Photoshop plugins - share tips and opinions

[FBM]

No, I'm not an expert at any of this, far from it. Somebody turned me on to Topaz Labs plugins for PS probably a year ago, but I never got the download right or something. Anyway, I just downgot a bundle of plugins to go with PSE7, which is what I use 99% of the time. I also have CS6, but haven't looked into using the plugins there. I haven't gotten into the habit of using it yet. Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience with this one image and see if someone might have some useful input or experience or whatever.

Original image:

In PSE7 without plugins (you can probably see what I did):

And with sharpening and detailing plugins:

Corrections/suggestions welcome. Please be kind with your comments. I'm still a noob.

[MiM]

You created an Angel

[FBM]

Wound up with a nice halo, dinnit?

[MiM]

Yup

[pErvinalia]

I personally don't like any image with overuse of the clarity slider (or equivalent - such as HRLA sharpening). They can be quite striking to view though. If ever i use it, it's with black and white images. Without bothering to try, I suspect that eagle would look better in black and white (with the plugin adjustments).

Regarding Topaz, I played around with the free trial years ago and had some fun (and sometimes good) results from it. I'll dig around in one of my drives and see if I can find one particular image that turned out really well. I don't know what the filter was called, but it applied a sort of painterly/cartoonish (that's the best I can think of to describe it) effect to the image.

[pErvinalia]

Here's the topaz image. This was a graveyard up in the mountains in Northern Italy.

[FBM]

That did turn out really well, rEv. I wonder if that last buzzard image would look over-done if the other two images weren't there to compare it to? It's hard for me to tell, because my of eyesight. I imagine I over-do more than just sharpening because of it. I prefer the warmth of the middle image over the sharpness of the third, tbh. Anyway, it was just my first experiment with the new plugins. If I stick with it, I'll probably get better at it.

[MiM]

I'm pretty allergic to sharpening artefacts and halos, so I guess I would have spotted it, even without the comparisons

[pErvinalia]

I'm pretty allergic to sharpening artefacts and halos, so I guess I would have spotted it, even without the comparisons

Yeah, I'm the same.

[FBM]

Ah. I just remembered one tweak I tried out in the plugins was called something like "Deep Blue Sky." That may be the culprit, or it might be a combination of that and the over-sharpening.

[FBM]

[FBM]

Meh. I think the first 'shoop was the best.

[MiM]

Agree