Canon 1D Mark III, 300mm F/4.0, f/14, 1.3 seconds, iso 200
My goal for today's Topaz Tuesday is to use an image from my Fall Color shoot this past Sunday, and do a mild Topaz treatment. As with any digital art program, the effects are often over done. What I want to show here is Topaz's "subtle side."
The setting for this shot was interesting. The creek winds its way along the road. In this stretch though, between the creek and the road are a lot of blackberry vines. I wouldn't say "impenetrable" but I would say "ripped pants and bloody legs."
So I retrieved the trusty 300mm fixed telephoto (I had brought all my gear to be ready for anything), and made my way up and down the road, shooting through breaks in the trees and brush. I wish I had shot the scene with say a 50mm so you could see the overall mess that that the 300mm poked through.
Anyway, what about the Topaz treatment? I ran the Topaz Adjust filter in Photoshop and went through several of the presets. Like I said, I was looking for a subtle effect. I ended up choosing a preset called "vibrance." I chose this mainly because I liked how it helped me look into the water.
Given the name, you can imagine that the effect might be more than what I was looking for. So I used a couple of adjustments in PS. First, I used Shadow/Highlight to knock down the highlights. The water area to the left was pretty bright. I then used the Saturation slider, and backed it down. Yes - desaturation! I then used Curves to pull the colors into the darker side of the mix.
It was at this point that the name I chose came to me. I felt the treatment really brings the image alive, yet is still a soothing scene - serene.
A couple of Topaz Tuesday commenters have been interested in seeing the original image, so click on the continue link below to view the original, and also leave a comment telling me what you think of the image.
Original version, straight out of the camera
As I look at the two images, I find it interesting that the treatment doesn't just enhance the colors, it also brings to life the composition. The cropping is working toward that too, but I think the main effect is in the treatment.
