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Lazy afternoon at the car show

Lazy afternoon at the car show
Thanks to Bob Jensen for sharing this technique of stacked Topaz filters. I modified his method for this particular image but based it on his recommendations.

Exposure time: 1/250 F-stop: 6.3
ISO speed: 160

Dale Hardin

Robert Jensen

Wow - this is great use of the Topaz software. Can't wait now to go to my next car show!

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January 12, 2009

Dale Hardin

Thanks a lot Robert and thanks again for the tip.

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January 12, 2009

dmd-photo-art.com - Dominick M. Dimacale

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Love the colours and effects you placed here, Dale.

Dominick

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January 13, 2009

Dale Hardin

Thanks Dominick. By the way, I love your shot of "No one is Home Anymore" Great colors and the story it tells is out standing. Takes a true photographic eye to see the beauty there and capture it. Well done.

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January 13, 2009

Sue C. Cole

Very nice...Dale when doing this type of image, curious on howlong does it take you from start to finish?

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January 15, 2009

Dale Hardin

Thank you Sue. On this image, since I was using a plug in filter, it only took about three or four minutes.

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January 15, 2009

Esther R. Tinz

Wow - three to four minutes??? And yet if this was printed on Canvas it would look like much more time was involved for the Artist. Very nicely done Dale.
ET (Esther Tinz not Extra-Terestial :)

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January 16, 2009

Joan E. Hoffman

Tutorial please Dale!! This is an effect I have been trying to figure out how to emulate. Works WONDERFULLY with this great shot Dale!!

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January 16, 2009

Dale Hardin

Esther (AKA....ET)you crack me up. Made me almost lose my coffee through my nose. The time was fast on this image because I knew what I was going to do before I did it. As noted above, I give credit to this technique to Bob Jensen who convinced me to give Topaz a try.

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January 16, 2009

Dale Hardin

Tutorial? Glad too Joan. This is mostly from Bob Jensen's advise and then I added a few tweaks of my own. This uses the Topaz filter and the Simplicity filters by Topaz.

1. Make a copy of original.
2. Apply Topaz Dramatic filter.
3. Apply Topaz Psychedelic filter.
4. Apply Topaz Simplicity Buzsim filter.

During this procedure I adjusted the opacity on each to taste. I then cropped the image, cloned out misc. shadows and distractions, tweaked the contrast and saturation (actually reduced it) and added just a little selective high pass filtering.

And Esther, all this does only take less than five minutes if you're used to what the tools will do. As far as the Topaz part, each was only seconds in the making.

Looking forward to seeing all the great stuff you all will be offering based on Bob's tip.

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January 16, 2009

Joan E. Hoffman

Wonderful Dale and thankyou... dang, my free trial of Simplicity just expired. Have been debating whether to buy it or the flaming pear filter I have been trying out! Now maybe I will have to buy both... but not till I am back home and at work again!

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January 16, 2009

Jeanine M. Bailey

Great work Dale!!! Love what you did with the Topaz! Outstanding colors!

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January 16, 2009

Dale Hardin

Thank you Jeanine. I've been able to get many fun images from car shows.

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January 16, 2009

Vicki L. Filippin

Great image, Dale. I got the email about the new Topaz simplifier plug-in, but since I already have Buzz, I thought I would wait and see if others used it. Does anyone out there have both to compare to? I don't see a need to have both if they do similar things.
Thanks!

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January 16, 2009

Dale Hardin

Thank you Vicki. I haven't tried Buzz but really like what it does. Do you know if they have a trial version so I might compare the two? It would be interesting to try it on the same images.

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January 16, 2009

Debbie E. Payne

This is awesome, Dale. A technique I would really like to try out on some of my images. One of these days...

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January 16, 2009

Vicki L. Filippin

Hi Dale. Yes, there is a trial version. I just haven't taken the time to download it as my computer has been finicky lately. It may be worth it to see if there is a significant difference. I kinda figured Topaz jumped on this kind of filter since Buzz went out of businees yet was so popular. I'll see if I can dif out the old email I got. I LOVE adjust, so wouldn't be surprised to find that I like the simplifier, too.

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January 16, 2009

Dale Hardin

Hi Vicki. Since my last post I looked for a site that still had the Buzz trial and couldn't find any so I guess they're really gone for good. Too bad because the effect was pretty nice. If you know a link let me know and I'll give it a try.

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January 16, 2009

Dale Hardin

Thanks Debbie. By all means give it a try. Only takes a minute or two.

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January 16, 2009

Robert Jensen

FYI ... if you look at Topaz Simplify, the first preset in it is called "BuzSim". It does only take a few minutes to go through these steps unless you are working with larger files like 40-60mb.

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January 17, 2009

Vicki L. Filippin

Dale, I have the files for the Buzz filter I can send you. Since the company is no longer in business, it's perfectly legal to share them with you. Send me some BP mail if you would like to have it.

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January 17, 2009

Jodi M. Walsh

congratulations dale! great finalist!