Topaz Labs Blog - Articles and tutorials on photography, post-processing, and Topaz software.

Alister Benn Reflection

(2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)

Software covered: Difficulty level:

I’ve been making photographs since I was a teenager, with growing aptitude and confidence. At the end of each year I reflect on the past 12 months and usually conclude that I like my most recent work the most. Why should this be? It is not always the case that I have been to the most dramatic landscape in the world, or had the best light, or upgraded to the latest camera. Instead, I have concluded that my preference for my most recent work is because it represents the best version of me, as I am today.

As we entered 2017, I made a commitment to diarize my personal and creative development and summarize it in a quarterly article. Here is my opportunity to share the little and the large revelations I feel are contributing to my own creative growth, along with some of my most recent images.

At the end of each year I reflect on the past 12 months and usually conclude that I like my most recent work the most. Why should this be?

Winterscape

Enhancing Macro Photography with Topaz ReMask

(31 votes, average: 4.61 out of 5)

Software covered: Photoshop, ReMask Difficulty level: Intermediate

Many times in photography, you can end up with a image that features a beautifully detailed subject and a distracting background. Even though your foreground subject is the focus, your background can take away from the focal point of the image. Here are some simple steps using ReMask and Photoshop to easily clean up distracting backgrounds and bring attention back to your subject.

Don’t own ReMask? That’s ok! We let you try ReMask free for 30 days, completely commitment free!

Textures & Beyond – Creativity with Topaz

(17 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

Software covered: Impression, Lens Effects, Simplify, Texture Effects Difficulty level: Advanced

By Hazel Meredith, APSA, MNEC, Meredith Images

This tutorial uses several Topaz products – Impression; Lens Effects; Simplify; and Texture Effects. We will modify two texture images before applying them to our subject image. You can follow along using the same images by downloading them from this link.

You can do this project in Photoshop CS/CC; PS Elements; or any program that allows you to do layers.

This article is based on the ebook “The Photographic Message“, from Essential Seeing

Special reduction for the Topaz community until 15th March : 20 CHF instead of 25 CHF (use discount code: ESSENTIALTOPAZ)

Introduction

When we talk about personal photography, we refer to photography being used with the purpose of saying something that reveals the way the photographer connects, understands, and interprets the world. We are all different and unique, and certainly each of us has a very distinct way of relating to the world and its inhabitants, of processing the stimuli we receive, of thinking and feeling, and of making connections and finding conclusions. When we use photography with the intent of showing others (and ourselves) that personal way of connecting with the world, we are not just using photography to show how the world looks to us, but mostly how it feels to us.

Alister Benn Reflection

At the end of each year I reflect on the past 12 months and usually conclude that I like my most recent work the most. Why should this be?

Enhancing Macro Photography with Topaz ReMask

Textures & Beyond – Creativity with Topaz

Behind the Lens: Kathy Russell and Masked Kitties

Part I: The Photographic Message with Rafael Rojas