Really pushing this textured photograph with filters created the artistic look I wanted.
The Photograph
- Canon 7D with Canon 60mm Macro lens
- Natural Light
- 1/4 second at f/13
- Tripod, cable release, mirror lock-up.
Here's the photo Straight Out Of Camera.
First Round Edits
Below is an example of my first edits. I thought I was done at this point - but there was something bothering me about it. It felt dull.
First Round Edits
- *Topaz Labs Clarity filter (Flower III preset) followed by *Topaz Labs Clean filter.
- Texture: Botanique from the Autumn Rain Texture Collection. Multiply blend mode at 100%.
- Some color enhancements to the texture. (More pink added.)
- Some color dodging to the flowers. (brush with pink color on an overlay layer.)
Pushing The Edits Further
As I mentioned above, the first round still felt a little dull to me, so on a merged layers copy, I applied two more Topaz Labs* filters. See first image in post for the results. These filters were applied in the *Topaz Labs Studioapplication via Photoshop.
- *Topaz Labs Simplify Line and Ink I preset at 35%.
- *Topaz Labs Detail Micro Contrast Enhancement II preset. I could have applied Precision Detail while I was in *Topaz Labs Studio, but as I only used the Simplify preset at 35%, I preferred doing the detail separately.
It's harder to see the differences in these smaller resolution onscreen graphics, but there is a marked difference in the higher resolution version in vibrancy, detail and contrast - and also a more illustrative look.
Framed Version
Just for fun, here's another version using:
- A frame from the Vintage Frames No. 1 Collection.
- A Digital Paper Texture from the Love Ya Textures Collection. (Color tweaked.)
Conclusion
Don't be afraid to see how far you can push an image. You can see if you go too far, but it can be hard to see if you don't go far enough. Save your stages so you can check as you go.
Resources
Texture Collection: Autumn Rain Texture Collection.
*Topaz Labs Filters is an affiliate link. I get a small commission from any sales resulting from a click from this site (at no extra cost to you.) I really do love these filters. Nearly all of my own images use one of these filters. Thank you for supporting the site!
Leslie Nicole
August 09, 2019
Hi David, The details are all in the post. I’m not sure what else I could add. Topaz Clarity, Flower III which is my usual setting for all flowers. This usually does the trick, but in this case it still looked a little flat and dull t me, so I then also used Simplify on the Line and Ink preset. I admit there doesn’t look like a big difference in this onscreen example, but to me, it made a big difference in the “pop” of the image.