Recreating enlarger-based soft focus

The main technique I was trying to achieve here was one I used to get working in the darkroom. Stretching a piece of dark nylon across the enlarger lens cause the light falling through the shadow areas of the negative to spill over. I used (in CS5) threshold to create an image of the dark areas I wanted to spill and used that to create a mask that was then manipulated with the refine layers dialogue. I believe I experimented a little with blending options to get the effect, but the basic technique is isolating the dark areas with a mask and feathering it. The one thing that bugs me about this picture is the burned out white area in the upper left. I tried several things to fill it in, but ultimately it acts to keep the viewer focused on the central figure. Every other option created a more pleasing square corner, but lacked the centering power of the bright white sky.

A recent attempt at photo illustration

I was watching the most recent episode of KQED's Quest when I saw the work of botanical illustrator Kandis Elliot. She starts with photographs and then uses software (CS6?) to enhance the pictures, turning them into beautiful illustrations. I used several techniques to try something in the same vein. I used various masking and selection techniques to flatten the tonal values to mimic something more like gouache or watercolor. I tried not to use "out of the box" Photoshop filters, but I did use the "dry brush" to achieve texture. Other techniques included using "apply image" to generate masks (and reverse masks), using a "threshold" layer adjustment to generate and image which was then blended to achieve some dark detail, using a gray layer in overlay mode for dodging and burning, creating an image with the "charcoal" filter to achieve an image blended in "darken" mode (I think), and using the "blend if" options and darken mode. I used a shallow knock out too, if I recall. In the next installment of this blog, I'll show a different image using similar techniques. The important thing, I have found, is that familiarity with the various tools allows me to approach the subject with some spontaneity, forgoing the need to execute a formula.

Mobile art

Right now my favorite photo apps are Photosynth, PhotoStudio, Painteresque, and Dynamic Light, all of which I used on this photo at the Don Edwards Nature Reserve here in the East Bay. The day was a little foggy, but Photosynth did a good job of evening out the exposure between areas in the sun's direction and those at right angles. The blown out area that was overexposed allowed Painteresque to add some interesting arc-shaped artifacts, which I actually like. The grungy spots come from PhotoStudio and the overall mood is the result of using Dynamic Light's "Dutch light" setting.