Exploring non-literal landscapes via the digital darkroom. Discuss and share your photos!
Linda From Maine wrote:
MinnieV and I will be co-hosting this thread. She is responsible for first introducing me to the joys of textures
Please share one of your favorite "heavily processed" landscapes and talk a bit about your vision and how you created the result.
Many thanks for your participation!
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Here's one to start. I changed the reality (photo #2) from warm sunrise to explore more mysterious and moody. Is there a sense that this is nighttime and moonlit?
In my raw editor I changed white balance to custom and this faded blue. In Nik Color Efex I used several filters in varying modes and strengths: contrast color, low key, duplex. I created bottom half of sun (which is obscured by a ridge line in original), added a great blue heron from another photo (they are very common in the pastures catching rodents the cattle stir up). Final touches included some softening and cloning of fog and lessening of background details.
MinnieV and I will be co-hosting this thread. She ... (
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Linda I have not entered this thread until now ( I think page 5 ) I was curious as to where it was going. So here goes. I truly despaired with having to chose which, of which I have many, collected over a span of q'tj[v; years. So I chose the last one I have been working on, easy!! I have to say this image is heavily PP and took a few hours to bring the state it is in now. First it is a composite of several images. I am trying to produce a sense very near/far with alot of modulation to give undulation to the overall space. I wanted the viewer to want to step into an almost magical space. (I am sorry but I am a bit of a romantic) I think this comes from also being a painter in another epoch. As far as technique I use very few plugins, mainly the tools that are in the editor. Brushes, shaping tools, compositing and various physical manipulation. All this until have something totally different from what I started with. Very often a bit like my favorite school of painters the Hudson River school. I hope some will enjoy. RBorud
KTJohnson wrote:
This is the Port Wilson Light on Puget Sound at Port Townsend, WA, taken at about 9 pm. Wanting to lighten it a bit I started playing around in Lr. I noticed it started to take on a painterly water-color look, so I took it in that direction, something I very rarely do. But I kind of like the result.
Me too. Of course I’m already thinking how cool it would look on a canvas or paper texture. Thank you for sharing this interesting transformation! You got an entirely different time of day by tinkering. For me, tinkering is the very best way to figure out a new tool or technique. And time spent learning something is well spent.
rborud wrote:
Linda I have not entered this thread until now ( I think page 5 ) I was curious as to where it was going. So here goes. I truly despaired with having to chose which, of which I have many, collected over a span of q'tjv; years. So I chose the last one I have been working on, easy!! I have to say this image is heavily PP and took a few hours to bring the state it is in now. First it is a composite of several images. I am trying to produce a sense very near/far with alot of modulation to give undulation to the overall space. I wanted the viewer to want to step into an almost magical space. (I am sorry but I am a bit of a romantic) I think this comes from also being a painter in another epoch. As far as technique I use very few plugins, mainly the tools that are in the editor. Brushes, shaping tools, compositing and various physical manipulation. All this until have something totally different from what I started with. Very often a bit like my favorite school of painters the Hudson River school. I hope some will enjoy. RBorud
Linda I have not entered this thread until now ( ... (
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I was thinking Hudson River long before I got to that end of your post. I always enjoy your magic. If anyone has not yet encountered the magic of Russell Borud’s Prairie Sentinels collection, they should stop right now and click on your profile to begin locating them. You have been an inspiration to me and others I’m sure. Feel free to add more of your beautiful wizardry.
rborud wrote:
... I wanted the viewer to want to step into an almost magical space...
A master artist takes our hand and beckons us in. I greatly appreciate your participation, Russ. I second my partner Minnie's request: more please!
rborud wrote:
Linda I have not entered this thread until now ( I think page 5 ) I was curious as to where it was going. So here goes. I truly despaired with having to chose which, of which I have many, collected over a span of q'tjv; years. So I chose the last one I have been working on, easy!! I have to say this image is heavily PP and took a few hours to bring the state it is in now. First it is a composite of several images. I am trying to produce a sense very near/far with alot of modulation to give undulation to the overall space. I wanted the viewer to want to step into an almost magical space. (I am sorry but I am a bit of a romantic) I think this comes from also being a painter in another epoch. As far as technique I use very few plugins, mainly the tools that are in the editor. Brushes, shaping tools, compositing and various physical manipulation. All this until have something totally different from what I started with. Very often a bit like my favorite school of painters the Hudson River school. I hope some will enjoy. RBorud
Linda I have not entered this thread until now ( ... (
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There is so much to like about this picture, I frankly don't know where to start. So, suffice it to say, I LIKE IT!
Just an experiment, a single shot "HDR" from a dawn shoot.
Location:Newport rock pool, Sydney (Australia) northern beaches.
Most of my landscapes are straight edits so it took me a while to think of these. The three shots below were all taken in broad daylight. I thought they suited the silhouetted twilight look. The last one is the only one where I have a non-edited version for comparison.
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I did experiment with presets, filters and various effects for a while. I found that when I was using presets to do straight edits my learning process stagnated, so I stopped using them. If I was committed to going in the artistic direction I would have persisted with them because I can see they have lots of potential (as Linda is so good at demonstrating), but optimising and fixing photos has always been my priority.
While I was in the process of finding out about the various effects that are available I realised at one point that some photos were (predictably) more suitable starting points than others, and their suitability depended very much on the particular effect in question. For the edit below my starting point was choosing the effect (Topaz Glow) and then looking specifically for a subject that I thought would respond well to it. That led to the realisation that careful forethought is necessary in order to get the most out of the growing number of effects, presets and filters that are available to us. They can be fun to play with as toys, but for serious artistic creation they need to be used thoughtfully.
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RichardTaylor wrote:
Just an experiment, a single shot "HDR" from a dawn shoot.
Location:Newport rock pool, Sydney (Australia) northern beaches.
Did you see the two main forum topics (that ran nearly simultaneously) about this technique? I think I tried once with using same raw file, under- and over-exposed in the raw editor, then combined in main processing section (PS Elements).
How did you do yours, Richard? One thing I recall from the other discussion is that raw files are fairly easily edited for both highlights and shadows up to as much as 2 stops without blending.
R.G. wrote:
Most of my landscapes are straight edits so it took me a while to think of these. The three shots below were all taken in broad daylight. I thought they suited the silhouetted twilight look. The last one is the only one where I have a non-edited version for comparison.
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Were these looks achieved in pp or exposure at time of shooting, or a combination?
R.G. wrote:
I did experiment with presets, filters and various effects for a while. I found that when I was using presets to do straight edits my learning process stagnated, so I stopped using them. If I was committed to going in the artistic direction I would have persisted with them because I can see they have lots of potential (as Linda is so good at demonstrating), but optimising and fixing photos has always been my priority.
While I was in the process of finding out about the various effects that are available I realised at one point that some photos were (predictably) more suitable starting points than others, and their suitability depended very much on the particular effect in question. For the edit below my starting point was choosing the effect (Topaz Glow) and then looking specifically for a subject that I thought would respond well to it. That led to the realisation that careful forethought is necessary in order to get the most out of the growing number of effects, presets and filters that are available to us. They can be fun to play with as toys, but for serious artistic creation they need to be used thoughtfully.
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I did experiment with presets, filters and various... (
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"Committed" and "careful forethought" fell by the wayside for me a few years ago. Too many toys, too much curiosity, too little patience
I adore what you did with this Glow application! And I do agree that suitability is key. Just as with textures and even monochrome conversions, one size definitely does not fit all.
Many thanks for your posting, R.G.!
Here is one of my favorite early explorations with using textures (and more than one). This image is an example of how a texture works more like a composite in that its colors or design are integral to the scene, not an enhancement of what is already there.
At the time of posting, I also did a "how I achieved" topic:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-450078-1.html.
Here’s one that I’m still working on, but not there yet. So far, all the work has been done in Lightroom 5.7. At this point, I am concerned with the hotspots on the face and am open to suggestions, as portraits of any kind are not my forte.
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