Category Archives: Great Ocean Road
Topaz B&W Effects Review
Topaz B&W Effects
We all love black & white photos – the simplicity, artistry, detail and raw drama all combine to make photos of exceptional beauty and elegance. Black and white photography does a great job of enhancing contrast, shapes and lines in your photos but sometimes the editing process can just be frustrating and confusing.
I have been a Topaz user for some time and have been favorably impressed by the power and ease of use of their products. In fact, I routinely use Adjust, Detail and DeNoise in my post processing technique. Not long ago, I received an email update from Topaz informing me of their new product – I have been a B&W Effects and I immediately decided to give it a shot. I have been playing around with the software for a week now and I couldn’t be happier with it.
The Review
Topaz B&W Effects is a plug-in that is compatible with Lightroom, Aperture, Photoshop CS5, Photoshop Elements, iPhoto, Paint Shop Pro and more. Like all Topaz products, the interface is extremely simple and easy to use. Once you load the plug-in from the filter menu you can select from Traditional, Toned, Stylized, Cyanotype, Albumen, Van Dyke Brown & Opalotype effects and find the the preset you like!
Once you’ve found an interesting preset, use the sliders on the right to fine tune your image. The basic and adaptive exposure menus let you adjust all the basics like contrast, brightness, blacks, whites, details and shadows. Select the color sensitivity and color filter menus to adjust color tones, balance and hue of the overall image allowing you to a create a truly unique looking image.
One of the best things about BW Effects is the local adjustment panel. Choose one of the 5 tools – Dodge, Burn, Color, Detail, or Smooth – and set your brush size and opacity so you can selectively apply these effects anywhere in the image! To make things even better, Topaz has included advanced Edge Aware Technology that really makes it easy to brush only the things you want.
Topaz B&W Effects is one of the most versatile tools I have used for black & white conversion and enhancement. I find the user interface organized and simple to use whether you’re a casual photographer who’s interested in having some fun with your images, or a pro photographer who is looking for a truly unique look for your portfolio.
For a limited time, Topaz is offering 50% off the product price using the coupon code “bwandbeyond”. I also recommend checking out the full Photoshop bundle while your’re there and try out some of the other great Topaz Products like Adjust and Detail.
The Final Product With Topaz B&W Effects:
Other Photos Processed With Topaz B&W Effects
The Grotto
Hello! Thanks again for all your great comments yesterday! Today we’re going to take a look at the opposite end of the world. This is shot I took on our recent vacation in Australia. We spent a couple days driving down the Great Ocean Road which is one of the most beautiful stretches of roads I’ve even been down. The Grotto is one of the scenic attractions not far from the Twelve Apostles. I of course was not content with shooting from behind the barrier so I hopped the wall and walked through the very cold water to grab a few more shots with my Tokina 11-16mm I rented from Borrowlenses. As always, I welcome your feedback!
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Tokina 11-16mm
Processing: Photomatix Pro 4, Topaz Detail 2, Adobe Lightroom 3
Peace
It’s been very exciting these last couple months starting this blog and posting images on a regular basis. I am excited to have enough material to be able to do five posts a week now. I only started into photography this past November and I have quickly developed a deep passion for it. What has been more unexpected is how much I have enjoyed the process of blogging. I like visiting other blogs to see what other people find interesting and how they capture it and I must say, I have learned so much already. The feedback from our readers has been very positive and the critiques helpful and I thank everyone who has taken the time to comment or share my photos.
This is a photo I took on our trip down the Great Ocean Road in Australia. I was truly captivated when I saw someone had drawn a peace sign on the wall, it really gave a nice feeling to this place. I was trying to decide which image to post for today and this one popped out at me with a strong calming effect which is something I (and perhaps most people) can really use on a Wednesday. I hope you enjoy and as always, your feedback is appreciated.
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm
Processing: Adobe Lightroom 3, Photomatix Pro 4
The Twelve Apostles
The Twelve Apostles was one of the scenic attractions I was most looking forward to in Australia. We had driven down the Great Ocean Road all day when we got to Port Campbell, checked into the hotel and then headed back out to catch the sunset here. This was one of the last pictures we took there and probably my favorite.
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Tokina 11-16mm
Processing: Adobe Lightroom 3, Photomatix Pro 4
Beach on the Great Ocean Road
This photo was taken not for from Anglesea which where we started our journey along the Great Ocean Road. We spent some time walking up and down the beach marveling at how clear and beautiful the water was. Before we left, I took this shot from an overlook near the parking area.
Ninja: Jason Hines
Camera: Nikon D90 with the 18-105mm Nikkor Lens
Details: Shot at 25mm, 3 Bracket Exposure -2.0 to +2.0 – F/19, ISO 100
Processing: Adobe Lightroom 3, Photomatix Pro 4
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