How to create a textured look with Topaz Clean...

Topaz Clean can create very cool textured effects with an image! The photo above is a composite of an HDR image of the warbird with a fisheye lens, combined with a photo of clouds. To add a textured look, I used Topaz Clean, which added the wavy bendy detail throughout the image without the need for a separate texture layer and blend mode. Try Curly Smooth, which is one of my favorite presets! 

In case you missed it, here is a link to my webinar on Creating an HDR look with a single image! Certain subjects present a real challenge with HDR, especially people. Using a single image for an HDR look is often an easy solution. The webinar was a lot of fun to do, and I hope you enjoy it!  If you like classic cars, you are in luck! Classic cars are a passion of mine, and I have a couple of ideas you may be interested in. Thanks to those who signed on, I appreciate it very much! Try a little creativity with with your image, and feel free to use coupon code DEBORAHSANDIDGE for everything Topaz!

How to get creative with your camera!

I hope to see you at the Camera Club of Brevard in Satellite Beach, Florida Nov 2nd for my next seminar on getting creative with your camera! This discussion is about boosting your creativity, getting inspired, and trying out a few new ways to make great pictures. Please bring your questions and ideas!

This photo was taken in #Rocky Mountain National Park. I completely fell for the aspens that were changing from green to orange and gold. I was encompassed by color and light, which is reflected in how I took the picture. I used a Sigma 8mm circular fisheye lens to create the sense that one is surrounded by trees. A small aperture equals a big starburst, which seem to be accentuated with this lens. Try a fisheye for a little something different! Have fun shooting!

Aspen Path in Rocky Mountain National Park

More fun with a circular fisheye, creating a snow globe effect without the snow! (On my way back from Rocky Mountain National Park, I noticed airport security has quite the collection of snow globes)! I liked the way the fisheye wraps around the aspen trees and pulls everything close together for an interesting canopied look. It's so hard not to get my toes or tripod legs in the picture, but it's worth the effort. This image was taken with a full frame sensor camera (Nikon D3s) and a Sigma 8mm fisheye lens, producing an entirely circular fisheye photograph. The aspen are turning orange and gold in the higher elevations around Bear Lake and are really quite beautiful. Enjoy Autumn!

Welcome to my World... Fisheye in the Rockies...

I made a little self portrait on an aspen lined hiking path near Bear Lake (9,500 ft) in Rocky Mountain National Park. It's beautiful up in the higher elevations, lots of color, orange, yellow and green. I always like the fisheye view of things, pulled together in a perfect circle. My portrait is in HDR, you can pick up the clues from my tripod, cable release and the inside of the barrel of the lens (it's usually black). I liked the way the colors looked inside the fisheye lens, kind of fall, kind of cool! So I left it the way it was processed in Photomatix. This was just one of many photographic explorations that day, but one of my favorites! Have fun shooting!

Fisheye View...

Fisheye lenses can be a creative tool for photographers. I used a Nikon16mm fisheye lens to photograph the stairway inside a lighthouse. A fisheye lens can alter the the look of a composition, making it a little more dramatic. HDR brought out the detail in the shadow and highlight areas, creating a better balanced image. The finishing touch was to convert the image to black and white using one of my favorite conversion plug-in's, Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Great news - the  Nikon D7000 was just announced! It was a pleasure and honor to work on the promotional video for the project. It's an absolutely fantastic camera!
Take a look!

Orlando After Dark...

One of the cool aspects of using a fisheye lens is that it allows you to be very creative! Certain outcomes are predictable, and others are serendipitous - which makes the lens great fun to experiment with! I used a Nikon 16mm fisheye lens to capture all the interesting and colorful elements of the composition. Fisheye lenses can be a wonderful way to expand on creativity. Getting close to the subject helps create a more dramatic image, and the bendy distortions that occur are just too fun!

Photographing after dark allows for a few extra perks. A starburst effect occurs with various points of light when using a small aperture and long exposure. This makes an image a little more cinematic. To add to the drama, shoot to create an HDR image.This photo represents several exposures merged as an HDR image for the most dynamic range. The world seems to come alive at night, capture it!

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