Hyperreality Hawai'i: Hut at Mo'okini Heiau, Kohala

sabbath999 · Feb 5, 2009

This will prolly be the last of this series that I post here (although I plan to do at least 30 more), simply because you've all seen the effect that I am going for and I doubt very seriously the actual photos are of much interest to anybody else but me.

Fair enough, I take them because I like them, and I do the PP this way because I like the work and I like how it looks...

If I do some using the technique that turn out markedly different or that I think are above average, I may well post those, but I think y'all are getting to the point of overload on looking at my junk.

EXIF: D40, 18-55VR, 1/250s, f/14, ISO 400, 18mm

sabbath999 · Feb 5, 2009

Hrmmm... when I look at this I see inconsistent ocean colors between the sticks that make up the frameworks and the ocean... I will go back and fix that at a later date.

Kish · Feb 5, 2009

For the noobs, can you explain what effects you used?

sabbath999 · Feb 5, 2009

Sure can.

It's called the Orton Effect.

Here's a bit of history of how it originally came to be:

The Orton Effect Explained

You can do this in any good PP software, Photoshop, GIMP, you name it... I use Capture NX since it fits my groove...

Each image is different, but here's what I basically do. I will explain it only in Capture NX terms since that's what I use, you can translate it to PP on your own.

I open up the RAW files, set the levels and curves so that everything looks good (as one normally would). I then take a look at the areas I want to hypersaturate and put a control point on them, and bump them up a bit. I put control points on any areas that I want lighter or darker, and I desaturate rocks to nearly gray. The reason I use Capture NX is that this whole process would take FOREVER in photoshop to get it to the level I am doing it at, with tons of layers and masks. In Capture NX, you simply click on what you want, move the slider and poof, it's done.

The last step in the process is sharpening (in this series, you don't sharpen at the end). I generally start with settings of 30, 2 and 4 in NX's USM.

Once I get my picture "ready", I save a version (NX 2 has versions built in, I haven't upgraded yet). I close the picture, and reopen it (a quick way of clearing the edits list).

Now, I apply the Orton Effect.

I adjust the levels and curves settings and put a 3 in the mid-point box...

I add gaussian blur with a ratios of 25, opacity of 100 (for starters... this is one you have to go back and adjust to taste later). I use the blending mode of multiply to give me lots of cool pixels to play with.

Next, I go back and do another levels and curves adjustments, but I change the setting to 2 instead of 3 in the center box and then changing the opacity mode to multiply.

After this is done, I look a the picture, and go back and change the radius of the blur as needed. You just have to look at is as you slide it and pick a spot. One of the neat things about Capture NX is how easy it is to paint blur... I know photoshop has this feature as well, but it works better in NX. If I need to I can use different levels of blur on different objects just by clicking on them and painting the blur to the right level.

Following all of this, if I like it I save a version.

Then, I take a look at what I have and generally go in and add a bunch of hypersaturated highlights. The purpose of this series is to create surreal landscapes to invoke dreamlike visions from the viewer, so when I go over the top with it I go WAY over the top.

Following these final adjustments, I make another version. This is my "final" full sized version.

I make another version, and then resize to 600x400 (or as appropriate) and look at it again. More than likely some changes will need to be made, often when the picture is shrunk it looks too dark, so I adjust the levels and curves again and save. I convert to JPEG and post it for you fine folks to see.

matt-l · Feb 5, 2009

i can't really get into this shot. it may be just me but maybe if the sky was not as bright and the shot was a bit darker all around from the bottom up?