One of the benefits (can you call it that?) of the old, relatively uninsulated windows in our house is that when it gets really cold outside, in the morning, we get this really cool window frost. The crystals form fascinating intricate fractals patterns all over the glass. This is image started as a simple macro photograph of a small section of frost. I loved the cross or star pattern it created. Since I had to crop the image quite a bit to get this framing, I first ran the image through On1 Perfect Resize in Photoshop to enlarge the image to a workable (and printable!) size. Now this doubled the size, so I lost a bunch of detail and sharpness - something you need to be aware of when upsizing any photo. I knew when I started processing I was going to go with an impressionistic look so the lack of sharpness was not really going to be a problem. The removing of unwanted/unnecessary elements and spots/sensor dust came next. I call this border patrol and it's a good idea to do this a couple of times, especially at the end of processing. After exposure, levels, curves, and color-correction, I then added some texture (I think it was 3 or 4 textures) using a Photoshop CC extension called Adobe Paper Texture Pro. Awesome, awesome tool! You need to get it - and it's free. Finally, I combined three different iterations of Topaz Impression to create the look I wanted. Combining different factory and my own presets, blending with layer masks and blending modes is great way to get a unique look that doesn't look "out-of-the-box". Of course, I did one more border patrol pass and then saved the final "Ice Crossing" image. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments! Day 102 of 365 Copyright 2016 Scott Norris Photography www.scottnorrisphotography.com
Can you guess what this is? I'll admit to using Topaz Glow and Topaz Impression in the creation of this image, but both of those plugins were used at the end of the process in the final touches. The spiral/ concentric circles you see here is straight of the camera. The highlights were enhanced with an added glow. The color is quite a bit warmer than you would normally expect the subject to be, but that is entirely due to natural processes (age perhaps??) and the color of the available light. So what is it? Anyone? Day 101 of 365 Copyright 2016 Scott Norris Photography www.scottnorrisphotography.com
It was guy's time at the house today. Mom was out running errands so the little man and I got to hang out and play all day. Races were won, cities were built (and destroyed. ROAR!!), castles were defended, dragons were slayed, railroads were built (yes, and destroyed), mass quantites were consumed, and there was much rejoicing! (yay....) It was awesome. I love our little man. Day 100 of 365 Copyright 2016 Scott Norris Photography www.scottnorrisphotography.com
