Nadia Trevan
September 2023 - Hippeastrum Elvas
Original
About the Image(s)
Hippeastrum Elvas. One of my favourite bulbs for photography. Flowers twice a year, last flower in March 2023 was especially pretty. I watched a short tutorial on using the mixer brush in photoshop (gives a “oil painting look”) and so decided to try it on the flower. This is the outcome. Not completely satisfied with it but does look a bit painterly. Photographed with FujiFilm XT3 with 56mm lens at f9, ISO 500 hand held.
12 comments posted
Nadia, this is a fantastic image. The original flower, and background go well together. It does have a painterly look that you set out to achieve. I have no problem with the results on the flower, but I think the silvery look on the background is a "tad" too much. Posted: 09/06/2023 19:27:46
Hi Bob, thanks for your comments. It's the mixer brush that puts the colour in the background, you'll notice that there's both red and white there and I too didn't like the white there and so erased as much as I could. I don't mind what I left in the background.
I still have a long way to go to be able to use this brush properly. Cheers Posted: 09/15/2023 04:57:53
I still have a long way to go to be able to use this brush properly. Cheers Posted: 09/15/2023 04:57:53
Kathryn Delany
Nadia very nice and painterly rendition and as Bob mentions have splashes of the flower colour in the background always pulls a piece together. It sure beats the bricks. It would be nice to have some of the centre sharp and brighter to pull the eye into a focal point. Posted: 09/12/2023 16:46:35
Hi Kathryn, my idea was to do a digital painting. The mixer brush in PS is supposed to mimic an oil paint brush and that's the reason I've "painted the whole flower" to see if it looks like an oil painting - guess I need to do more work. Thanks for your comments, much appreciated. Posted: 09/15/2023 05:07:47
Kathryn Delany
Nadia, I understand about wanting to make it look like a painting, though my point is about painting technique as well. In art lost and found edges (sharp and soft) are a very important for the same reasons in photography. The eyes like to to have a place(s) to identify as the focal area. What if you used the original image and a layer mask you can mask some sharpness back into the central part of the flower? Or paint some crisper areas back in. Would it help? Posted: 09/15/2023 08:29:47
Nadia, another wonderful effort. I do like the painterly effect and the background turned out quite nice with colors that are very appropriate to the flower itself. And I do agree with Kathryn in that my eye seems to wander over the flower, never settling on a specific place, and I'm wondering if the center were more focused it would be more pleasing. Anyway, nice job. Posted: 09/12/2023 18:10:58
Thank you for your comments Rich, much appreciated. I tried to mimic an oil painting in PS using the mixer brush. I used the same brush throughout the image. I might used a different and smaller brush that might allow some parts to be more focussed. That might work. Posted: 09/15/2023 05:15:17
This is a beautiful photo. I think the painting quality is a nice change and really draws out the flowers character. I think that off centering the photo is a very strong choice and adds to the overall image. I don't think there is anything I would do differently. Posted: 09/13/2023 22:49:13
Thanks Jacob for your kind comments Posted: 09/15/2023 05:16:50
Hi Nadia,
Greetings my friend.
A lovely image with a painting filter out of the original image. This is a NatGeo presentation. There is nothing to make the more improved. loved it and thank you for sharing with us.
Cheers.
Kamal. Posted: 09/17/2023 02:47:37
Greetings my friend.
A lovely image with a painting filter out of the original image. This is a NatGeo presentation. There is nothing to make the more improved. loved it and thank you for sharing with us.
Cheers.
Kamal. Posted: 09/17/2023 02:47:37
I love the image. I love the painterly effect throughout. The center is for me definitely too dark. Maybe one or two lines could be sharper in the center. What draws my eye away for the main flower is the brightness of the lower one. Also the lower one is cut off on the right edge. I don't think it needs the double border. How did you cut it out so well without making it look pasted on the background? Is it the painterly brush? I'll have to try that. Posted: 09/17/2023 18:11:24
Thanks for your comments Doug. I see what you mean about the bud on the lower right corner, it does touch the edge of the border and so that needs to be looked at. How I cut my flowers out is using either the object selection tool or the quick selection tool and depending on the contrast of the image, I might use both to achieve a clean cut out. It does take a bit of patience. I then create a mask which then allows me to put another background image "behind it" Hope this helps. There are lots of YouTube tutorials on cutting out objects in an image. The brush that I've used is called the Mixer brush and it's been designed to replicate an oil painting brush. Posted: 09/19/2023 04:49:26