Posted by Chad Merrell on October 20, 2012 at 9:44 AM
I enjoy the images in the photo art gallery and I am amazed by the work I see. I would enjoy dabbling in this aspect of photography but have no idea of how to even start. All of my PS knowledge is with relatively standard processing of landscape images. Is there such a thing as a good book that would get me started? I am interested in using landscape and floral images and not in the how to of some of the amazing and creative images that seem almost entirely created digitally.
Posted by John Mumaw on October 20, 2012 at 10:49 AM
Can you point to some specific examples that appeal to you? Some techniques may be quite simple to accomplish.
Posted by Chad Merrell on October 20, 2012 at 12:24 PM
Thanks for the reply John. Very quickly, some that appeal to me from recent posts include:
October theme by Marc Ward
Seaverized Wave by Tony K.
Heart of Gold by Mark Stahlke
Bunchberry Blossom 2 by Bill Caldwell
Earth Waves by Rick Everstine
Veliocipede by Gary McChee
If no books are there online tutorials that would at least get me started? Perhaps the answer is to just take some images and play with the different PS filters. Thanks for any help.
Hi, Chad - Photo Art is extremely fun and creative, and anything goes. The ones I use most are Topaz "Clean" and "Simplify", and the Fractalius filter. Both have free trials, if you want to explore. Read ther tutorials, and just start experimenting. Then, there are a great many other filters - many free - you can download and use.
The Topaz filters are softer and more subtle - Fractalius can be mild or extreme, depending how you choose to apply it.
Posted by Nancy de Flon on October 20, 2012 at 12:46 PM
Harold Davis has a super book on HDR photography that might help. http://www.amazon.com/Creating-HDR-Photos-Complete-Photography/dp/0823085864/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350751467&sr=1-1
Posted by Chad Merrell on October 21, 2012 at 10:44 AM
Thanks for the reply John. Very quickly, some that appeal to me from recent posts include:
October theme by Marc Ward
Seaverized Wave by Tony K.
Heart of Gold by Mark Stahlke
Bunchberry Blossom 2 by Bill Caldwell
Earth Waves by Rick Everstine
Veliocipede by Gary McChee
If no books are there online tutorials that would at least get me started? Perhaps the answer is to just take some images and play with the different PS filters. Thanks for any help.
Posted by John Mumaw on October 21, 2012 at 5:59 PM
Perhaps the best thing you can do is to ask the creators of those images what techniques they used. It may be quite simple and they may also point you to tutorial. After all, someone had to show them once how it's done.
EDIT:
Here's a free Kaleidoscopic PS action that may help. Google 'Kaleidoscopic effects in Photoshop' for more resources.
Posted by Mark Seaver on October 24, 2012 at 9:29 AM
Chad, my kaleidoscope approach is quite simple. Pick a picture with some interesting graphics (you'll have to play around to see what you like) and load it into photoshop. Unlock the "background" image...I use "Layer from Background..." under the Layer:New submenu. Increase the canvas size (for a 4 version combo, increase width and height by 100 percent) and move your existing layer into one of the corners. Now you duplicate that layer, select all, and flip it, under the Edit:Transform menu. Repeat this until all four corners are filled and you've got a simple 4 version kaleidocope. You can increase the canvas size and flip and/or shift more versions of the original image and then crop to get images with less symmetry, which is what Tony K. did when he Seaverized his wave. (I'm still chuckling over the title.) In the 4 version approach, depending on which corner you put the original image in, you'll get 4 very different results...more fun.
Mark
Posted by Marc Ward on October 26, 2012 at 11:30 PM
Hey Chad,
My comments may be helpful or not, but my main suggestion is a simple one;... play. Just play around, click on actions, investigate all the pull down menus, pull the levers and see what happens. I'm pretty much self taught in photoshop. Every once in awhile I'll google some particular effect I want to produce and read a tutorial, but mostly I figured it out on my own by playing around. Playing is the key word. Photoshop has a very steep learning curve, so be patient with yourself. I started out with Photoshop 2.... that's not CS2, but no.2. Back when I had stepped up from 2mb of RAM to 4mb of RAM and thought I had the universe by the tail. Computers now force me to use 8GB of RAM... a 400,000% increase over what I started with.
Just have fun. Don't work on your originals as you might not be able to go back. Play. Play. Play....
Discussion
8 repliesOctober theme by Marc Ward
Seaverized Wave by Tony K.
Heart of Gold by Mark Stahlke
Bunchberry Blossom 2 by Bill Caldwell
Earth Waves by Rick Everstine
Veliocipede by Gary McChee
If no books are there online tutorials that would at least get me started? Perhaps the answer is to just take some images and play with the different PS filters. Thanks for any help.
The Topaz filters are softer and more subtle - Fractalius can be mild or extreme, depending how you choose to apply it.
Topaz free trial: http://www.topazlabs.com/trials/index.php
Fractalius free trial: http://www.fiberdownload.com/Download/22566/Fractalius-plug-in
Also, Denise Ippolito's e-books explore other creative Photo Art methods: http://deniseippolito.com/prints/
Have fun but be careful! It can get addicting!
Sandy
October theme by Marc Ward
Seaverized Wave by Tony K.
Heart of Gold by Mark Stahlke
Bunchberry Blossom 2 by Bill Caldwell
Earth Waves by Rick Everstine
Veliocipede by Gary McChee
If no books are there online tutorials that would at least get me started? Perhaps the answer is to just take some images and play with the different PS filters. Thanks for any help.
EDIT:
Here's a free Kaleidoscopic PS action that may help. Google 'Kaleidoscopic effects in Photoshop' for more resources.
Mark
My comments may be helpful or not, but my main suggestion is a simple one;... play. Just play around, click on actions, investigate all the pull down menus, pull the levers and see what happens. I'm pretty much self taught in photoshop. Every once in awhile I'll google some particular effect I want to produce and read a tutorial, but mostly I figured it out on my own by playing around. Playing is the key word. Photoshop has a very steep learning curve, so be patient with yourself. I started out with Photoshop 2.... that's not CS2, but no.2. Back when I had stepped up from 2mb of RAM to 4mb of RAM and thought I had the universe by the tail. Computers now force me to use 8GB of RAM... a 400,000% increase over what I started with.
Just have fun. Don't work on your originals as you might not be able to go back. Play. Play. Play....