Red Finch in Tree Branches (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

Aurora HDR

Aurora HDR edited in Photoshop Elements

Graphic Novel filter from Photoshop Elements

Colorized Graphic Novel filter

Happy New Year's Eve, everybody! Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Chickadee Looking Up (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

Aurora HDR

Aurora HDR edited on Photoshop Elements

Graphic Novel filter

Colorized Graphic Novel filter

What took me by surprise on this one was the weird eye white in the Graphic Novel filter image. I can see the reflection in the HDR, but I didn't expect it to come out white in the GN filter. However, it mostly goes away, and perhaps even adds a little bit of definition to the image, when the Graphic Novel has the colored image layered into it. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Phoebe on a Cool Looking Branch (Graphic Novel filter)

I really wanted to salvage this image, but... I'm not sure how much was there to actually salvage. Today's picture is a crop from the original image, which made this one quite small. Try as I might to get something on the bird, I couldn't get it to turn out as I might have hoped. 

What really shines in this image, though, is the branch on which the bird is perched. I really like how it turned out, especially in the Graphic Novel filter and the colorized version as well. Trees and branches (with lots of texture) tend to lend themselves as interesting subjects for the Graphic Novel filter treatment. 

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Aurora HDR 

Graphic Novel filter

Graphic Novel filter with color layered in

Finch on the Feeder (Graphic Novel filter)

I started processing these photos by running my RAW file through AuroraHDR. (I wasn't too impressed with the colors in the image, although I think that had more to do with the picture itself rather than the program.) I took the resulting HDR image over to Photoshop Elements, where I processed the image with the Graphic Novel filter (first image below). I then layered the Aurora image into the GN filtered image for the colorized version (second image below). Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Female Oriole on the Bird Feeder Pole (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

Aurora HDR edit

Aurora HDR edited on Photoshop Elements

Photoshop Elements Graphic Novel Filter

Color layered back into the Graphic Novel filter

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Duck Silhouette (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

I would guess that the vast majority of my photos (which I do not share and have stored away on a hard drive) have major problems. I might save these photos, because I don't like throwing things away. Or, I might save these photos, because I think that somewhere down the line, I might work with them and see if I can find a way to salvage them and make something that I like. Today's photo is a case in point. The original exposure was simply way too dark. Processing the image on Aurora, I came up with a slightly decent photo (first image). I edited that in Photoshop (second image). The real gem for me, though, is the third image -- the Graphic Novel filter edit. The fourth, the colorized Graphic Novel filter, is ok, but I really like how the third image turned out -- you can even make out the stripe across the duck's eye as it is standing on the tree limb.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Robin Redo (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

I used the Aurora "Smooth" preset on my redo of this image, with the following result:

I edited the image in Photoshop:

I applied the Graphic Novel filter:

And layered the color in:

Those are my pictures for today. Thanks for stopping by! Merry Christmas! :)

Sparrow in Tree Branches (Second Try) (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

This really isn't a Christmas Eve sparrow, except that I'm posting it on Christmas Eve. The original was from June of 2015. Having gotten into AuroraHDR, I've been going back through some of my old images and giving them a second attempt. I used Aurora's cropping system, which is a little counter-intuitive (at least, to how I intuit things,) as the cropper slides in the opposite direction of where I scroll my mouse. Eventually, I found the crop I wanted, which I then processed for the first image below. I used Photoshop Elements for a few touch-ups (second image). The Graphic Novel filter from Photoshop gave me the third image, and then, finally, I layered the color into the black and white image for the fourth image below. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Chipping Sparrow (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

Original Aurora HDR

Aurora HDR edited on Photoshop Elements

Graphic Novel filter (Photoshop Elements)

Color layered into the Graphic Novel filter version

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Rabbit in AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter

One of the major things that I didn't care for in this image was the blurry grass in the bottom right hand corner. It tried running it through the graphic novel filter a second time, which works for a clack and white image, but not so much when layering the color back into the picture.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Round Two on a Hummingbird (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter, Dry Brush filter)

This hummingbird was on its way to my jelly feeder. When I processed the image a couple of years ago, I used the Dry Brush filter (last image in the list). This time around, I used Aurora HDR and the Graphic Novel filter on Photoshop Elements. 

Here is the cropped Aurora HDR image.

Here is the Photoshop edited Aurora image. 

Here is the Graphic Novel edit of the Aurora image. 

And the colorized version of the above image. 

Here is the old edit, the Dry Brush image that I posted a few years ago. 

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Hummingbird on a Wire (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

I don't think this is the exact image that I used a couple of years ago, but it is one very like it. The hummingbird again is slightly out of focus, although it was sitting nice and still for me on the wire. Part of the problem was that I was shooting my camera through a closed window, so that there is some interference from the window glass. Nevertheless, you work with the conditions that you have to create the best image that you can, and this is what I got. The order: Aurora, Aurora edited in Photoshop, Graphic Novel filter, Colorized Graphic Novel filter. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Second Try at a Hummingbird (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

When you're shooting anything fast with your camera (like a hummingbird,) you're likely to get blurry pictures (especially if you don't know what you're doing with things like shutter speed, etc.) So, here is a comparison of what I did with this hummingbird picture before (before AuroraHDR,) and after.

Before:

I think I edited this picture simply using Photoshop Elements, back in 2015. Here are the photos edited yesterday:

Aurora HDR (I cropped the image differently, using Aurora's crop function):

Here is the Photoshop Graphic Novel filter version:

And here is my favorite image of the set, the colorized graphic novel filter version:

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)