Primulas

[Graeme Harvey]

This is a fairly old pic of mine, but it was one of the first where I used the Orton effect of soft-focusing it.

It's a real point of debate - some people like the effect and some don't. However, I was pleased with the way this came out and looking back, I still like it.

If you're interested in the technique, I can explain how to do it. It's quite simple and can produce some lovely effects.

 

[Vic Shaw]

It would be nice to have an explanation as I rather like the effect and could use it on a up and coming idea.


Vic

 

[Graeme Harvey]

OK.

You need a manipulation program that handles layers.

1. Open up your original pic as the background layer.
2. Duplicate the layer and name it sharp 1
3. Set the blend mode to "Screen"
4. Duplicate layer sharp 1 and name it sharp 2
5. Set the blend mode to "Screen"
6. Duplicate layer sharp 2 and name it blur
7. Set the blend mode to "Normal"
8. Select the blur layer and apply a gaussian blur to it - around 20pt is a good place to start but you might want to tweak it later. Try to make sure that no hard edges are visible.
9. Now set the blend mode to "Multiply"

You should end up with a soft-focused picture.
You can tweak the effect by altering the opacity of the blur layer, as well as by changing the size of the gaussian blur. It's worth playing with.

It can produce some nice skin effects on portraits, too. I'll try to dig out the baby pic I did using this effect.

Happy tweaking!

 

[Graeme Harvey]

The baby pic is here:

http://www.realphotographersforum.com/showthread.php?171-Baby-Using-the-Orton-Effect&p=758#post758

 

[Laurie Parker]

lovely colours in that image Grez and again the Orton effect works for me on this, always have been a fan of this effect on the right subjects

 

[Paul Lange]

Thats a good tip there! I think I will copy and paste it into a note otherwise I forget all about them in a week!