Show Off Your Pics (1 Viewer)

[EricSchulz]

I have loved this building since I was a kid...I never get tired of seeing it! Chicago's Marina Center (AKA Marina Towers)

 

[DavidJ]

This is something I thought of trying a few days ago. I gave it a shot with some macro pics I took today. I've tried it with a couple more. I can post them if anyone's interested. Deep down, I think the idea occurred to me thanks to the movie "What Dreams May Come."

View attachment 39569

When I first saw the post on my phone, I didn't see the description you posted. It's an image I wanted to know more about (despite the fact the bug kind of grosses me out ) and I'd be interested in seeing more.

 

[JohnRice]

When I first saw the post on my phone, I didn't see the description you posted. It's an image I wanted to know more about (despite the fact the bug kind of grosses me out ) and I'd be interested in seeing more.

I didn't post any comments at first. I wanted to see if anyone responded. I did some more with a butterfly and have one with a bee that might work. They were all shot with the Sigma 150mm macro.

 

[Sam Posten]

I love that effect John! And Mike's dogs!

 

[JohnRice]

Here's a couple more.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Those are quite interesting shots, John. What type of special post processing are you doing?

 

[JohnRice]

Those are quite interesting shots, John. What type of special post processing are you doing?

It's fairly simple, but a little time consuming. Basically, you want to duplicate the image and create a new layer with the painting version. You could do a number of different things for the painting, but I used the "Oil Paint" option under Filter>Stylize in Photoshop. There are several adjustments, so you choose what you like. I find you want to enlarge the effect from what it offers, so I shrunk the image to 1/3 it's original size, which made the long side 1856 pixels with the D500. You have to do that in a different window, not as a layer of the working image. So, copy the image, paste it to a new window, shrink it, run the Oil Paint filter, and enlarge it back to the EXACT original size. Then you copy it again and paste it back to the original image, as a new layer, above the regular photo layer.

Then you erase the part of the image you want to be unmodified (not a painting) from the painting layer to show the photo layer below it. How and what you do with that is completely up to you and what you visualize for the photo. I always duplicate the photo and painting layers, then deactivate the copies, just so I have unmodified versions, in case I make a mistake I can't reverse, or change my mind about something later.

I typically run the oil paint layer through Camera Raw and increase the clarity, to enhance the texture. I always also seem to want to color correct the oil paint layer. Finally, I've generally run the photo layer through the Nik Output Sharpener (a free, add-on filter set), to bump the structure and local contrast a little, emphasize the fact it's a photo, and to make it "pop" a little more. You don't want to overdo that, though.

 

[JohnRice]

BTW, as I've experimented with it, there's one thing I've discovered. I think it tends to work best if you DON'T use selective focus/shallow depth of field in the photo, because the painting effect will create the subject separation. If the entire subject is in focus, it separates from the painting background better. One exception is a shot I didn't post of the butterfly, where the tips of the wings were in focus, but not the torso. With that one, I made the sharp part of the wings photographic and blended it back to painting as the sharpness decreased.

 

[JohnRice]

One more thing about the painting photo effect. It probably makes more sense to use a layer mask to determine what does and doesn't show from the painting and photo layers. After all these years of using Photoshop, for some reason I've never taken the time to learn about layer masks, and I really need to.

 

[DavidMiller]

A couple of shots from my boat ride on the Columbia River.
Train-7.jpg by David Miller
Train-6.jpg by David Miller
Train-2.jpg by David Miller

 

[JohnRice]

I've been refining the Photo/Oil Painting technique. Using layer masks is definitely the way to go. It opens the door to a lot more nuance and flexibility, plus it's just a better way to do a lot of things in Photoshop. I can't believe it took me this long to realize what it can do. These are some flowers at the folks' house.

 

[Brian L]

I have loved this building since I was a kid...I never get tired of seeing it! Chicago's Marina Center (AKA Marina Towers) View attachment 39583

Yankee. Hotel. Foxtrot.

 

[JohnRice]

Here's a test shot with the Lensbaby Velvet 85 that arrived today.

 

[Brian L]

 

[Brian L]

 

[Brian L]

 

[Brian L]

 

[Brian L]

 

[Mike Frezon]

Quite a locale, Brian! Where are we looking at?

 

[EricSchulz]

Quite a locale, Brian! Where are we looking at?

Agreed! Post 377 (with the waterfall) is amazing!