Are there any filters to help create abstract impressionism ?

[arcadian]

Hi I finally joined the digital world 3/4 months ago buying a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC H400 which I'm at last beginning to get to grips with.

My goal is to find and then experiment with filters to try to obtain the same type of abstract impressionism of painters like Monet, link below, but no idea where to find them and what techniques would be needed. Additionally would really welcome any advice on capturing/"freezing" birds in flight but wondering what speeds would be needed and the corresponding settings.

http://www.intermonet.com/prints/m1768003.jpg

Really appreciate any help as getting absolutely nowhere at the moment....

Thanks in advance

[DanK]

Welcome to C&C. Can you please put your name and location in your profile? We use real names here, and your location can sometimes help people give better answers.

I don't use filters, but you might find something you want from Redfield, the people who sell the fractalius filter plugin for photoshop. http://www.redfieldplugins.com/SamplesTutorials.htm

You can also sometimes generate images that are somewhat impressionistic using intentional camera movement, where you move the camera during exposure. A good introduction is here: http://www.apogeephoto.com/sept2011/jroth92011.shtml. I'll post below one recent one of mine. The postprocessing was standard stuff (tonality, vibrance, etc.) but with no filter.

[Mike Buckley]

In the film days, photographers would temporarily alter a filter or lens by using a fabric such as a stretched piece of silk stocking or smearing a substance such as KY Jelly on it to create an impressionistic effect. You could still do that today if you don't have the skills to achieve similar effects during post-processing.

[Manfred M]

Welcome to CiC. Would you mind clicking the "My Profile" tab at the top of the page and completing your profile; at least your first name and where you are from? We tend to be a fairly informal group here at CiC and go on a first name basis.

To try to answer your question on filters; these usually are plug-ins that work with photo editing software like Photoshop or Lightroom. I personally am not aware of any filters that do what you describe, and I have not heard of any, but it is possible that something does exist and other members may know. So, it would be useful to know what kind of photo editing software you use as well as the operating system of your computer.

As for birds in flight; this is another area of photography that I have limited knowledge. High shutter speeds and fast (large aperture), long focal length lenses and high burst rates are what birders tend to use. We have a number of members who are excellent at capturing bird in flight images, so perhaps they might be along to help.

[Shadowman]

Try some cellophane.

[Manfred M]

Thanks personal info update David - just one more thought. A superzoom is unlikely to give you particularly good results for birds in flight. All of the birders I know shoot a Digital SLR camera with a fairly high speed lens at fast shutter speeds, large aperture and high burst rate. When you see serious birders out there shooting, they (along with sports photographers) tend to have the most expensive lenses available.

[arcadian]

Thank you for the welcome and apologies about the name and location but overlooked it when I introduced myself yesterday. Thanks also for the suggestions and advice which is already proving very helpful especially the silk stocking and deliberate camera movement. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with post-processing yet as I haven't had the camera all that long but will check out Photoshop also the links given as soon as possible.

Great start and many thanks again

[DanK]

I am certainly no art historian, but I think this thread is mixing two different things, blur and impressionism. Someone who knows more about art can chime in if I am wrong. Impressionist paints are not exactly blurry. If you stand close enough, you can clearly see discrete paint strokes.

David--if you just want to introduce blur, there are lots of ways to do it. A common one is the Orton method. The simplest way to do this is to duplicate the image as a new layer in a program like photoshop. then add blur to the top layer and blend them. I'll post below a similar image to the one above that was 'ortonized' this way. It's not a good example--I did no editing at all other than a quick blur-and-blend--but it shows what I am talking about.

[bnnrcn]

Welcome David Nik software is a very good help to create abstract/artistic images. It is a plug in and it works with PS and LR (I don't know if there are any others ).Especially Color Efex Pro4 in Nik bundle has a lot of artistic filter effects and you can create your own image by adjusting the sliders in those filters and putting them on top of each other. It might be a good idea to have a look at the trial version

[arcadian]

Welcome David Nik software is a very good help to create abstract/artistic images. It is a plug in and it works with PS and LR (I don't know if there are any others ).Especially Color Efex Pro4 in Nik bundle has a lot of artistic filter effects and you can create your own image by adjusting the sliders in those filters and putting them on top of each other. It might be a good idea to have a look at the trial version

Thank you Binnur it sounds very interesting and will definitely have a look as well !

[arcadian]

I am certainly no art historian, but I think this thread is mixing two different things, blur and impressionism. Someone who knows more about art can chime in if I am wrong. Impressionist paints are not exactly blurry. If you stand close enough, you can clearly see discrete paint strokes.

David--if you just want to introduce blur, there are lots of ways to do it. A common one is the Orton method. The simplest way to do this is to duplicate the image as a new layer in a program like photoshop. then add blur to the top layer and blend them. I'll post below a similar image to the one above that was 'ortonized' this way. It's not a good example--I did no editing at all other than a quick blur-and-blend--but it shows what I am talking about.

Thank you Dan for this. Not sure it could be blur yes together with perhaps a blend of out of focus if that's all attainable, as it's the mood that Monet creates in the link I'd like to eventually capture as he painted a lot in the Impressionist style....

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cmon/hd_cmon.htm

[arcadian]

Thanks personal info update David - just one more thought. A superzoom is unlikely to give you particularly good results for birds in flight. All of the birders I know shoot a Digital SLR camera with a fairly high speed lens at fast shutter speeds, large aperture and high burst rate. When you see serious birders out there shooting, they (along with sports photographers) tend to have the most expensive lenses available.

Thank you Manfred well worth knowing. I still have my old 35mm Konica TC with a long telefoto lens which is still working fine, but wondered if the high burst rate option on my new Sony Cyber-Shot together with the settings you mention might work as well ?

http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4488060111/EN/index.html

[arcadian]

Try some cellophane.

Thanks certainly worth a try !

[george013]

Hi I finally joined the digital world 3/4 months ago buying a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC H400 which I'm at last beginning to get to grips with.

My goal is to find and then experiment with filters to try to obtain the same type of abstract impressionism of painters like Monet, link below, but no idea where to find them and what techniques would be needed. Additionally would really welcome any advice on capturing/"freezing" birds in flight but wondering what speeds would be needed and the corresponding settings.

http://www.intermonet.com/prints/m1768003.jpg

Really appreciate any help as getting absolutely nowhere at the moment....

Thanks in advance

Loulou Beavers, a Dutch photographer, experiments with multiple exposures. I think with a fantastic result.
On of her photomoments http://www.photo-moments.nl/2011/nl/...=mon&foto=insb
Only a camera with a possibility for multiple exposure and tripod.

George

[arcadian]

Hi George some very lovely mood shots indeed thanks for the useful tip....

[Manfred M]

Thank you Manfred well worth knowing. I still have my old 35mm Konica TC with a long telefoto lens which is still working fine, but wondered if the high burst rate option on my new Sony Cyber-Shot together with the settings you mention might work as well ?

http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4488060111/EN/index.html

All I can suggest is that you try it. While I have done a lot of shooting with a superzoom in the past, I've done virtually none in the past 5 or 6 years and have no idea regarding if they have improved in that department. My old Panasonic superzoom had the technical specs that should have worked, but in practice, getting a decent image out of any wildlife was virtually impossible and birds were even more difficult to get.

[arcadian]

Thanks I'll give both a try see what happens....

[William W]

. . . Not sure it could be blur yes together with perhaps a blend of out of focus if that's all attainable . . .

Purposeful 'out of focus' is attainable:


Milan 2012


*

Because your camera is sub-miniature format (very small sensor), you will probably need to employ a procedure to get the image adequately out of focus.

For most shots it will probably be best to use your camera so that the lens is at the wider Focal Lengths (the wide angle end of the zoom), because this will allow you to attain the largest Aperture to allow you to attain the shallowest Depth of Field.

Then you need to focus on the very close foreground but NOT any object that is the frame of the shot.

I am not sure if your camera has Manual Focus - if it does, then you can manually focus at a very short distance.

If your camera does not have Manual Focus then you will need to focus on something close to the camera and then lock that focus, then reframe the shot.

Once you have developed a procedure for focussing at a very close distance, you can experiment with different Focal Lengths of the lens, but whatever Focal Length you choose, always use the Largest Aperture available to you: therefore I expect that it will be best to use Manual Camera Mode (that's where you select the Aperture, ISO and the Shutter Speed manually.

*

Above all else, and also if you use a stocking or other translucent device over the lens or play in Post Production you will need the LIGHTING to make the final image that you want.

WW

Image ©AJ Group Pty Ltd Aust 1996~2015, WMW 1965~1996

[Ken MT]

Another method is to smear a thin layer of petroleum jelly on a glass slide in a filter. Smearing across will give vertical impression, and vertical will give horizontal. You can also smear in circles to get different effects. Below is horizontal smear. DON'T get the jelly on your camera, lens etc.

Before



After

[Kris V]

FWIW: you might take a look HERE.
I found this site a while back, but so far I have only tried the B/W filter.
It's a stand-alone program, so you won't need PS or LR to use it.