On our way to Julian, we stopped at a winery.  They had an antique washing machine outside and I took some shots.  I decided that it would be fun to take some of these shots and make them a little more abstract.  An all but one photo I used Topaz Simlpity.  On the first shot I used a couple of effects from OnOne Photo Tools. Click on a photo to view a gallery.

Continuing my experiments with the Orton Effect. (As a reminder I’m using Lightroom to create 2 over exposed virtual copies of a shot, one with high clarity & one with low clarity. I merge these as layers in Photoshop, and change the blend mode to multiply.)

I thought that Orton Effect may work well with IR Photos.  (Since IR photos are supposed to have an otherworldly look anyway.)  What do you think?

Heard a Podcast on Photography.ca about the Orton effect.  Since I heard about it I’ve wanted to try a few samples to see what I think.   I found some suggested processes to create Ortons using Photoshop.  But needing multiple copies sounded like a perfect fit for Lightrooms  Virtual Copies.   Basically, I made 2 virtual copies.  Lightened the exposure on both copies.  On One copy I increase Clarify all the way to the right, increase contrast, and sharpened.  On the other copy I reduced Clarify all the way to the left, left contrast alone.  Then I Edited as layers in Photoshop.  Which is where I changed the blend mode to Multiply.

I’d heard that the effect works well with portraits and animals:

I thought that it would also be a good effect to use on old rustic buildings and ruins:

Let me know what you think.