Today I’ll post some “paintings” I made from photos. You can buy software such as Alien Skin’s Snap Art and Topaz Labs’ Simplify and Impression but sometimes you can do just as well on your own by sandwiching two photos together and, of course, adjusting blend modes, saturation, etc.
Below is a photo of water lilies that I shot from a long boat on Inle Lake. The lilies weren’t in their prime and looked rather ragged. As I’ve told you I seldom delete a photo and when I’d notice this one , I’d try to make it look ‘right’.
Then one day I layered a photo of an old ceramic pot, also taken in Burma, over my lily photo. This is the result after trial and error in Photoshop.
Water Lilies shot in Burma 2011
Water Lilies on Inle Lake
San Juan River, Utah, U.S.A.
Erosion
This is the result of adding a photo of water drops on glass to a landscape of the erosion caused by Utah’s San Juan River. I went crazy with color and so can you
Shrimp in a Basket
I often photograph things like this close up of shrimp in a fish market. I have the idea that I’ll use them as a texture layer. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I’d never found a place for this shrimp shot, but when I bought Topaz Impressions I ran it through the various iterations and decided that this was pleasing to my eye. The software gives a smooth, flowing look to the shrimp and then I took the colors to a fantastical level. I like to look at it, all the red and yellow with dots of blue. Nice!
Changing blend modes is key when you are trying to give a photo a new personae. Begin with overlay, soft light, hard light and multiply…if they don’t satisfy you, try others. You’ll know when you’ve found the right one.