These are a couple of photos I've taken in the last couple of days in my backyard. I've been messing around with them and haven't been completely satisfied with the results.

Any suggestions?

Also, is there a best/optimal/ideal????,
size/resolution/dpi??? to start with when applying art filters? I get such a wide range of results with different photos. :confused:

Ooops, is this too many attachments?

Thanks,
Annabel

Hi Annabel,

Love the view from your garden. The only time I've seen the mountains around Salt Lake City is in winter when I've been skiing, I've often wondered what they look like in summer.

Don't do much art work, so can't help you with settings, but as for your question about number of images, you're allowed upto 5 100K images with each post.

Gary,

Yes, our mountains are spectacular just about year round. They're really green right now. Glad you've been able to visit SLC and ski.

Thanks for the info on attachments. I appreciate it.

Annabel

WOW this city girl can only stand in awe!

Now that is what i would call the gate to heaven, you should patent that picture add it to postcards and to greeting cards, its breathtaking.

Pictures you did too are lovely!!!

Do you want an exchange holiday? You can go visit the big city in england and i can go sit in your garden...Fair deal huh?

LOL :lol: It's a deal! I've never been to England or Europe for that matter. But Some day. I guess we take what we have for granted.

Thanks for your kind comments.

Annabel

Maybe one of these days I'll get around to playing with your images. In the meantime, I' ll just enjoy the view..mmm.

Cheers
Dave

Yep, Dave I should appreciate it more. Beautiful sunset goin' on now.

Still "messin" around with this. Didn't like that the mountains looked hazy, so I selected them and adjusted the levels. Then applied Danny's "impressionist favorites" charcoal fine scribble (tweaked a little bit). I like this better.

Thanks,
Annabel

The mountains in SLC are hazy because several factors, not the least of which is pollution. I took the liberty of sharpening the mountains, toning down the yellow/greens of the grass, and making a shadow mask of the sky and mountains. Is this what you wanted? IMHO, leaving the mountain hazy placed the emphasis on the foreground where it belongs. The photo is gorgeous. I agree with Elle that it should be a postcard. :)

Janet

P.S. Is this taken near Federal Heights by any chance or is it further south near Ensign Peak? I've been gone from SLC too long to tell.

Janet,

Absolutely, you're unfortunately right about the pollution. It's actually the southern end of the valley, near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, looking northeast at Mt. Olympus.

Thanks for the adjustments to the yellow/green in the grass. I tried to tone it down, but evidently not enough. I like the adjustments you made. THANKS, I'm really just a novice.

Annabel

I think I've seen her somewhere else in magical areas but I can't quite place her..

Cheers
Dave

Dave,

You Rock!!! :bow: Those are simply magical. Thanks. My kids will get a huge kick out of them.

Annabel

What a wonderful view!
I couldn't resist having a go at this one.
The first thing I did was increase the image size, then I used various Art History Brush's, different sizes and opacities, and a bit of sharpening to finish off.

great pictures and renderings!

duv, you've totally inspired me with that 2nd one to not even try to do one on this picture. you've already hit the mark so well :)

and annabel, this may answer your question a bit. the first bird is taken from your original post. the 2nd is one where i doubled the file size. the effect is pretty obvious.

Craig

Elleth,

Beautiful! I love the brilliant colors. I know nothing about Art History Brushes. (So much to learn) Thanks

Craig,

Thanks for the explanation. I think I get it??? The thing is that I kept the bird on a separate layer and hadn't applied any artistic filter to him because when I did, he just looked like a blob. I'm guessing what you're trying to demonstrate to me is that whatever effect you apply will be more detailed, dense, concentrated on a larger file?

Thanks everyone for your efforts.

Annabel

annabel,

when you resize an image like this, the pixels per inch stays the same, so, more bits are added to the image during the re-sizing. where one pixel was displaying something, now several are displaying the same thing, giving more detail. thus, you get the bird's back, for instance, looking smoother. and that means, if you then do any editing you get a finer look on the expanded image. if you were to sharpen both of those images the effect is different.

note also that the first bird is shown at a 12 to 1 zoom in, while the 2nd is at 6 to 1.

and, if you resize to a smaller size, bits are taken out giving you less detail.

basically, you can think of it as if you resize to larger you gain more resolution/detail, where if you resize to smaller, you lose resolution/detail. the easiest way to see this is prolly if you take a small image, like one of the avatar images in here, and then double the file size and compare the two.

Craig

Gotcha,

Thanks Craig for taking the time to offer such a detailed explanation. Really appreciate it. I'm continually impressed with the willingness of people here to help.

Thanks again
Annabel

annabel,

you're welcome :)

and yes, i love it here too. helpful folks, great tutorials, fascinating works, and an envirionment that inspires one to do better without killing one in the process :)

there is actually more to know about resolutions, file sizes and all that if you're interested, but we start getting into math classes and computer science if we go much further ;)

Craig

Duv -- great idea! Alice is lucky enough to be back in Wonderland and find that it truly is Home. Beautiful renditions!

freddieanne, you've created such beautiful images, and many painterly modifications will also look lovely since they start with such a wonderful image.
You can try different artistic filters, different color balances and saturations, and end up with numerous different images -- all interesting and eye-catching in a slightly different way. Then start playing around with the Art History brush, and you'll have even more fun, and more choices. You can have a Saturday favorite, a Sunday favorite... :happy:

Thanks for sharing your delightful backyard and view.

CJ,

Thank YOU for all your suggestions. It's sounds like I'll have to start learning about the Art History Brush. So much to learn.... :eek:

Annabel

Annabel

I shall take some pictures of my yard later your see how very lucky you are, i am moving from this place cos i am sick of seeing bricks. So when you see them your know why i am in aw with your pictures, and not kind words at all hun you have a talent its got to be appreciated!

Oh what a beautiful back yard!!!! I just had to have a go at this one. :wavey:

PhotoShop only.....

Desaturated the grass.

Ran a pencil sketch filter on a duplicate copy and moved the result over to the original. Did a diffusion and levels on the sketch so the black pencil was a little less overbearing.

Ran a lighting filter to affect the foreground. Added a canvas texture.

Applied Curves and Desaturation adjustment layers and masked out the foreground so these would only affect the mountains & sky.

Elle,

Thanks again, I do appreciate my yard/view but it's also a lot of work and none of us are crazy about yardwork. You have to admit, bricks are low maintenance, my husband would probably trade with you. Also, my pic is one of the best little slices. It's not all so picturesque, we can see some of a gravel pit, numerous office buildings, the freeway, retail/restaurants etc. I'm not complaining, I just didn't want you thinking it's paradise :lol:

Swampy,

I Love your rendition. Thanks for giving the steps you took. Like CJ wrote, I can have my saturday favorite, my sunday favorite etc. Yours will be one of them. (I can't believe how much that grass had to be de-saturated).

Thanks for giving this a go. :nod:

Annabel

Annabell.. I enjoyed working in your back yard.. LOL

dee dee

So many different styles and they all look great. Here is my attempt using Studio Artist and PScs. :)

Swampy Annabell.. I enjoyed working in your back yard.. LOL

:lol: Swampy, just noticed your post. I'm glad you had fun. Anytime!

dbuckle,

Man, you've been busy. I love the super saturation and the addition of the rainbow!!! I've actually seen rainbows in that exact place. Your attachment is a little small, I kept wanting to increase the size to enjoy more detail.

Nicely done and thanks for playing.

Annabel