Lightposts at the Mall (Graphic Novel filter)

Here is the old image that I processed several years ago using Photomatix.

I took the image and created three "exposures" in the Graphic Novel filter, which I then layered together for the following image. I like the uniform, straight lines in the ceiling, as well as the far less uniform lines in the rocks.

Usually, I layer the HDR image back into the Graphic Novel image. This time, I used the original (non-HDR) image and layered it into the Graphic Novel image.

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

Red Maple Leaf (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

Of the three pictures today, I like the color the best in the AuroraHDR edit (the top image,) where the red of the leaf is really robust. I had originally processed three exposures of this image, but there was so much weirdness in the top of the image, I decided to simply try processing one image. There is still some weirdness at the top, but not nearly as much as when the software tried to figure out three images (even with de-ghosting). The weirdness disappears (or gets melted over) in the second image, the Graphic Novel filter, but... I really like the red of the leaf in the first image and miss it in the second. When I tried to layer the color back in to the Graphic Novel image... disaster. I think I'll stick with the top image as my pick for today. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

A Tree-Root "Staircase" (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

This image was processed from three exposures on Aurora HDR. I'm not so excited about the weird blue sky in this image, but I like how it cleans up in the black and white graphic novel filtered image below. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Aurora HDR

Aurora HDR edited with Photoshop Elements

Graphic Novel filter image

Colorized Graphic Novel filter

Water Over the Falls (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

That's just water over the falls? There's no use crying over spilled milk? Isn't there supposed to be a bridge in that saying, somewhere? 

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

Aurora HDR edit

Aurora image edited with Photoshop Elements

Graphic Novel filter version

Colorized Graphic Novel filter version

Big Rock, Trees, and River (Graphic Novel filter)

I really liked this picture from a number of years ago. I like the odd shape of the trees and how they are growing. I like the rocks. What I don't so much like is what I see when I look at the image up close and see purple fringing where the image has white light spots. 

So, I made a graphic novel filter version of the image in black and white. I didn't colorize it, because the purple would still be there. But I like looking at this one up close, for all of the lines in the trees, the rocks, the branches, the roots, etc.

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

Pretty Red Leafy Plants

Look and Find in the Rocks

This picture reminds me of one of those "Look and Find" pictures: Find the fossil, find the fern, find the leaf, etc. This is a redo of a picture from 2014, here redone with the Graphic Novel filter. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Original image processed with Photomatix

Graphic Novel filter image

Colorized Graphic Novel filter

Graphic Novelization of a Favorite Tree Photo

Here's an old favorite photo (from four years ago) that I processed with Photomatix. I kept this one as my desktop background picture for a while. 

The image had all of the workings for what goes in to a great graphic novel filter image: Wood grain, tree branches, winding roots, grass. I made four different light levels of Graphic Novel filter images and layered them all together in Photoshop Elements:

Finally, I added the color back into the graphic novel image. It's interesting to compare the original HDR above with the colorized graphic novel below. I think the lines in the graphic novel image help to give better definition to the image.

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

Graphic Novel Trees

The original image was so awful I don't want to show it, but I will. It kind of hurts to look at the tree close up. Far away, it's ok, but up close, it's like, "What were you thinking?"

It's not a 'great' improvement, but I do think that the image is much improved with the Graphic Novel filter edit. 

I tried layering the color back into the Graphic Novel image. That was just a mistake.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures. Everybody makes mistakes. Question is: What can we do to fix them? (Or make the best of them.) :)

Graphic Novel River Scene

This was another one of those images where the original looked exceptionally weird. The way that the water caught the sun created hot spots on the water and ran a purple streak across the middle of the image. After processing the HDR in Aurora, I layered together several passes of Photoshop Elements' Graphic Novel filter (setting Hard Edges) at various lightness/darkness levels, and... voila! Today's image. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :) 

Attempting to Beautify Weeds (Graphic Novel filter)

This weed had a number of problems. One: It was a weed. Two: A lot of the weed is out of focus. I suspect it had something to do with my f-stop setting. So... what do you do?

I like processing pictures with the Graphic Novel filter. Below, I used the Twisted Plot preset, only, I bumped it down a bit in darkness.

Just for kicks and for a little added depth to the image, I used the same Twisted Plot, generating four different images at varying light to dark levels and layered them together.

I layered my original color image into the above Graphic Novel compilation.

I have to say that my favorite image of the above is the single pass black and white graphic novel filter. It gives the basic idea of the weed, but it covers over the mistake of the wrong f-stop setting. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Grosbeak Looking Down (Graphic Novel filter)

Single pass Graphic Novel filter

Multiple graphic novel filter layers layered together

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

A Different Kind of Graphic Novel Chickadee

This image turned out... interesting. Using the Graphic Novel filter settings, I managed to black out most of the background surrounding the bird, which made the details on the chickadee stand out. Layering the color back into the Graphic Novel image gave a hint of the color in the background, while the bird in the foreground remained mostly black and white. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Another Junco (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

"Junco" is almost a rather unfortunate name for this bird, as it sounds like "junk, oh". I actually like the bird quite well (as you might be able to tell from the number of junco posts that I make.) I'm hard pressed to say exactly what it is that I like about this bird. It isn't the color. Maybe it's the bird's common simplicity. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my pictures! :)

Junco (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter) -- Photomatix Fusion vs Photoshop Layering

I decided to process today's image twice for the sake of comparison, using the graphic novel images of varying light levels that I normally layer together in Photoshop Elements, merging them as a separate image in Photomatix. 

Here is the original image, processed by AuroraHDR:

Here is the Aurora image, edited with Photoshop Elements:

This is the Photomatix image, in which 6 images were fused together:

This is the Photoshop Graphic Novel image, in which the same images were layered together at varying levels of opacity:

(The Photomatix version definitely has more of an 'HDR' feel to it. The Photoshop version is lighter.)

Here is the colorized Photomatix version:

And here is the colorized Photoshop Elements layered Graphic Novel version:

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

Junco in the Grass (redo) (AuroraHDR, Graphic Novel filter)

This was the original edit that I did a couple of years ago using Photoshop Elements' Dry Brush filter.

Here is a different crop, using Aurora HDR.

Here is the Aurora image edited with Photoshop Elements.

Here is my favorite photo of the bunch: The Graphic Novel filter edit. I layered together 5 different images at varying levels from lightest to darkest and produced the following image:

Here is the colorized graphic novel filter image.

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