Black and White Fine Art Nude Project

I always liked black and white for fine art nude,  I like the simplicity of it,  no color distraction at all.
For this project I wanted simple beautiful arty images, minimalist style with a minimum of props focusing on the shape of my subject keeping her anonymous, no eyes contact no facial expression.

I find that eyes contact and facial expression are more suitable for glamour and for this project I really wanted fine art nude.

It was done with a minimum of equipment, Canon 5d Markiii, Canon  24-105 Lens, Lensbaby Pinehole and soft focus optics, 2 Canon Speedlites 600EX-RT on a tripod bouncing on a circular white reflector and Canon radio transmitter  ST-E3-RT for the flashes that were set manually.

We worked in a very small space in my bedroom, not more than 10x10 feet, using mostly only one white wall that had no distraction, it was far from the comfort of a studio, but nothing is impossible when working with a great subject!

We did the best with what we got, and the result of that cooperation and interaction between my subject and I was the most beautiful set of fine art black and white images.

I didn't want to put the images on my blog by respect for my subject as they can be copied, and put directly into google public gallery, but if you want to view them you can visit the gallery on my website just follow this link Fine Art Nude Project


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How to do Abstract with Photoshop

The list of steps to use to do this kind of abstract.

1. Start with any photo doesn’t matter the subject, look at color you like
2. Filter > Pixelate > Mezzotint > Medium lines  
3. Filter > Blur > Radial blur (slider = 100, blur method = zoom, quality = best)
4. Repeat step 3 up to 5 times, as desired,
5. Duplicate layer
6. Remain on original layer. Filter > Distort > Twirl (angle value = +80 or as desired) I don’t go over 120, but you can do whatever you like, try different angle.
7. Select new layer. Filter > Distort > Twirl (angle value = -80 or opposite of step 6 angle value)
8. Alter new layer’s blending mode to lighten
9. Save a Psd,
10. Flatten image
11. Modify if needed, color, hue and saturation, cropping, whatever you want to do.

I normally use a large resolution file that way I can crop into it.

I learned it from this page, 

 https://panfilocastaldi.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/twirl-photography/

 

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The Woman Of The Forest With Jessy Cortes

Storyteller done with images, the location San Martin Parque in Mendoza Argentina.
My friend Jessy plaid the role of the woman of the Forest "La Mujer del Bosquet" we did it with minimal prop, only pieces of material, using the beautiful trees for our background.
Jessy and me are planning different shooting ideas, to experiment with a minimum of prop creating stories from images.  I  do a lot of post processing experiment,  my goal is to get great photos for sure but in reality I am trying to get images that tell a story,  not necessary following photography  rules or getting sharp focus, more like in a  story book.
This story is about a woman that left an abusing husband to live in the forest and to become part of it.
All the photos were done using Canon 5D Markiii, I used 3 lenses Canon 24-105, Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic and Lensbaby Double Glass Optic.

Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic, blur effect done in Camera,  arriving in the forest sitting and looking at her reflection,

Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic, blur effect done in Camera, offering 

Canon 24-105 at f4, lost in her new environment,

Canon 24-105, f4, 1/200, Alien Skin Exposure 7 filter, she is transformed into the woman of the Forest

Canon 24-105, f4, 1/200, Alien Skin Exposure 7 filter, superposition of  2 images using layer in PS,she is transformed into the woman of the Forest

 Canon 24-105, f4, 1/125, Alien Skin Exposure 7 filter, she is in peace with her decision,

Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic, blur effect done in Camera, her first night,

Lensbaby Double Glass Optic in camera, blur and star effect, she is reborn, a new beginning,

Canon 24-105, f4, 1/250, her new role, her new identity, 

She embrace her new life,

I did this process to add the story book effect, I wanted her to be one with the forest to melt in it.

Canon 24-105, f4, 1/200, Being part of the elements, I used Corel Painter 2015 and Topaz for the post process.

She is now the queen of the forest, freedom in her heart, I did this photo by stitching 9 images together to expand the frame, this is the only way of keeping my personage in high resolution, I used PS and it worked perfectly.

She is now the queen of the forest, freedom in her heart, I did a painting over the image to create a story book effect,

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Forest

   Forest,  digital painting, 

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Corel Painter 2015

Few months ago, when trying the new Corel Painter 2015, I found out that the new version had a lot of bugs,  brush pressure problems, most of the brush didn't respond to Wacom tablet stylus. I was very frustrated and continued to use my older version.

Corel Painter is an expensive and extensive program and the new version had a lot more creative tools, I sent an email to Corel about the problem and at that time they were working on a patch.

Yesterday I decided to check if the patch was ready and it was.

 The New Particle Brushes and Jitter Smooth tool create organic shape and it's excellent to create texture directly on the canvas.

During the next few months I will experiment with the new tools, a lot of tutorial to watch!!!

Experimenting with Corel Painter 2015,

Original Photo, Canon 5D Markiii and Lensbaby double glass optic.

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Corel Painter 2015

I upgraded to the new Corel Painter 2015 yesterday, did some work with it, and found out that a lot of the brushes are not pressure sensitive, and cannot be use with my Wacom pen tablet. I sent them an email and they were aware of the problem, knowing Corel and using Painter for many years now, the problem should be fix shortly.

I like the new features and will have a post on them as soon as they fix the bug. I was able to start work on a flower with Painter 2015  and finished with Painter X3 the older version. I used very soft brushes.

Start with new Painter 2015 and finished with older version Painter X3 using only soft brushes.

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One Image Transformation Options

I took that image during a trip to Argentina in 2011, I have a fascination for trees, I was attracted by the branches, feel really like looking at the lungs of our planet. I have a lot of respect for trees, they help the planet breathe by turning carbon dioxide into clean, pure, oxygen, we are lost without them.
They also keep our planet cool, and help stop the global warming, and add beauty to our landscape.
I took that image with my Lensbaby and a double glass optic, the reason why I use that lens was to focus on the delicate branches I wanted everything else out of focus.
I put the file away when I came back from the trip, I knew what I wanted to do with it, but I was not sure how too.  A year later I decided to try, I think if I remembered correctly the first 10 or 12 attempts were unsuccessful.
My first successful attempt took me a few weeks, using Photoshop Cut Out Filter, and Corel Painter I was able to do a mix of cut out and painting.
My second attempt took me a long time, few months, using only Corel Painter and all the different brushes, a lot of redo’s, took time to get exactly what I was looking for.
When I look at the two images, I cannot say which one I like better, and I don’t want to make a choice, they are both a representation of my vision, a vision that was inspired by beautiful and   majestic trees.

This was my first successful attempt, you can see the cut out filter effect for most of the image except for the middle part where I used Corel Painter to add the flowers and to define some of the branches. I used selective color and hue/saturation to get the final color.

This is my second successful attempt, so much work, that's probably the reason I like it so much, or maybe it's because it was a intense extraction of my vision, and a expression of my feeling. Took me few months, but it was a relaxing time listening to great music, and drinking wine. It's not for every taste, but it is a great representation of what I really wanted to achieve, and that's what is important, this kind of work is done first to please the artist, in that case me, and it's the same for everyone of us, doesn't really matter, if only we and few others like the result, if we are happy with it, that's what matter.

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