Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Creativity with Urban Art and Topaz Adjust...


With these photos, I used one of my favorite Photoshop plug-ins, Topaz Adjust. The Spicify preset intensifies color, and brings out detail, similar to an HDR image. The filter description... "Spice up your photo naturally, yet noticeably" which it does very effectively. Spicify can create an edgy-grunge effect that works well with certain subjects. With each photo, I reduced the opacity of the filter layer so the overall effect was less intense. If you have people in your image, you may wish to use the filter selectively instead of globally. Converting to Smart Filters allows you to do this easily, just invert the mask and you can brush in the effect where you want it (or vice versa). A Wacom tablet and pen is perfect for this, and you can adjust the opacity and hardness of the brush. The last image is a "before and after" of the effect of Spicify, quite a transformation! You can see how the filter impacts the detail, color and exposure. Have fun with your digital images!