Pictures for Pam, Day 110: A Day in Nice, France (Nice France #3)

(+5 insets!) Sorry so long! :D

It rained and snowed all night long and this morning it's sloppy and positively yucky outside. What snow remains has been melting and it's been muddy and icky all day. You know, I forget that when snow melts, it makes slush and that's just bad news. I was going to say that there are no pictures to take but it occurs to me that I've never actually thought about trying to find an interesting slushy picture. That could actually be really neat! If you've taken one, link it in the comments, I bet it's pretty dreamy!

As I type, there is an Acorn Woodpecker on one of our window sills, pecking at the surfaces and yelling about it. *shakes head* Our house is not a storage facility for your nuts, you crazy bird! :D

I spent a lot of time today playing with pictures from France. So much fun! Street and city shots give me the opportunity to try out different photography than my specialty of macro and the change is both refreshing and invigorating. Plus, this sort of photography really lends itself to using filters to enhance the interest. Yay, time to play In the sandbox!!

Do you guys know about Topaz Labs filter suites? They work for both Windows and Mac and they have stand-alone applications as well as plug-ins for Photoshop. (I am a Photoshop user from allllll the way back, but you don't need this program to work on your pictures!) I depend on their tools for a variety of my needs.

Here's my workflow:
1) At the least, I use their Topaz Denoise filter which has enormous control for both RAW and JPEG.

2) Next, I usually place the subject on its own layer in Photoshop. I use Topaz Remask for this step, though I sometimes opt for using the polygonal lasso or magic wand for selecting the subject.

3) When my subject is on its own layer, I usually apply one or more detailing filters, taking the opacity down to about 50% usually. (Opacity means that I make the layer less and less visible and allow the original layer to show through more and more. At 50%, the effect of a filter is much more natural and allows the original details to show through the filtered layer) The look I'm aiming for is enhancement, not blatant garishness! Topaz Labs has several detailing filter suites but I usually use Detail (this is no longer available as a separate plugin but part of their stand-alone application, which has all of their tools in one convenient place.). Previous to Detail I used Adjust but I like the filters in Detail better, they are more sophisticated and less coarse.

4) Finally, I often add a vignette to my image to direct more attention to my subject. I do this with the Lens Correction feature in Photoshop but I also use Topaz Lens Effects and Texture Effects for this. (Other filter sets I adore, but not usually for final processing are B/W Effects and Restyle.)

B/W Effects is full of fantastic monochrome and duo-tone options as well as interesting vignetting ideas.
Restyle will eat your life. It changes the colors of everything in your image to varying degrees and can change the mood completely from drab to outlandish, for example. If you have an image with blah colors and you want to add pizazz, Restyle will do this for you. The only problem is that it takes forever to look through the universe of choices. It's really fun though and I love to allow myself the time to play in this suite from time to time.
Lens Effects has very interesting vignetting options but also helps with recreating background blur or changing the lighting in your image. It's very powerful!
Texture Effects gives you access to a world of textures and interesting filtering choices, as well as wonderful vignetting and border ideas. If your image is interesting but it's not quite enough by itself, Texture Effects will save the day!

There you have it. The only other Topaz filters I sometimes use is Topaz Impression, which turns your photo into artwork with a zillion paint styles. It's really neat but I am more about enhancing my photography than changing it into something completely artificial. Still, what a fantastic tool! (I've also enjoyed Dynamic Auto Painter, a wonderful program you may like to explore)

One other point: There are LOTS of filter suites out there which are outstanding—I just happened to latch onto Topaz and they give me the high-quality, adjustable filters I insist on. If you take pictures with your phone, you'll know what I'm talking about in this regard. Zillions of options!

FRANCE TRIP, CONTINUED!
Note: if you want to read my first and second France posts, they are here:
The first entry: www.ipernity.com/doc/290645/48132924
The second entry is this: www.ipernity.com/doc/290645/48136884

Since I was playing with my France pictures today, that's the feature of today! If you may recall from the other day, Steve and I landed in Nice and got into our apartment late that night. The next morning was gorgeous and we were so excited to see the town.

To continue on our fresh new adventure, Steve and I had a mission to find a grocery store for provisions. Once we located one we grabbed our cameras and headed out. Right away there were pictures to be had everywhere! A very colorfully painted car...a cool artistic sculpture featuring arrows going up and down...store signs, rows of motorcycles outside a shop and even the door handles leading into the store were cool! I tried out our sneaky way to take pictures of people, by holding my camera at my hip and pointing it up towards people but not looking at them. Lots of garbage but sometimes you nail it! However, at one point I was looking through my viewfinder and noticed a group of teenagers...I couldn't help aiming at them...and you'll see that the beauty who caught my eye most certainly saw my admiring aim and click! :D

Pam, have you ever done city photography and pictures of people? The only images I found on your stream were of San Francisco, so maybe not? Or perhaps you just don't bother with them? I find city photography to be refreshing and interesting but you really do have to be in the right mood for it. People do NOT like their picture taken so you must be crafty...or ask their permission, but then it's no longer candid so forget it! I love architecture too...it's all really neat. Do you enjoy that sort of thing? Well, time to send more delicious soup your way...it's a cold and miserable mess outside, wouldn't be surprised to hear the same on your side! *BIG HUGS...AND SOUP!* :D

Explored on 2/28/19, highest placement, #7.