golden rain tree seed pods

[Dennis Bishop]

This image evolved over time. When I first saw them, I was taken with the mix of colors among the pods -- oranges, browns, yellows and greens -- and figured I'd showcase them. Not too long after the initial processing, I rejected that idea but without a good alternative. It seemed like it was destined for the reject pile until Kerry posted his California quail image and some comments were made about Pixel Bender. I remembered, then, that Alien Skin Eye Candy has a preset much like Pixel Bender. The seed pod shapes seemed like a good candidate for that, and when I revisited the plug-in, I decided to try their Water Drops preset, too. (It wasn't until today that I was hit with a duh realization -- golden rain tree and water drops . . . )

iPhone 5s, PureShot camera app, ISO 200, three-shot HDR at 2 EV increments

processing highlights

• duplicate layers of a Belle Fleur texture -- Normal and Multiply blend modes, one layer flipped vertically
• tone-mapped HDR flipped horizontally for composition and partial masking of the background to reveal the texture layers, Luminosity
• Topaz Simplify -- saved watercolor preset
• Alien Skin Snap Art -- saved watercolor wash preset, Hard Light
• two Belle Fleur textures -- Soft Light and Linear Light
• Flypaper texture -- Difference
• Nik Color Efex -- Tonal Contrast (?)
• Fractalius -- three saved black-on-white presets; Multiply, Divide, Multiply
• Snap Art -- Line Art saved brown-on-white edges preset, Multiply
• Simplify -- saved black-on-white edges preset, Multiply
• Alien Skin Eye Candy -- two Swirl preset layers, Normal and Overlay
• Eye Candy -- Water Drops preset applied to the background with a selection, Lighten
• gradient vignette -- masked off background

[Cheryl Slechta]

Dennis, this is gorgeous! Did the Eye Candy treatment make the in between spaces look like marble? Whatever did it - I love it. I could look at this for hours - so many shapes and tiny details. Parts of it looks three dimensional. Great job!

[Dennis Bishop]

Thanks for your comments, Cheryl, and question. The marble appearance appears to be a combination of several things. The settings I used for what appears below were the same for all three Eye Candy Water Drop treatments except that the opacities were different. (I changed the maximum drop size and the clumping sliders from what I used above, and the adjustment layers higher in the stack were blown away so they didn't affect the results.)

The upper left is without the Water Drop treatment. Moving clockwise from there, the opacities were 10, 50, and 90 percent. The opacity in the actual image was just slightly above 50. It appears to me that there's a relationship between what was already on the layer and the amount of marbling. There are oodles of sliders including some others that might affect the marbling, too. Eye Candy is well-named and can be fun to use.

[Nancy Bell]

Very cool shapes and colors and processing! I really like seeing the progression images. You have so many layers that just seeing one group helps to visualize some of the techniques you use. I will have to check out Eye Candy.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Dennis, thanks for posting this - the 50 per cent would have been my choice too

[Anita Bower]

Lovely colors and shapes in this abstract. The spaces in between look like luscious water--just right.
How did you decide which Flypaper Textures to purchase? They are all so beautiful.

[Dennis Bishop]

. . . How did you decide which Flypaper Textures to purchase? They are all so beautiful.

Flypaper textures are probably the first I bought rather than just downloading free ones. Initially, I think I was using textures mostly as backgrounds for leaves and flowers, so I chose the packs that had textures that looked good by themselves. Now that I'm using textures in combinations and blending them with other layers, that approach may not make the most sense. However, as I'm sure you know, blending textures with other layers can be a trial & error process. I've learned to make choices based on patterns, colors, and border effects, so that's part of the current process of deciding whether to buy textures, or not. The other part, though, is the same as when I started out.

I may have mentioned previously that one of the things on my to-do list is to go through all the textures I have and build a database so I can apply filters to pick out the ones I think are most likely to work with an image. Perhaps I should initially populate the database with just a few textures to see how well it actually works.

[Anita Bower]

Flypaper textures are probably the first I bought rather than just downloading free ones. Initially, I think I was using textures mostly as backgrounds for leaves and flowers, so I chose the packs that had textures that looked good by themselves. Now that I'm using textures in combinations and blending them with other layers, that approach may not make the most sense. However, as I'm sure you know, blending textures with other layers can be a trial & error process. I've learned to make choices based on patterns, colors, and border effects, so that's part of the current process of deciding whether to buy textures, or not. The other part, though, is the same as when I started out.

I may have mentioned previously that one of the things on my to-do list is to go through all the textures I have and build a database so I can apply filters to pick out the ones I think are most likely to work with an image. Perhaps I should initially populate the database with just a few textures to see how well it actually works.

Thanks for your answer. When you build your data base, I'll be interested to know how it works out. As I accumulate more textures, it becomes more time-consuming to find the ones I want to try out. Have you tried uploading your textures to Topaz Textures?

[Dennis Bishop]

Thanks for your answer. When you build your data base, I'll be interested to know how it works out. As I accumulate more textures, it becomes more time-consuming to find the ones I want to try out. Have you tried uploading your textures to Topaz Textures?

I'll let you know about the database, but don't hold your breath because it's probably going to be a while.

I've not even tried out Topaz Textures. What's your take on it?

[Anita Bower]

I've not even tried out Topaz Textures. What's your take on it?

I've only used it a few times. I was attracted by being able to put all my textures into the program, but I haven't done so yet.