Friday, January 16, 2009

Orton visits Boulderneigh's sheep!

I'll admit it; I'm a photography purist. While I can enjoy the results of other photographers' tweaking, my goal is to capture a photo worth sharing "as is," no slight-of-hand required. After all, PhotoShop is capable of more tricks than I could ever hope to master, so why try? But thanks to Joan at Mud Ranch, her beautiful photos and easy-to-follow tutorial, I was inspired to try the "Orton effect" on some photos of my sheepies. Below are the originals and their Ortonized counterparts. I think it definitely works better on the scenery shots than on the close-ups. What do you think?




Inky says, "When you get to be my age, a little 'soft focus' is always nice."

That's enough artsy-fartsy stuff for now from . . .

10 comments:

Carol B. said...

Beautiful sunshine. Beautiful sheep. Beautiful green grass. Not sure I like the fuzzy photos. I think I like the originals better. Then again, all I have to do is take off my glasses to get that fuzzy effect.

Deborah Niemann said...

Interesting. My youngest is the PhotoShop pro. I don't know how to do anything other than crop and adjust brightness/contrast.

white_lilly said...

Excellent photos I might check out the tutorial myself I can always do with improving :)

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

Have to say I like the originals better...

Rayna said...

Yeah, the "revised" ones throw my eyes for a loop. lol. They make me go crosseyed I think...:) I vote originals too :)

Sharon said...

The first is the adjusted photo, right? I found the first photos to be preferable in all but the first set. The grass looked plastic. It's fun to tune up a photo. I don't do it often but I like having the option.

Michelle said...

No Sharon, the first photo in each set is the original (except for the last photo; it doesn't have the original, just the Orton-effect version).

Actually, it is a bit of a relief to have everyone prefer the originals; now I don't feel any pressure to spend the time altering my photos! Goodness knows I'd rather spend that time reading YOUR blogs, or spinning, or riding.... :-)

MaskedMan said...

Count me in on the side of the originals, too.

Most often, I only use PhotoShop for the more coarse elements - flipping, deskewing, cropping, red eye removal, and so on... Which is why I have just PhotoShop Elements - I only need a small handful of features, not the whole shebang.

Lady Katherine said...

I just love the pictures of your sheep!

Anonymous said...

These do seem a bit more fuzzy than normal... I wonder if it's because they're in the direct sunlight instead of filtered? Also, I usually add an unsharp mask over the top of the Orton effect, just to make it more crisp. ;)

PS: I used to be a "purist" then I started reading the Pioneer Woman... She changed me. LOL