Dead leaf

Dead leaf, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Dead leaf at St.Paul's church, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire.

I find it interesting that having spent a whole day in Burton on Trent with the aim of taking some photos, the only one I came back with that I liked was this one, which could be anywhere. Actually it ended up being a dull, cold, windy day so some of the shots that I might have taken were just not bright and colourful enough. Burton, like many industrial towns in England is clearly suffering from decline through the loss of industry and manufacturing, though it does remain a large centre for brewing ale. Add to all this the fact that I was coming down with a flu-like virus and well, let's say that what creative leaning I have was somewhat dulled. But I saw this shot immediately, and just got right down on the floor and in quite close. I liked the contrast between the formality and greyness of the architecture on the one hand, the the colour, naturalness and curvature of the leaf on the other. Yet the whole thing retains that element of death and decay that seemed to capture for me both the feel of the weather and the town on that day.

Wedgwood Hall - retouching photoshop tutorial

Wedgwood Hall, originally uploaded by foto-art.

The Georgian Hall of the Wedgwood family at Barlaston in Staffordshire is given an art effect trestment using Photoshop filters. The original image had a great big 4x4 car parked in front of the hall which of course completely ruined the shot. Turning ithe image into an art effect print made retouching the image a little easier. Getting in close using Photoshop by zooming in to a detail of the problem area and using the Pixel Cloning/Stamp tool, I was able to pick part of the image to the side of the car and stamp it over the car itself, thus replacing the car gradually, bit by bit, with the path and the wall of the hall. The secret is not to try and do too big an area at once.

BELMONT POOL

BELMONT POOL, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Art effect treatment of Belmont Pool near Leek, Staffordshire, England. Originally taken on 35mm, this photograph was scanned in to the computer and given an art effect treatment using Photoshop. I have recently had a 30 x 20 inch canvas print made of this, and because it is in effect a downgraded image because of the art effect treatment, it has come out very well despite its origins as a low resolution scan from a 6 x 4 photo.

TRENT AND MERSEY CANAL AND POTTERY FACTORY

TRENT AND MERSEY CANAL AND POTTERY FACTORY, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Creating a painting or art effect image like this from a photo can be quite evocative. From the original image, converging verticals were corrected as described in a tutorial on the blog. ArcSoft PhotoImpression software was used to create the painting effect using the Median, Painting and Wrinkle effects as described in the ArcSoft tutorial on this blog.

Mow Cop Folly, Cheshire/Staffordshire border

Mow Cop Folly, Cheshire/Staffordshire border, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Art effect image

HEN CLOUD, PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK, ENGLAND

Hen Cloud, Peak District National Park, nr, Leek, England, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Hen Cloud at the edge of the Roaches near Leek in Staffordshire, on the south edge of the Pennines, in the Peak District National Park, England, U.K.