Photoshop Creative

I have always wanted the opportunity to photograph downtown lights of a big city. Thought I would finally have the chance in Calgary. Well, guess what -- they don't leave the building lights on at night! I guess they are being environmentally responsible.

These were taken at twilight and, even if I had waited for dark, I don't think I would have had the contrast I was after because so many of the darned lights were not on. I was shooting in Raw; Before is as shot with no adjustments in ACR:



I thought I might be able to do something with Anita's Paint Technique. The first effort wasn't so hot but I remembered her comments about working with small-size files. I resized and resampled the image and got what I thought was an interesting image...



I'm still determined to get some city lights. Maybe I'll have to drive to Chicago.

Rusty

Oh, I like that, Rusty.

Anita

Very nice, Rusty. I like it.

alpha

Thank you, Alpha,

Since it's your technique, I consider that High Praise, Anita
You are right about file size, makes all the difference in the world.

Rusty

Good job,Rusty. The second photo really pops! Is there a link to Anita's paint technique?
Chas

Yes, Chas,
Anita was kind enough to post it here. It is in the section called "Member Tutorials Elements" and the thread is named "Painted Effect Tutorial" -- I may not have all those words right but you can find it.

I will add one thing that was in her thread on the old "PET Forum" (yes, I copied it all and use this technique often):

Wow, everyone's photos are great. If you can't get the effect you want try cropping the photo. The effects are more pronounced with a smaller file. With a larger one you might need to run the diffuse filter more than twice, and increase the settings in the unsharp mask and the smart blur. Also, a photo with lots of contrast looks best. I sometimes increase the contrast right after running the diffuse filter and before the unsharp mask. Hopes this helps, and I'm glad everyone likes this technique. I've learned so much from all the generous people on this forum and I'm pleased to be able to give back in some small way.

Anita

Rusty

Rusty
That's really fantastic.

Rusty, that is beautiful! What size did you reduce to for this effect?
Joe

Thank you, Angela, I like it too -- but give credit where due, Anita started this months ago when she figured out and posted the technique

Joe ...

Original file, shot in Raw = 3872 x 2592 pixels; 6.02 MB

After I fiddled with exposure and etc in ACR and then opened in Elements and fiddled some more, and cropped, the size became: 2863 x 1909 pixels; 4.02 MB That's when, disappointed with what I had been able to do with it, I thought about Anita's paint routine. I wasn't thrilled with what I was getting until I remembered her comments about using a smaller file.

I resized to 1200 x 800 pixels; 671 KB You see the result.

I could probably have gotten there with the bigger file but, as commented by Anita, it would no doubt have required a lot of experimentation as well as running some of the filters repeatedly. With the smaller file I simply ran exactly the steps she outlined -- nothing more or less.

Rusty

Awesome job, Rusty!