by David W. Powell
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- When Does a Photograph Stop Being a Photograph?
- Does It Matter?
- What Do We Call It?
Just like we have been doing since the 1850’s, we see something (or set something up) and push a button or touch a screen. It no longer takes a wagon load of equipment and two assistants to capture images. Millions of snaps are made daily with devices we hang around our neck or carry in our pockets… we’ve come a long way, baby. Or have we?
My painterly friends all work from photographs, many of which they take themselves. They often sell their paintings for hundreds, even thousands of dollars. But before delivering the paintings, they often have them photographed (by a pro using polarized lighting to control the appearance of the brush strokes) to illustrate their web sites, make greeting cards, and additional prints for sale… wait a minute, we’re back to photographs again. What happens in-between the photograph and the photograph?
We try to make (with brushes or Photoshop) a strong composition or pleasant scene, more unique, abstract, punchy, or lyrical.
I decided to cut out the middle-man (most of my painter friends are women), jump down this “rabbit hole”, and try some of the painterly effects (more than filters) in Topaz Studio Pro. I’ve included ten “Painterly Looks”, followed by their originals.
In each case, I used a “normal layer blend” between 30% and 100%. I haven’t listed the effects I used to encourage everyone to try their own recipe. Mine all came from: Topaz Studio, Impressions, Painting or Pencil.
Almost everyone optimizes their captures to some extent. It is even expected to some extent. We’ve all heard judges tell us we should have done this or that. When is it too much? I think… when it gets in the way of what we are trying to convey.
So… what do we call these no-longer-just-photographs? I posed this questions in a group discussion with other photogs (no painter types present) and Coco Simon said, “I’ve got that worked out… PICTURES” Right On!
Similar effects and filters are everywhere. Give some a spin… let me know what you think.
David W. Powell