first thing that I did was to sign up for Scott Kelby’s Online Training. For $19.99/mo. I can work through whatever tutorials I want. So I started at the beginning – with “Photoshop CS4 for Beginners”. I’ve been slowly working my way through the tutorials every evening. I am actually learning things, basic things, that I never knew about Photoshop. Yesterday’s tutorial was about filters and after reviewing it a couple of times, I decided to go in and play with some filters – experimenting as it were.
I took an old Great Blue Heron image and started going to town on it. I tried a bunch of different filters but ended up with layering the following filters: Film Grain under Artistic Filters, Smudge Stick also under Artistic Filters and the Texturizer under Texture Filters. I also chose a canvas background. And voila! This is what I came up with. I kinda like the artsy quality even though I must admit that I feel like I went off the deep end here.
It is different. But different doesn’t necessarily translate into good. Your thoughts?
I think it looks interesting. Kind of like a cross stitch picture.
It’s certainly a pleasant and interesting image. Looks just a tad Oriental maybe. I do like it!
You know, for many years the only people who learned how to use Adobe Photoshop were the photographers. I started in 1989, and it’s my “relaxer” when life gets hectic. Since I can paint ONLY with words, I love what I can produce with PShop! I knew, immediately, which filters you had used, and they look lovely. Makes the photo so much more interesting!
Some times I get obsessive about PS. I photographed my piano and spent 3 months creating a wonderful composite of 91 layers. It’s my masterpiece!
Have fun with it!
to me it looks like a paint by numbers but not with such well defined lines and sections of paint. That thought comes when looking at the water. The heron itself looks to me like an oil painting. I spent many years doing oil paintings before I settled in with photography. I know I’m basic, basic, basic, but I do enjoy it. Have fun and show us more of your experiments, they are interesting.
I love it and I’m not a fan of over manipulation..this was just right!
I really enjoy stopping by and catching up with your blog. I like the wildflowers and do photograph them some, but it seems I get obsessed with the animals and do not photograph the flowers like I should.
In reference to this post, I believe in experimenting. Of course this doesn’t look like a photograph, but it is a valid form of expression and is quite interesting. I have never tried lightroom and am only moderately proficient with photoshop, but I think programs such as this are essential to great photography.
In this case different translated into good, especially considering its first-effort status. This looks like an old-world tapestry, with colors tightly woven into a gorgeous image. If you’re ever in the mood, you might want to take a color image of the Last Supper and give it the same treatment, then offer prints suitable for framing – I believe you’ll get some takers.