Wordless Wednesday: Psychedelia

Wordless Wednesday: Psychedelia

One Four Challenge: July Week 4

One Four Challenge: July Week 4

For the final week of July’s One Four Challenge, from Robyn Gosby, I’ve taken inspiration from some of the great masters of landscape painting. I wanted to add to the romanticism of the scene with a vibrant oil-painted effect and some colourful wildlife. In Lightroom I used an onOne Movie Look preset, Arkham, on my Week 1 edit. I customised this to get the colour balance and tonal quality that I wanted. Then I moved on to Photoshop CC to create my montage and add textured effects.

From two other photos taken at Dapdune Wharf, I used the Lasso Tool to select and copy the foxes, and then placed them onto the background image. I merged the two layers with the foxes into one and adjusted Hue/Saturation to match the tonal qualities in the background. I then applied a Grad ND adjustment layer to the foxes to match the shadows in the background. I duplicated the background layer and aligned this above the Grad ND layer. I added a White Masking Layer to the background copy and using a Soft Black Brush gradually removed areas of foliage to reveal the foxes. Finally I applied a Greater than Gatsby Golden Sunset Burst to the top right corner to match the natural light on the foxes.

To create the oil painting effect I created three copies of my new montage. To the first I applied Conte Crayon with Canvas Texture in B&W. To the second I applied Rough Pastels with Canvas Texture and Craquelure filters. To the third I added a Fractured Shell Texture which I blended using Multiply and adjusted the opacity to suit. I then copied and pasted both other edits over this new background and blended using Soft Light for the B&W and Multiply for the second edit. It was a lot of work but so much fun!

If you have a favourite please let me know using this poll or in your comments 🙂

One Four Challenge: July Week 3

One Four Challenge: July Week 3

Last week I took you all back in time so I thought that, for Week 3 of Robyn Gosby’s One Four Challenge, I’d attempt to take you into the future. Only a couple of months though! Autumn felt just about doable. I started the process with my Week 1 edit and reopened it in Nik Colour Efex Pro. I used Tonal Contrast, Indian Summer, Dark Contrasts, Low Key, Colourise, Grad Fog, Foliage, Grad ND, Polarise, Pro Contrast and Glamour Glow filters, customised to my own liking.

My image now had the general tones and haziness of a cool autumnal morning but needed some extra dimensions. In Photoshop CC I used Greater Than Gatsby actions Garden State Foundation, Cool Greens Brush, Moody Brush, Fog Brush, Amelia Bedelia, Bright Contrast, Forest Vignette, Bright Colourless Burst (top left) and a sunburst Light Overlay. After customising my adjustments with masking layers and blending modes, I merged all and then applied a Hue Adjustment Masking Layer and used a soft Red Paint Brush in Overlay Mode to build up some colour on the apples. Hope you like it!

One Four Challenge: July Week 2

One Four Challenge: July Week 2

Yes, I know, I’m late! My brain clearly wasn’t firing on all cylinders on Monday. Having completed the post, I then somehow forgot to actually publish it. Doh!

My second edit for July’s One Four Challenge from Robyn Gosby is a vintage style. The scene made me think of a photograph you might find in an old collection tucked away in a box. When I first started developing my own prints in a darkroom I really didn’t know much about the timings of using each chemical bath and washing my photographs. Many of my early prints are now faded and discoloured as a result of my lack of knowledge and their exposure to sunlight over time. They seem even older than they actually are! I wanted to try to recreate this feel within this week’s edit.

In Lightroom I applied a Greater Than Gatsby preset to my Week 1 edit. I used the Enchanted B&W Base which I then customised to my own liking. I opened this edit in Photoshop and created several duplicate layers of the base image. To the first duplicate I applied the Solarise filter which I then inverted, blended with Soft Light and reduced the opacity. To the second I added a Warming Photo Filter and blended using Overlay. I applied a White Masking Layer to this then using a soft black brush, gradually removed areas of the overlay to reveal the effects beneath. To the third duplicate I added a customised blur with masking layer and gradually removed the blur from certain areas. Finally I added a texture overlay of a tea stain which was again customised with a masking layer, blended with Overlay and I reduced the opacity until it felt right.

One Four Challenge: July Week 1

One Four Challenge: July Week 1

I couldn’t resist this scene captured at Dapdune Wharf in Guildford at the weekend. It seemed an ideal composition for Robin Gosby’s One Four Challenge! As you’ll see in the original image, the sun had dropped and this rundown area beyond the allotments was actually quite dark. It sparked my imagination though. There’s something magical about the setting. So much greenery, almost as if the landscape is reclaiming this lost and lonely spot for its own. I could imagine that this old and unused shed would seem quite sad and forlorn in the midst of winter but Summer has brought it light and warmth. This old shed is probably an important part of the local habitat now. Abandoned by man it can provide shelter for many small mammals and insects. This would be the perfect place for butterflies to overwinter, for hedgehogs to create a home underneath, for birds to build a warm and secure nest.

For my first edit I wanted to bring the warmth of the summer sun back to this scene. First I did an edit in Lightroom using the Greater Than Gatsby Clean Edit Base which I customised to my own liking before opening it in Nik Colour Efex Pro. I applied and customised Tonal Contrast, Detail Extractor, Polarisation, Skylight Filter, Pro Contrast, Reflector Efex, Vignette Filter and Glamour Glow. Now it feels like how I imagined it 🙂

One Four Challenge: March Week 4

One Four Challenge: March Week 4

I’ve gone all nostalgic for the last installment of this month’s One Four Challenge, hosted by Robyn Gosby at Captivate Me. Dartmoor brings back many happy childhood memories for me, of climbing the tors and seeing the gorgeous Dartmoor Ponies. My mother’s family come from Devon and she, herself, grew up on the edge of the moors. There’s a real sense of peace and tranquility that comes from being out in one of the UK’s great wildernesses. The montage that I’ve created is a romanticised imagining of an early, plate photograph that, perhaps, I might have found in an old trunk or at the bottom of a desk drawer in an ancestor’s home. You’ll find a gallery of all my edits after the list of processes, and a poll if you would like to choose a favourite! As April is our review month, please do let me know if there’s a One Four image of mine that you think could do with a rework and what suggestions you have for me. Thanks all 🙂

Colour Efex Pro
Tonal Contrast Fine – increase all
Detail Extractor 20% Exclude from Sky
Dynamic skin softener on Blue Sky Tone
Classic Soft Focus Diffusion on Sky
Fog – Method 3 20% Excluded From Foreground
Graduated ND -20%, 30% Blend
Polarisation 80%
Pro Contrast 10% 15% 20%
Glamour Glow 15%
Save to Lightroom
Apply Noise Reduction

Silver Efex Pro 2
Brightness 20%
Contrast 34%
Structure 12&
20 Control Points to age image
Red Filter 27%
Ilford PAN F Plus 50 Film type
Sepia Toning 20
White Frame 2

Photoshop CC
Add Horses and Birds Edited As Above Using Polygonal Lasso Tool
GTG Clean Edit Base 50%
Amelia Bedelia 10%
Super Fudge 15%
Tickle Monster 10%
Fog Brush 80% across rocks, sky and foreground grasses
Flatten Image
Painterly Rich 50%
Flatten Image
Use Low Opacity Blur Tool to soften features as necessary
From Library use Crumbled Paper Brush to age edges

Lightroom
Basic Edit
Clarity +15
No Sharpening
Noise Reduction 25%

Analog Efex Pro 2
Add More Age Using:
Dirt & Scratches Eroded
Photo Plate Streaked
Lens Vignette Rectangular -25%
Frames White 27%

One Four Challenge: March Week 3

One Four Challenge: March Week 3

There’s a magical, timeless quality to the moors that I wanted to try to convey with this week’s edit for the March One Four Challenge, hosted by Robyn Gosby at Captivate Me. I could have replaced the original sky with another from my files but I decided to see just what I could do by using adjustment layers and the original image only. I’ve attempted to create an ambiguous scene; sunrise or sunset, the start or the finish, now or then?

Photoshop CC
Use HDR Background
Add Black and white Adjustment Layer modified Red Filter
Use Multiply Blending
Select Foreground using Polygonal Lasso
Layer Via Copy
Create Copy of Background Layer
Use Cloning Tool and Brush to extend sky over foreground
Duplicate Layer
Radial Zoom Blur 55%
Duplicate Layer
Radial Zoom Blur 80%
Luminosity Blending 75%
Apply Adjustment Layers for Hue and Levels to Foreground
Merge Visible

Greater Than Gatsby in Photoshop CC
Clean Slate Foundation
Golden Sunset Burst with Multiply Blending
Create Sunset effect using four radial gradient layers with appropriate colours, reducing in scale
Vignette Federal 55%
ND Gradient
Soft Light Blending
Merge Visible
Painterly Rich 25%
Flatten Image
Add Canvas Border

One Four Challenge: March Week 2

One Four Challenge: March Week 2

For the second week of March’s One Four Challenge, hosted by Robin Gosby at Captivate Me, I wanted to show the moors and tor in a darker mood. Dartmoor has been the setting for countless novels and poems. The best known of these is undoubtedly The Hound of The Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the dark of night, with the mist rolling in across the moors, I can’t help but think of the savage dog-like beast stood upon the tor, howling into the winds. A little bonus for you is this extra edit with an even moodier look and the hound himself on the rocks!

Here are the steps I took to get my Week 2 edit and a gallery of all the edits so far:

Photoshop CC and GTG
Savoy Mark II Colour Base
Knuffle Bunny 15%
Polar Express 50%
Cooling Greens Brush
Fog Brush (Across Tor) 50%
Moody Brush (Across Tor)
Rich Contrast 25%
Silky Rich Bokeh
Create Depth Brush
Dark Paradise 50%
RETRO FILMS
Record Store 15%
Annie Hall 25%
Flatten Image
Painterly Punchy 100%
Flatten Image
Black and White Adjustment Layer with Infrared Style
Painterly Subtle 100%
That Witch is Wicked 15%
Classic Contrast
Clean Bokeh
Create Depth Brush

One Four Challenge: March Week 1

One Four Challenge: March Week 1

First of all I want to say a big THANK YOU to all my followers and fellow bloggers who are participating in Robyn Gosby’s One Four Challenge which she hosts on her lovely blog, Captivate Me. You’ve all been fantastic in your support and comments, inspiring me to push myself creatively with a range of different subjects! Many of you expressed an interest in seeing how I would tackle a landscape image so here it is, wonderful Dartmoor in Devon.

The rocks you see are called Combestone Tor and are the most accessible of all the tors. The original photograph was taken just off the car park to encompass all the rocks that make up this beautiful feature. I started in Lightroom, dropping exposure, highlights and whites and lifting shadows. I increased clarity and vibrance as well as making adjustments within Hue/Saturation to my liking. I then cropped the image at a 10×4 panoramic ratio. The results of this edit will be the base for all my edits this month and I will include it in my gallery.

Photoshop CC
HDR Toning modified default
Cloning and Blur Tools to smooth sky and remove unwanted foreground detail

Lightroom
GTG Basic Edit
Slightly Reduce Blue and Cyan Saturation
Increase Green and Yellow Saturation
Adjustment Brush to Reduce Noise and Clarity to sky
Adjustment Brush to Increase Clarity to the rocks

One Four Challenge: February Week 4

One Four Challenge: February Week 4

Here’s my last edit for February’s One Four Challenge, hosted by Robyn Gosby at Captivate Me. I’m not going to give you a run down of the processes this week as it would be just a bit too much! I’ve used a combination of all the processes used in my first three edits and added the butterflies and flowers using the polygonal lasso tool in PS. My inspiration this week was drawn from a pen and ink design I created many years ago, using a self-portrait to create a playing card Queen of Hearts. My design had been based up a pen and ink drawing that my father had created, during his own college days, of a fairytale style playing card! I hope you’ve all enjoyed my tributes to past works and different mediums as much as I have. I’m still deciding on my image for March but it has been suggested to me that I tackle a landscape. What do you think?

If you would like to pick a favourite (it’s not obligatory!) please use this poll and/or leave me some feedback and suggestions for future One Four Challenges in the comments 🙂