Photoshop™ has a number of built-in filters that attempt to convert photo images into artistic renditions. Previously I discussed posterization, sometimes followed by the palette knife filter to punch up weak scenes. Recently I obtained some Photoshop filters from Topaz Labs, including the Topaz Simplify 2 filter set that includes a Painting option. My test cases were some photos of flowers that seemed to me to have potential, but needed punching up. I have come away a fan of the Topaz painting options.

My first test case was a photo taken in the parking lot of the Post Office in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. My wife was doing some heavy duty package mailing, so I had a few minutes to wander around with the camera. I’m prepared to defend the claim that there are many parking lots in Hawaii that have more spectacular flowers than most formal gardens on the Mainland.

Here is my original photo. There are some dead flowers in the upper left, and the gray day took away some of the brilliance of the flowers. Tropical flowers ought to look lavish, not restrained.

The filters included in Photoshop usually have about three controls for users to tune the effect. that keeps things simple. Topaz Labs swerves hard in the other direction, with typically a dozen or more controls organized on multiple tabs. The Topaz approach makes it harder to learn how to use their filters, but also offers more potential for getting the effect you like. A one octave piano is easier to play, but …

After some false starts, I used the Painting_Harsh Colors filter, with the saturation control (under the Adjust tab) turned way down from the default setting. It’s a judgment call as to how brilliant to make the colors before the image starts to look like a laundry detergent box.

A larger version of the image is here.

My second test image was from the parking lot of the condo complex where we stayed. I told you Hawaiian parking lots were prime turf. This photo has a jumbled back yard peeking through the foliage, and there is also some, um, natural substance on the leaves.

Cropping tight favors the floral subject. I used the rubber stamp tool to copy the dark area from the middle of the right side of the photo over the backyard confusion. Since the picture is blurred out with the paint filter, it isn’t important that the background fill be done precisely. To avoid making the copied section obviously a copy, fill the area then go back and paint in part of the area again using a different reference point for the copy.

A detail shows the paint effect, again using the Painting_HarshColors with the saturation control turned down.

Unfortunately, I had made a mistake in taking the original photo that could not be corrected. I left the camera on automatic exposure, and that overexposed the white flowers. That burned out the fine detail from the flower petals, and once the pixels are solid pure white, there is no way to get the detail back. Next time I’ll remember to set the exposure down a stop. For sure.

Thumbs up on the Topaz Labs Simplify filter. Also, if you are going to a parking lot, be sure to bring your camera.