Do Your Pictures Sing? - adding digital filters to photographs - Brief Article

Fiddle with filters -- and orchestrate your salon performance to a new crescendo!

Filters have been a part of every photographer's paraphernalia since the early days when the Brownie, Argus C3 and Kodak's Retina and Medalist cameras were abundant. I can remember threading the Blue filter over the lens of my C3 to take pictures indoors when daylight film was in the camera. That was in the nostalgic 1940s when photography was just becoming my hobby. When I recall those exciting days of youthful discovery, it does not seem so long ago that I first loaded a roll of Kodachrome into my C3. Yet, I still wonder how 50 years could vanish so quickly.

The filters in our camera bags often range from a simple daylight filter, to keep fingerprints and dirt off the lens, to more complex graduated density filters. And, there are those special purpose filters to produce a starburst at a point of light, create a rainbow where there is none, or produce multiple images from a single subject. It seems that when photographers had a need, the filter manufacturers were able to pull another new image enhancer from their bag of tricks.

That was back then. This is now--the age of the personal computer and Adobe's Photoshop with its plethora of remarkable digital filters to provide almost any special effect that one could hope for. The possibilities are further expanded by many third party "plug-ins" that broaden the spectrum of image modifiers. The opportunity for beautifying (or really messing up) your pictures is now at every photographer's fingertips--provided you have a computer and Photoshop software.

A familiar saying suggests, "A picture is worth a thousand words." So, in the interest of making a point without unnecessary verbosity, I am including many images to illustrate the effects of some Photoshop filters while keeping the narrative to a minimum. Had the number of pages for this article not been a consideration, I could have offered two or three times the number of examples rather than only eighteen. Moreover, the possibilities when using filters in various combinations to enhance your images is limited only by your time and imagination.

The images that follow in panels 2 through 17 were "enhanced," using one of the many filters that comprise the Photoshop 4.0. filter collection. In every case, only a single filter was employed, not two or more in combination.

Panel 18 was created with Kai's Power Tools 3.0, a Photoshop plug-in.

Photoshop version 4.0 was used instead of the later version, 5.0, because I assume that most amateur photographers with a computer are using version 4.0 at this time, given the $180 cost of an upgrade to version 5.0. Besides, the keystrokes of 4.0 and 5.0 are reasonably similar, with some exceptions. Photoshop 5.0 was used to put the identifying numerals on each image because the task of positioning and adjusting the size of text and numerals is much easier with version 5.0.

Panels 1 through 18 will give you some idea of the many possibilities that lie ahead for the adventuresome photographer. How each image was created is explained in detail, including all of the keystrokes that led to the final effect. Again, the keystrokes apply to version 4.0. While 5.0 will give the same end result, some keystrokes may be different. The keystrokes for most of the panels begin by "clicking on" FILTER which is one of nine items in the menu bar that spans the top of the monitor display when Photoshop is running.

The examples shown are really only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Why not turn on your computer and let your imagination wander? Experiment with the myriad filters and you may be pleasantly rewarded with some masterful results. Try it--and make your pictures sing!

Panel #1: San Xavier del Bac--the unaltered original.

Panel #2: Filter>Artistic>Rough Pastels; Stroke Length=20, Stroke Detail=10, Texture=Burlap, Relief=20

Panel #3: Filter>Stylize>Extrude; Check "Blocks," Size=20, Depth=50

Panel #4: Image>Adjust>Invert (changes positive image to a color negative)

Panel #5: Filter>Distort>Zigzag; Select Pond Ripples, Amount=50, Ridges=5

Panel #6: Filter>Texture>Mosaic Tiles; Tile Size=30, Grout Width=3, Lighten Grout=9

Panel #7: Filter>Artistic>Sponge; Brush Size=9, Definition=12, Smoothness=5

Panel #8: Filter>Stylize>Trace Contours: Level=100, Select Upper Edge Emboss to 60%

Panel #9: Filter>Stylize>Find Edges; Filter>Fade Find Edges; Slider at 50%

Panel #10: Filter>Stylize>Emboss; Height=8, Amount=200%; Filter>Fade Emboss; Select 50%.

Panel #11: Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates; Select Rectangular to Polar.

Panel #12: Filter>Artistic>Poster Edges; Select Thickness--6, Edge Intensity=10, Poster=1

Panel #13: Filter>Stylize>Solarize; Filter>Fade Solarize: Set slider to 35%.

Panel #14: Filter>Other>High Pass; Radius=150.

Panel #15: Filter>Artistic>Color Pencil; Width=10, Stroke Pressure=10, Paper Brightness=25; Filter>Fade Color Pencil; Set Slider to 65%.

Panel #16: Filter>Sketch>Tom Edges; Image Balance=24, Smoothness=1, Contrast-10; Filter>Fade Tom Edges; Set Slider to 25%.

Panel #17: Filter>Sketch>Plaster; Image Balance=20, Smoothnes=1; Filter>Fade Plaster; Set Slider to 35%.

Panel #18: Filter>KPT 3.0>Video Feedback; Set Rotation 7

COPYRIGHT 1999 Photographic Society of America, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group