Playing With Pixel Bender

[John Storjohann]

I'm finally starting to get my head around Pixel Bender a bit...I don't know how much the stylized effect will show up at this size, but I'm enjoying experimenting. The image of the lily was taken yesterday at the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis; 260mm, f/32@1/30. The RAW file was processed in LR; when I brought it into PS I used Viveza to do some regional toning, then used Topaz Adjust->Photo Pop followed by Pixel Bender->Oil Painting. I then desaturated it a bit, and used a mask to bring back some of the reflection; Pixel Bender had pretty much obliterated it. Jay, I took your advice......I'm trying to get be more committed to the OOTB process!

[Cheryl Slechta]

John, this looks like a great start for PB Another view that would be interesting would be to remove the leaf under the lily and move the reflection up (of course you'd have the leaf in the reflection and not in the main image so maybe it wouldn't work but just a thought.) I think the leaf kind of distracts from the rest of the image but maybe it's just me - we'll see if I'm odd man out

[Nancy Bell]

The textures and colors turned out wonderful. Maybe you too can join PBA (Pixel Benders Anonymous). I think all the black space in the lower left is too much and leaves the flower and leaves not quite connected. I wonder if cropping from the bottom to just below the green leaf where you lose the reflection or cropping in from the left to create a vertical and retain the reflection. Just some thoughts.

[Dave Mills]

Hi John, nice comp,good lighting,subject and well handled technically. the comp flows well using the 3 subjects. I don't feel the reflection of the lily and pad underside is helping the image.
A PB tip... If you keep the slider thats 3rd from the top(colorization) on 1 you won't get the lines in the water or in skies that you use with the filter.(I'm assuming the water was clear and didn't have the small specs)

[Jay Sheinfield]

Hey John, I can't add much to the recommendations already given. IT's great to have choices . I think you might want to consider whether you are focusing on the WL as the main element, or the arrangement of the WL and the pads. If its the arrangement you are after then I think Dave and Nancy's suggestion works. If it's more the focus on the WL then Cheryl's recommendation works (maybe w/o the reflection). I tried Cheryl's idea w/o the reflection (since the leaf and flower are mixed) and liked it.................I like it better after CW rotation of 10 degrees.........It's really what you have in mind! BTW, Terry likes it a lot as is. So there you go..................

[Bob Miller]

John....I like the way the leaves frame the flower. I vote for taking out the reflection. I downloaded Pixel bender but somehow it doesn't open up when prompted. Does it require 64 bit?

[John Storjohann]

Thank you for the comments and suggestions. I'm torn here...I like the reflection, but don't like how it appeared in the OP. So....here's another try...let me know your thoughts...I may evict it later. Didn't see the suggestion about a 10 degree CW rotation until now...I'll run that through as well!

Bob there are both 32 bit and 64 bit of Pixel Bender...be sure you download the right one...and then, if you have Vista or Windows 7, your have to make sure you run Adobe Extension Manager as an Admin (right click and choose run as an administrator) when you have it install Pixel Bender as an extension. Hope this helps.

[John Storjohann]

Thank you for the comments and suggestions. I'm torn here...I like the reflection, but don't like how it appeared in the OP. So....here's another try...let me know your thoughts...I may evict it later. Didn't see the suggestion about a 10 degree CW rotation until now...I'll run that through as well! Dave, thanks for the tip on Colorization; I masked the water on the repost and then applied the effect.

Bob there are both 32 bit and 64 bit of Pixel Bender...be sure you download the right one...and then, if you have Vista or Windows 7, your have to make sure you run Adobe Extension Manager as an Admin (right click and choose run as an administrator) when you have it install Pixel Bender as an extension. Hope this helps.

[John Storjohann]

Last post tonight...removed the reflection, cropped it a bit differently...my problem is I find myself liking both!

[Dave Mills]

I vote for Pane #7...nice job John!

[John Storjohann]

I apologize...I don't know what happened with the repeated posts..I went in to edit the post but somehow ended up with three texts posts...and now don't see the edit button on any of them to delete them. Didn't intend for that to happen!

[denise ippolito]

John, I think both reposts are lovely. I like the reflection too, but if I hadn't seen that version I'd be happy w/o it. Just a matter of taste as they both have good balance. I like the way you processed this and the original capture is great!

[Susan Candelario]

John,
Your repost in #9 completed a great image to begin with all around. Like the say KISS and your did it.... love it!