Just downloaded the Topaz Adjust upgrade version 4.0, and thought I'd give it a (very) quick workout... for the uninitiated, Topaz Labs produces a variety of cool photo adjustment "plug-ins" for Photoshop. Adjust is perhaps the most versatile, allowing everything from mega sharpening to excellent noise reduction capability. The 4.0 "touch and feel" is very nice -- a slicker, cleaned up graphic interface, and a number of new presets (pre-designed photo effects that you can simply use as is -- you can, or course do all of the modifications yourself). So here's the brief part... I chose an under-exposed shot of the surf off of Turtle Beach near Sarasota Florida from last summer... this one....
... pulled it into Photoshop elements 6, and used the "Shadows and Highlights" adjustment to brighten it up just enough... then called up Topaz Adjust 4.0 from the plug-in menu. I skipped through the presets one by one (you get both a thumb nail and an adjustable -- up to 100% -- preview pane to get a very good idea of what your process image will look like). After running through them all I chose the "dramatic" preset, and enlarged the main review pane to view the details of the result. Between the earlier brightening and the Adjust "adjustment" there was a good bit of noise in the image. So still in Topaz Adjust I selected the "noise" tab, and ran the slider up until I got the amount of reduction I wanted, while keeping enough detail. I hit the process button and... voila....
There's a guy surf casting out there in the Gulf of Mexico under that approaching storm front... pretty slick, eh? You can find all of the Topaz products and download free trial versions here....Simple!
1 comment:
I like both photographs, but I particularly love the second one.
Color photos have their attraction, but there's still that special something about a good black & white photo that has a type of magic to it! Not sure exactly what that may be, but I do know that I like it!
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