beachball butterflies
While in Florida, we visited some snowbird friends in Venice who were renting a house with a pool. In a corner of the pool was a small, shallow section from which water flowed down into the main part of the pool. A small beach ball was rotating where the mini-waterfall joined the other water. There were bright flower designs on the ball, and I have a couple of long exposure apps on my iPhone which I felt compelled to try out. Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, when I started on the image, it wasn't going where I wanted, so I took an abrupt change in direction.
iPhone 5s, iPro 2X Telephoto auxiliary lens, Joby Gorillapod, 2-second exposure
processing highlights
- Following a number of standard operations (Topaz Simplify, Alien Skin Snap Art, Fractalius, Photoshop adjustment layers, etc.), the layers were stamped. The resulting layer was flipped horizontally and set at Lighten blend mode.
- Some cropping was done for composition and to remove some features of the pool that were detracting from the image.
- Some more standard adjustments were made.
- Then, the large butterflies happened. They were done with a black layer that was reduced in size and opacity. With that layer at Multiply blend mode, anything painted on it in white would disappear and reveal the color below. The shapes of the butterflies were painted in white, and decorations were added with a black brush.
- A few layers later, the small butterflies were added with a butterfly brush and the bursts with a burst brush at various sizes, orientations, and opacities.
Originally Posted by Diane Miller
