Camera Labs

Mark's excellent post here has got me interested in the Orton Effect and I've been experimenting with it over the past few days. I cheated with these, they aren't really made with 2 photos but rather one that was edited in Photoshop using a technique I found here. It basically involves duplicating the photo in a separate layer and using a Gaussian Blur and then applying the multiply burn method.

1.


2.


3.


I know picture 1. is a repetition of one that I posted earlier but the Orton Effect seemed to give the most dramatic effect to this one so I thought I would upload it anyway. I know that some techniques work better with some photos than with others, for example, I've noticed that HDRs seem to work better in photos with lots of hidden shadow detail but I'm still trying to find out what works best for this effect.

Any advice for me?

P.S. Sorry if I'm boring you with more leaf shots but it's pretty much all that I find to be of interest around where I live. Maybe I'll get more interesting shots when I can drive.[/url]

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Graham
Flickr

Im one of those types that have to give it a shot just too see if I can do it.

My attempt came out with a "glow" to it and I am not sure if this is a real orton or not but when searching for "orton effect" on flickr or google there seem to be many variations on what is and what isn't.

#1 Original shot.

# Exposure Time = 10/2000 second = 0.00500 second
# Lens F-Number/F-Stop = 48/10 = F4.80
# Exposure Program = aperture priority (3)
# ISO Speed Ratings = 200


#2 Orton effect applied using Photoshop CS2

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/brate/
Nikon D40 w/18-135mm, Quantaray 70-300mm
Adobe Photoshop CS2 w/Eyecandy Plug in, Paint.Net (Open source Photoshop clone), Photomatix, Google Picasa.

Hi Graham,
Nice pics, I think the effect works better on #2 because it makes those "fluffy things" (not very technical I know!), look softer and more fluffier. I think for images #1 & #3, when you're working with waterdrops and leaves, maybe it's better to leave them sharp because it's the sharpness of those kind of pics that really make stand out....just my opinion.

Your pics are never boring, but I bet there is a lot more interesting things round where you live than you think:) I think Malaysia must be beautiful for scenery...do you live in the countryside or a big city? You've obviously got some countryside around you to be getting these shots...or a big garden I'd be really interested in seeing more landscape type of shots of where you live.

To Brate, I'm not really sure what the Orton Effect is best used on and how best applied, I guess all of these techniques come down to pleasing yourself. I quite like the dreamy effect it's given the statue, but it looks a bit 2 dimensional...I think if there was a way you could apply Orton and make the statue really pop out then the image would be amazing because there are some great colors in there.

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

I've been playing around with it, there are apparently a couple of ways to do this all with different results. Maybe Ill do the same picture with all the different methods and post them for comparison.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/brate/
Nikon D40 w/18-135mm, Quantaray 70-300mm
Adobe Photoshop CS2 w/Eyecandy Plug in, Paint.Net (Open source Photoshop clone), Photomatix, Google Picasa.

Thanks for the advice Mark.

I live just outside the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and the countryside is about a 1 hours drive. The area immediately outside my house is quite green and that is why I can get all these shots of plants.

There is some nice scenery in Malaysia but not near where I live so I plan I get more landscape shots once I've learnt to drive

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Graham
Flickr

You better start learning to drive soon then

I know what you mean though. I live in a really small town in the countryside, but the town itself isn't that nice and you still have to drive for about half an hour to get into the really rural areas. Fortunately, I have a little moped so no excuses for me, apart from the fact that the autumn weather here has been really cr#p! Had a nice day yesterday though and got some nice pics to post later.

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China