Connie Reinhart
About the Image(s)
This one is a long shot, but I really like it, maybe because of the experience. I was in the backyard hoping to see meteors; of course, none appeared. Boredom got me thinking about long exposures. So I focused on the trees at the far edge of the yard. F/3.5 at 30 seconds, ISO 800. It looked like a bust, but still drew my interest. Processed in PS using Topaz Studio 2. Started with AI Clear. Then used PS Levels to darken the shadows. Made several duplicate layers in order to play with various presets in Topaz. Finally settled on something called Conceptual Graphic. Hmmm. That little patch of sky actually showed some stars. So I used the lasso tool with a nice feather to isolate that patch, copied and pasted (so if I didn’t like it I could easily delete that effort.) But I did like it; applied a mask to clean up the edges of the selection. Now the grey patches showing through the branches looked too noticeable. I used the grey tab on HSL Color Tuning to darken that; also slightly adjusted levels and Precision Contrast. Finally cropped from the bottom and added a stroke just for our webpage. Center bottom is a little shape that almost looks like an animal. It is actually a pile of weeds. Should that be removed?
This round’s discussion is now closed!
9 comments posted
You've inspired me to get out of my comfort zone more often!   Posted: 11/23/2021 16:52:50