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Thread: Creepy

  1. #1
    Senior Member AgingEyes's Avatar
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    Creepy

    Believe it or not, the guy in the foreground actually is out-of-focus in the original. Applied Topaz In-focus to make it looks otherwise.

    Creepy-creepy-_2889-rev.jpg


    Thank you for looking !
    Last edited by gahspidy; 06-27-2011 at 10:41 AM. Reason: Sticking as Featured Photo June 27, 2011

  2. #2
    mod squad gahspidy's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Love the shot, AE. The creepy faces strolling along the street done with the gritty processing is effective. I'd say the only thing holding this image back a bit is the right frame where the hair of the person in the fg seems blocking/distracting. Can't crop... Not a deal killer.
    Fine shot and work.
    please do not edit and repost my photos


    gary


  3. #3
    Senior Member jetrim's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Very cool shot AE!! Critique woulld be the same as Gary's, but very impressed if Topaz fixed blur this well, as I don't see any evidence there may have been any initial problem.

  4. #4
    n8
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    Re: Creepy

    I have yet to have much luck with that plugin. I have yet to try real hard though either to be honest though. Perhaps it's the effect that lends to the high pass look of the shot.
    mostly Nikon gear

    Feel free to edit my images for critique, just let me know what you did.

  5. #5
    Senior Member draymorton's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Great shot. I don't mind the woman's hair in the frame at all. Love the effect; it reminds me of Skyshaper's work.

    Would you share the original? Just curious as to how out of focus the main subject in the original was. Read up on the Topaz filter and dl'd the demo. Sounds a little too good to be true!

  6. #6
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    Re: Creepy

    Definitely awesome! I agree that the dark spot is not ideal, but am not sure of a method for fixing it. But the photo looks like it was etched in silver.

  7. #7
    Re Member LeeIs's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    very nice street shot!
    Liban

    "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have." Nelson Mandela

    Nikon Samurai #23 - The Alexei Ponikarovsky of PR

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  8. #8
    Senior Member AgingEyes's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Here's the crop from raw (I reset everything to default in Camera Raw and re-sized for upload to here due to the 800 limitation):

    Creepy-sample-reference-creepy-rev.jpg

    I think if it's slightly out-of-focus, Topaz In-focus can help. Artifacts do show up and so be careful. I don't expect In-focus to be able to turn bokeh into trees or whatever in the background and so nether should you . Anyhow, after In-focus, I also sharpened it a bit. As for the gritty effect, I used Topaz Adjust. Conversion to black & white and toning were done with Silver E-fex Pro.

    Thank you for the comments folks !!

  9. #9
    Senior Member draymorton's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Thanks! InFocus seems to do a great job.

    Have you used LR3 for b/w conversion? Just wondering how it compares to Silver Efex Pro. This is getting off-topic, I know. Just curious.

  10. #10
    Senior Shooter Greg McCary's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Really nice AE. The processing is top notch.
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  11. #11
    Senior Member AgingEyes's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Quote Originally Posted by draymorton View Post
    Have you used LR3 for b/w conversion?
    No, I haven't. In fact, I have never used Light Room. I heard that Light Room is pretty much Camera Raw plus. I assume you could import the result from Light Room to Photoshop for further enhancement if needed.

  12. #12
    n8
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    Re: Creepy

    Quote Originally Posted by draymorton View Post
    Thanks! InFocus seems to do a great job.

    Have you used LR3 for b/w conversion? Just wondering how it compares to Silver Efex Pro. This is getting off-topic, I know. Just curious.
    Just to give you an idea, the b/w in the mom/daughter set I posted was done in silver efx pro. I haven't tried to get real deep in tweaking b/w in LR, but it seems to be silver efx's bread and butter.
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  13. #13
    Senior Member AgingEyes's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Quote Originally Posted by n8 View Post
    Just to give you an idea, the b/w in the mom/daughter set I posted was done in silver efx pro. I haven't tried to get real deep in tweaking b/w in LR, but it seems to be silver efx's bread and butter.
    I could be wrong but, personally, I think all those plug-ins are just to make things easier and simple for us. If you know your way in Photoshop, I think you could get the same results just by using Photoshop alone (even without using its B&W filter). There's a tutorial on the NAPP website showing how to "fix" focus using the Emboss filter in Photoshop.

  14. #14
    n8
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    Re: Creepy

    You're probably right to a pretty strong degree, but I think some of them bring some perks to the table. I'd say I'm a fairly intermediate photoshop user, so the ease that plugins offer is appealing, but I'm pretty fond of Nik's stuff. The control points especially separate it from the category of "simplified photoshop actions." As I get more in with PS, I have a lot of "oh" moments, but plugins certainly make my life easier, and a bit more consistent.

    Back on track though. Could you share how you adjusted inFocus to get such a good result? I can get some very subtle successes, but not what you've done.
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    Feel free to edit my images for critique, just let me know what you did.

  15. #15
    Senior Member draymorton's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Thanks both. Didn't mean to hijack the thread.

    I was just wondering if LR3 could approximate what you can do with SEP. I have tried SEP and love it, but don't want to have to spend the money. I know it has some kind of detail enhancement algorithm (tonal contrast or something), but I was wondering if I could get close enough with LR3 since I already have it...

  16. #16
    Senior Member jetrim's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Quote Originally Posted by AgingEyes View Post
    I could be wrong but, personally, I think all those plug-ins are just to make things easier and simple for us. If you know your way in Photoshop, I think you could get the same results just by using Photoshop alone.
    Absolutely! The value in in plug-ins is in the time savings. I could have gone through the long drawn out process of creating a luminosity mask to smooth the skin on the Carmen shot, but NiK Color efx tonal contrast preset let me do the same in 2 clicks and a slider.

  17. #17
    Senior Member AgingEyes's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Quote Originally Posted by n8 View Post
    Could you share how you adjusted inFocus to get such a good result? I can get some very subtle successes, but not what you've done.
    Honestly, it was just trial and error :blush2: I'm still in its 30 trial period and so I have only used it on three photos so far.

    Have you seen this video?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwrFuaLJv1c

    I basically just followed it. Just like in the video, I adjusted with the Blur Radius slider first then the Suppress Artifacts slider. At first I tried "out-of-focus" but it did not go very well (seemed to have more artifacts). I then used "generic" instead. I also sharpened the image after I was back in Photoshop. I used mask and other stuff to try to fix some artifacts, too. One thing I found about using Topaz plug-ins is to do it in moderation. Move the sliders a little bit at a time or I found I'd go overboard very easily with all those ugly artifacts showing up.

    Sorry that I couldn't be more helpful :blush2:

  18. #18
    Senior Member AgingEyes's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Quote Originally Posted by draymorton View Post
    Thanks both. Didn't mean to hijack the thread.
    I started this thread, I don't mind. It's also up to Gary though

    I know it has some kind of detail enhancement algorithm (tonal contrast or something), but I was wondering if I could get close enough with LR3 since I already have it...
    I know that in Camera Raw, "Exposure", "Brightness", "Recovery", "Clarity" and also "Contrast" affect the tonal contrast. If LR has them, you could try to see if they help.

  19. #19
    mod squad gahspidy's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Quote Originally Posted by AgingEyes View Post
    I started this thread, I don't mind. It's also up to Gary though
    The only thing I would mind is if the thread went off on a completely different direction and did not involve the thread starter, which is not the case here. Good discussion that stemmed off of a very fine photograph.

    I agree with Jet in that the plug ins do make life easier, but also there have been many plug ins that do/did things much better than Photoshop. A lot of what photoshop is are plug ins that happen to be included in the software...
    please do not edit and repost my photos


    gary


  20. #20
    Senior Member draymorton's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Congrats - glad that this one was chosen. There are some amazingly unique characters in there and the processing enhances the narrative - both by being interesting in and of itself and by matching the mood and context of the setting and the scene.

    You should check out Skyshaper's work if you have a chance. He's a master.

  21. #21
    Senior Member AgingEyes's Avatar
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    Re: Creepy

    Quote Originally Posted by draymorton View Post
    Congrats - glad that this one was chosen. There are some amazingly unique characters in there and the processing enhances the narrative - both by being interesting in and of itself and by matching the mood and context of the setting and the scene.

    You should check out Skyshaper's work if you have a chance. He's a master.
    Thank you, Draymorton, and will check out Skyshaper !

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