«

Recently, there was a link in a post to page of abstract or
non-representational treatment of photographs. No one seemed
particularly enthusiastic about the results, but I liked some.

I decided to try it, and found it is not as easy as you might think.
At least, it wasn't for me.

I went out yesterday and shot one photograph for the project. I had
an idea in mind, but I was determined to work with just one photo.
This is the original shot:
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-1-XL.jpg

Then I used an Adjustment Layer in Photoshop set to Threshold:

http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-2-X3.jpg

Then, I painted in the sky, the water, and trees in the three colors
leaving the pilings and bird in the threshold version. I used the
brush on Normal, so I reduced the Opacity of the color layers to get
some of the detail back in.

First version:

http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-3-X3.jpg

Second version with the sky not quite so dark:

http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-4-X3.jpg

I'm not excited about any of the results, but I now have more respect
for people who do this sort of thing and make it come out interesting.

Comments or your attempt welcome.




--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

On 9/8/2011 2:08 PM, tony cooper wrote:
> Recently, there was a link in a post to page of abstract or
> non-representational treatment of photographs. No one seemed
> particularly enthusiastic about the results, but I liked some.
>
> I decided to try it, and found it is not as easy as you might think.
> At least, it wasn't for me.
>
> I went out yesterday and shot one photograph for the project. I had
> an idea in mind, but I was determined to work with just one photo.
> This is the original shot:
> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-1-XL.jpg
>
> Then I used an Adjustment Layer in Photoshop set to Threshold:
>
> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-2-X3.jpg
>
> Then, I painted in the sky, the water, and trees in the three colors
> leaving the pilings and bird in the threshold version. I used the
> brush on Normal, so I reduced the Opacity of the color layers to get
> some of the detail back in.
>
> First version:
>
> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-3-X3.jpg
>
> Second version with the sky not quite so dark:
>
> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-4-X3.jpg
>
> I'm not excited about any of the results, but I now have more respect
> for people who do this sort of thing and make it come out interesting.
>
> Comments or your attempt welcome.
>

Happy to see you experimenting out of your normal comfort zone.
Abstracts are an acquired taste. You will either love it, or go back to
realism. There is no reason why abstracts cannot be combined with
realism. If you start to like abstracts, you will know what to do,
because the image will tell you. Then one only needs to practice
technique. Open your mind a bit and you will see what I mean. I think
some of your people shots would also make good abstracts.
I have submitted abstracts to SI in the past, and I have one planned for
The dusk to dawn.


--
Peter

On 9/8/2011 2:46 PM, Frank S wrote:
>
> "PeterN" <> wrote in message
> news:4e690c5a$0$5500$...
>> On 9/8/2011 2:08 PM, tony cooper wrote:
>>> Recently, there was a link in a post to page of abstract or
>>> non-representational treatment of photographs. No one seemed
>>> particularly enthusiastic about the results, but I liked some.
>>>
>>> I decided to try it, and found it is not as easy as you might think.
>>> At least, it wasn't for me.
>>>
>>> I went out yesterday and shot one photograph for the project. I had
>>> an idea in mind, but I was determined to work with just one photo.
>>> This is the original shot:
>>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-1-XL.jpg
>>>
>>>
>>> Then I used an Adjustment Layer in Photoshop set to Threshold:
>>>
>>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-2-X3.jpg
>>>
>>>
>>> Then, I painted in the sky, the water, and trees in the three colors
>>> leaving the pilings and bird in the threshold version. I used the
>>> brush on Normal, so I reduced the Opacity of the color layers to get
>>> some of the detail back in.
>>>
>>> First version:
>>>
>>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-3-X3.jpg
>>>
>>>
>>> Second version with the sky not quite so dark:
>>>
>>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-4-X3.jpg
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm not excited about any of the results, but I now have more respect
>>> for people who do this sort of thing and make it come out interesting.
>>>
>>> Comments or your attempt welcome.
>>>
>>
>> Happy to see you experimenting out of your normal comfort zone.
>> Abstracts are an acquired taste. You will either love it, or go back
>> to realism. There is no reason why abstracts cannot be combined with
>> realism. If you start to like abstracts, you will know what to do,
>> because the image will tell you. Then one only needs to practice
>> technique. Open your mind a bit and you will see what I mean. I think
>> some of your people shots would also make good abstracts.
>> I have submitted abstracts to SI in the past, and I have one planned
>> for The dusk to dawn.
>>
>>
>>
>
> It took a lot more work to do this on linoleum block prints in the
> seventh grade. Some of it was very satisfying. Some not so. Not to my
> taste these days, although I put a lot of work into them way back then.
>
>
Yup! It also took a lot of work to do posterizations before PS. I used
to use x-ray film for posterizations. Registration was easy once I made
a pin registration board & die.

--
Peter

"tony cooper" <> wrote in message
news:...

> First version:
>
> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-3-X3.jpg
>
> Second version with the sky not quite so dark:
>
> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-4-X3.jpg
>
> I'm not excited about any of the results, but I now have more respect
> for people who do this sort of thing and make it come out interesting.
>
> Comments or your attempt welcome.

Looks okay to my eyes for what it is. I like the deeper blue one because
it's richer but think it might suit a more complex image, and the lighter
blue one for the overall feel of the minimalistic image.

If you do a short script maybe you could produce a comic book? A single page
is a bit tough but a double page spread might work. Any longer and it starts
turning into a lot of work unless you're up to it.

--
Charles E. Hardwidge

On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 12:31:02 -0700, Savageduck wrote:

> On 2011-09-08 11:08:43 -0700, tony cooper <> said:
>
>> Recently, there was a link in a post to page of abstract or
>> non-representational treatment of photographs. No one seemed
>> particularly enthusiastic about the results, but I liked some.
>>
>> I decided to try it, and found it is not as easy as you might think.
>> At least, it wasn't for me.
>>
>> I went out yesterday and shot one photograph for the project. I had
>> an idea in mind, but I was determined to work with just one photo.
>> This is the original shot:
>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-1-XL.jpg
>
> Then
>>
>> I used an Adjustment Layer in Photoshop set to Threshold:
>>
>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-2-X3.jpg
>
> Then,
>>
>> I painted in the sky, the water, and trees in the three colors
>> leaving the pilings and bird in the threshold version. I used the
>> brush on Normal, so I reduced the Opacity of the color layers to get
>> some of the detail back in.
>>
>> First version:
>>
>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-3-X3.jpg
>
> Second
>>
>> version with the sky not quite so dark:
>>
>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-4-X3.jpg
>
> I'm
>>
>> not excited about any of the results, but I now have more respect
>> for people who do this sort of thing and make it come out interesting.
>>
>> Comments or your attempt welcome.
>
> The results don't grab me either, but that should not be the point of
> the exercise. What you have done is to experiment to make an artistic
> expression from what might otherwise be a mundane shot.
> It also gives you an opportunity to test the versatility and depth of PS.
>
> Sometimes it can be interesting to make something a little different
> just for the hell of it.
> < http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechut...talia-comp.jpg >

I agree, a couple of attempts.
http://usera.ImageCave.com/irwell/abstract3.jpg
http://usera.ImageCave.com/irwell/abstract.jpg
http://usera.ImageCave.com/irwell/abstrac2t.jpg

On Sep 8, 1:08*pm, tony cooper <tony_cooper...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Recently, there was a link in a post to page of abstract or
> non-representational treatment of photographs. *No one seemed
> particularly enthusiastic about the results, but I liked some.
>
> I decided to try it, and found it is not as easy as you might think.
> At least, it wasn't for me.
>
> I went out yesterday and shot one photograph for the project. *I had
> an idea in mind, but I was determined to work with just one photo.
> This is the original shot:http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...ot/i-fqMGw9d/0...
>
> Then I used an Adjustment Layer in Photoshop set to Threshold:
>
> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...ot/i-D6SPWLh/0...
>
> Then, I painted in the sky, the water, and trees in the three colors
> leaving the pilings and bird in the threshold version. *I used the
> brush on Normal, so I reduced the Opacity of the color layers to get
> some of the detail back in.
>
> First version:
>
> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...ot/i-xmrr3nr/0...
>
> Second version with the sky not quite so dark:
>
> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...ot/i-8bCNXxx/0...
>
> I'm not excited about any of the results, but I now have more respect
> for people who do this sort of thing and make it come out interesting.
>
> Comments or your attempt welcome.

With the caveat that I'm not mostly very fond of
such things (rather like you, it sounds like; not
completely immune and not rejecting the idea
on principle), I have some comments.

I like the way the water came out. I like
the way the pilings came out. The far shore
is at worst harmless, the details of it
are not very important in the picture.

Actually, I think what's wrong with this version
is the colors you chose; especially the sky
color and how it relates to the water.

On 9/8/2011 4:34 PM, Irwell wrote:
> On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 12:31:02 -0700, Savageduck wrote:
>
>> On 2011-09-08 11:08:43 -0700, tony cooper<> said:
>>
>>> Recently, there was a link in a post to page of abstract or
>>> non-representational treatment of photographs. No one seemed
>>> particularly enthusiastic about the results, but I liked some.
>>>
>>> I decided to try it, and found it is not as easy as you might think.
>>> At least, it wasn't for me.
>>>
>>> I went out yesterday and shot one photograph for the project. I had
>>> an idea in mind, but I was determined to work with just one photo.
>>> This is the original shot:
>>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-1-XL.jpg
>>
>> Then
>>>
>>> I used an Adjustment Layer in Photoshop set to Threshold:
>>>
>>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-2-X3.jpg
>>
>> Then,
>>>
>>> I painted in the sky, the water, and trees in the three colors
>>> leaving the pilings and bird in the threshold version. I used the
>>> brush on Normal, so I reduced the Opacity of the color layers to get
>>> some of the detail back in.
>>>
>>> First version:
>>>
>>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-3-X3.jpg
>>
>> Second
>>>
>>> version with the sky not quite so dark:
>>>
>>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-4-X3.jpg
>>
>> I'm
>>>
>>> not excited about any of the results, but I now have more respect
>>> for people who do this sort of thing and make it come out interesting.
>>>
>>> Comments or your attempt welcome.
>>
>> The results don't grab me either, but that should not be the point of
>> the exercise. What you have done is to experiment to make an artistic
>> expression from what might otherwise be a mundane shot.
>> It also gives you an opportunity to test the versatility and depth of PS.
>>
>> Sometimes it can be interesting to make something a little different
>> just for the hell of it.
>> < http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechute/Cisitalia-comp.jpg>
>
> I agree, a couple of attempts.
> http://usera.ImageCave.com/irwell/abstract3.jpg
> http://usera.ImageCave.com/irwell/abstract.jpg
> http://usera.ImageCave.com/irwell/abstrac2t.jpg


I like the middle one. I just don't see the others.



--
Peter

tony cooper <> wrote:

> Then I used an Adjustment Layer in Photoshop set to Threshold:
>
> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...vorite-Shot/i-
D6SPWLh/0/X3/2011-09-06-2-X3.jpg
>

This is the abstract one. (Also the best.) The others are embellishments
which de-abstract it.

On Thu, 8 Sep 2011 13:44:47 -0700 (PDT), David Dyer-Bennet
<> wrote:

>On Sep 8, 1:08*pm, tony cooper <tony_cooper...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> Recently, there was a link in a post to page of abstract or
>> non-representational treatment of photographs. *No one seemed
>> particularly enthusiastic about the results, but I liked some.
>>
>> I decided to try it, and found it is not as easy as you might think.
>> At least, it wasn't for me.
>>
>> I went out yesterday and shot one photograph for the project. *I had
>> an idea in mind, but I was determined to work with just one photo.
>> This is the original shot:http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...ot/i-fqMGw9d/0...
>>
>> Then I used an Adjustment Layer in Photoshop set to Threshold:
>>
>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...ot/i-D6SPWLh/0...
>>
>> Then, I painted in the sky, the water, and trees in the three colors
>> leaving the pilings and bird in the threshold version. *I used the
>> brush on Normal, so I reduced the Opacity of the color layers to get
>> some of the detail back in.
>>
>> First version:
>>
>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...ot/i-xmrr3nr/0...
>>
>> Second version with the sky not quite so dark:
>>
>> http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...ot/i-8bCNXxx/0...
>>
>> I'm not excited about any of the results, but I now have more respect
>> for people who do this sort of thing and make it come out interesting.
>>
>> Comments or your attempt welcome.
>
>With the caveat that I'm not mostly very fond of
>such things (rather like you, it sounds like; not
>completely immune and not rejecting the idea
>on principle), I have some comments.
>
>I like the way the water came out. I like
>the way the pilings came out. The far shore
>is at worst harmless, the details of it
>are not very important in the picture.

I could have taken the far shore out, but I wanted a division between
the sky and the water.

>Actually, I think what's wrong with this version
>is the colors you chose; especially the sky
>color and how it relates to the water.

I agree about the color. They don't really work for me either. I
picked them out of the standard Photoshop palette. I don't have a
good innate sense of color.

The lake (this is at a lake, not the ocean) itself is dark green,
almost black, but people expect some version of blue for water.

This is what I was talking about when I said it isn't as easy as you
might think. It was easy, but painstaking, to work with layer masks
to paint in the areas. I have a Wacom tablet. That's the mechanical
part.

The creative part is choosing the colors. The abstracts that real
artists do look so damn simple, but there's a knack that I don't have
to selecting the right colors.

Peter likes the straight black and white version done by using a
straight Threshold adjustment layer, but that's probably because the
colors don't interfere with what he sees.

The other difficult part was in taking the photo to wait until the
bird opened its wings. I was determined to make this a one-shot
project and I wanted a good silhouette. I wanted a larger bird but
took what I got.







--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

On Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:08:43 -0400, tony cooper <>
wrote:
: Recently, there was a link in a post to page of abstract or
: non-representational treatment of photographs. No one seemed
: particularly enthusiastic about the results, but I liked some.
:
: I decided to try it, and found it is not as easy as you might think.
: At least, it wasn't for me.
:
: I went out yesterday and shot one photograph for the project. I had
: an idea in mind, but I was determined to work with just one photo.
: This is the original shot:
: http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-1-XL.jpg
:
: Then I used an Adjustment Layer in Photoshop set to Threshold:
:
: http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-2-X3.jpg
:
: Then, I painted in the sky, the water, and trees in the three colors
: leaving the pilings and bird in the threshold version. I used the
: brush on Normal, so I reduced the Opacity of the color layers to get
: some of the detail back in.
:
: First version:
:
: http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-3-X3.jpg
:
: Second version with the sky not quite so dark:
:
: http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...09-06-4-X3.jpg
:
: I'm not excited about any of the results, but I now have more respect
: for people who do this sort of thing and make it come out interesting.
:
: Comments or your attempt welcome.

It the first version the bird gets lost in the dark sky. But I liked the
second one.

Bob