Early in September, I went to a sunflower field at Colby Farm over in Newbury, MA. For this photo, I wanted to make it look like an infrared photo, so I converted to B&W using Silver Efex pro and a channel mixer layer frequently comparing it to real infrared photos. I finally got the look I wanted by reducing the opacity of the B&W layers to let just a little color through and then adding an orton effect.
10-17-2013, 12:10 AM
James Shadle
The thumbnail does not do this justice.
You must see the large image to comprehend the impact it makes.
Well done on all counts.
10-17-2013, 05:45 AM
Cheryl Slechta
Very well done, Christopher. It almost looks like it has an Orton effect also.:S3:
10-17-2013, 11:12 AM
Diane Miller
Beautiful sharpness and you did capture very captivating tonalities -- well done!
10-17-2013, 04:33 PM
Christopher Miller
Cheryl, I did use an Orton effect as part of faking the IR look.
Thanks a lot, James, Cheryl, and Diane!
10-19-2013, 12:46 AM
LinzRiverBalmer
Okay..... what is an Orton effect, and no I don't want to go google it.... LOL
So don't judge me, I hope this is a compliment as this is how I mean it.... this would make a very cool retro Wall Paper, literally I would put it on an accent wall, or on a door, or a headboard.
James summed it up well.
Would be a really fun puzzle too..... hmm good gift to terrorize your relatives, maybe a 5000 piece jigsaw.
excuse my humor I'm slap happy tired
10-19-2013, 10:25 AM
Christopher Miller
Thanks a lot, Linz. An Orton effect is a simple way to give a photo a soft, dreamy feel. The way I usually do it is as follows:
Duplicate the image layer and set the blend mode to Screen.
Use Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E to duplicate the current image onto a new layer.
Set that layer's blend mode to Multiply.
Use Gaussian blur to blur the top layer. How much blur you use is up to you, I tend to use a radius between 20-50 pixels.
Finally if you want, you can lower the opacity of both of the Orton layers to get a more subtle effect.
10-20-2013, 12:43 PM
Nancy Bell
This is spectacular! I agree completely with Diane about the great sharpness and wonderful tonalities. Also, a wonderful composition of repeating sunflower shapes right to all the edges. This would be magnificent very large!
10-20-2013, 06:00 PM
Christopher Miller
Thank you, Nancy!
10-22-2013, 04:45 AM
LinzRiverBalmer
very interesting thank you for explaining the Orton effect Christopher