Creative Interpretations: Butterfly

[Cheryl H]

I've been chasing butterflies all summer and have tons of blurry pictures of little moths and tiny butterflies. I was thrilled when this guy stopped in my yard long enough for me to get a couple of shots.

Here for creative interpretation. Have fun.

[Cheryl H]

I used my pastels over ink action. Then changed the blending mode on the find edges layer to overlay and reduce the pattern fill layer opacity to 50%. A hue/saturation layer was added to boost color intensity.

[KenB]

Great photo Cheryl,

Here's my take on it.

Ken

[Cheryl H]

Ken--great job bringing back the richness of the colors. I like the depth you gave the image. I'm with Don on this one--any hints?

[catia]

Cheryl,
Nice photo and I like the pastel. Soft colors with the ink detail.

Ken,
Nice version as well. Nice and bright.

For my version (this was all done in PSP8 by the way), I first boosted the brightness and saturation a bit. Then I ran an edge preserving smooth followed by Brush strokes. Finally, added an old paper texture.

Catia

[Cheryl H]

Don--your first is proof that martian butterflies can be beautiful too. The second is simply beautiful--in a very traditional way--and a suprising (although very nice) change of pace.

Catia--The pastels are lovely on this photo. The combination of softness and vibrancy in the colors is a winner.

[TwinbNJ]

can't resist a nice image like this! LOl

Very nice submissions so far!
PM - nice treatment.

Cheryl - thanks for this image! Have to agree the
pastel with soft colors and with the ink detail work well with the image. Executed very well !

oooooo - Ken - bold, strong, alive! This is a wonderful treatment to this image! WOW - love the colors.

catina - very nice painted feel! The added texture is not overpowering and just adds to the overall feel of the image. The brush strokes just work wonderfully with the effect. I like this!

Used cut out and textures with history brush.

[Cheryl H]

Jill--that's very pretty. I'm not sure how to describe it, but the lines in the background are a really nice texture. Which part of what you did gave you that effect?

[TwinbNJ]

Oh --- sorry!!!

I meant the nice stroked painting. Sorry!!!

Not that I do not like the outerspace one -- nope that is cool.

I guess I am in a more traditional mood tonight ---- now on another night the outerspace one would strike me strong! LOL

but I am in a traditional mode this PM (A.K.A evening not Photo Mauler!) ---
so hope you did not think I discounted the far out version --- did take a look and like what I saw! Sorry should have made a comment on both === but the painting struck home this time for me --- just a little more.

DARN! got to learn to be more specific!!!!!! Sorry!


Hey did you clear your PM box -- sent you some notes today! Had to use the E-mail-- but lord knows what E-mail is good for you anymore! LOL

Got to keep up with the PM stuff --- must have a busy box I guess!

I would never know what it is like to be THAT popular! My box is always empty

Once again sorry for any confusion! Always a pleasure to view your work ------ HEY what about what IIIIIII did should merrit some type of review! LOL

EDIT: see below ------
Hey Don -- would love to reply to the PM's you have sent me but your box is full!!!!!!!!!! So don't think I'm not trying! LOL

Boy you must get moooga PM's!!!!

[TwinbNJ]

Cheryl - I added the texture at the very end it is on the overall image. Lowered the opacity and fill --- then made a new layer and rotated just a tad on the texture and brought down the opacity again. I really like this texture and use it a lot - I will usually work on opacity and fill much lower ---- this one I left a bit stronger than in most.

[DannyRaphael]

A not nearly as popular program as Photoshop, Corel's Photo-paint has a few filters that render very interesting results. This is output from PP's Watercolor filter. It was applied after moving the image around a bit (and cloning in the gaps) so the butterfly wouldn't be quite so close to the middle.

A wonderful image to work with (thank you Cheryl) and some great interpretations across the board.

- - - - -

Jilly: It's always nice to see your smiling avitar!

~Danny~

[TwinbNJ]

Dan - Now that is a very nice effect! I like the softness (word?) yet the colors stand out. The slight blur add to the overall image and effect!--- and you will see my "smiling" avitar always -- even if my work is not up to par! LOL


NOW Don - you do not EVER have to comment on my work! LOL
Thank you for you honest evaluation.
NOW go clear out that ever sooooo popular PM box!!!!


Heck I'm never afraid to admit I PM you ---- OK when YOUR box is full -- it is a bit fustrating! Ha Ha Ha Ha

Everyopne knows how I feel ! -- Switzerland is a wonderful place --- if for nothing else than your money! Ha Ha Ha Ha

[TwinbNJ]

YELLING ??? Heck you and everyone here would know if I was YELLING!

I don't yell ---- Nope no yelling here! --- and NOT at you! LOL (counterproductive -- I would think! -- and you would agree?)



BTW - Cheryl sounds like you worked in photopaint -- not something I have worked in -- but looking at Dan's submission it does look like some nice SW !!!!! May have to take a look at it.
Thanks both of you.

[quail]

Softwear used for imagery

I'm a new member. I am so inspired and impressed with the visual display, variety of interpetations and ability to manipulate photo imagery. The butterfy was stunning. I would like to throw the question out.....if you were starting your careers over now, which softwear programs would you purchase? I have a painting background. There seem to be many combinations and levels from PSE, PS8, PSCS to Painter 8----
Like to keep softwear purchases under 1 K. S

[DannyRaphael]

I'm a new member. I am so inspired and impressed with the visual display, variety of interpetations and ability to manipulate photo imagery. The butterfy was stunning. I would like to throw the question out.....if you were starting your careers over now, which softwear programs would you purchase? I have a painting background. There seem to be many combinations and levels from PSE, PS8, PSCS to Painter 8----
Like to keep softwear purchases under 1 K. S

Hello, and W-E-L-C-O-M-E, Quail. Glad you found us.

Regarding software acquisitions (given your painting background)...

If you're pretty much a sketch/draw/paint from scratch type of person, I'd say Painter 8 would be all you'd need for openers.

If you want to manipulate photos:
* I'd buy an older version of Photoshop, say, 5.0 or 5.5 for < $100 on eBay. Then, at your convenience##, I'd acquire a Photoshop 7 or CS upgrade for $100-$150 = full blown Photoshop for $250 -- a considerable savings over buying the full-priced standard package. This is perfectly legit and a lot of people do it -- who know how to.
* Then I'd get the Painter 8 upgrade. If you already have Photoshop, you can get Painter 8 (upgrade) for about $200 less than the regular package. No loss in functonality. Works fine. (That's what I did.)

Why both?
* While there is some functional overlap, each has strengths the other can't touch.
* Photoshop can't touch Painter when it comes to natural media brush stroke effects, esp. acrylics, oils, impasto and watercolors.
* Painter can't touch PS when it comes to overall control over images. Photoshop also has a functionalty called "actions," which are scripts that can be recorded and played back. (PSE can be modified to play [some] actions, but you cannot record actions in PSE. Painter has no action functionality at all.)
* While you could get PSE 2.0 (less expensive than PS), you'd lose out on being able to install the Painter 8 upgrade, which requires Photoshop. So you could have PSE + Painter 8 (full edition) for slightly more than Full Photoshop CS + Painter 8 upgrade.

## I say "at your convenience" because PS and Painter are not trivial programs to learn. There would be no immediate need to upgrade because there would be more than enough to learn with PS 5 or 5.5.

Neither Photoshop or Painter is intuitive by any stretch of the imagination and you should mentally budget a couple hundred bucks +/- each on books, videos or training of some sort. (Suggestion: Look into www.eclecticacademy.com for some very reasonably priced, well organized, meaty content classes.)

Once you get into it, it's great fun! Hope I've encouraged, not discouraged you. By all means ask more questions if you like.

Again, welcome.

~Danny~

(Note: If you reply to this, I will start a "new thread" (with the related posts so far) since we're talking more about software recommendations than than the butterfly pics. No big deal.)