Tag Archives: Topaz

Skywatch Friday – Crossroads Sunset

Skywatch Crossroads-Edit.jpg

Logan has a friend who lives out south of town in the middle of nowhere. I don’t mind taking him for a visit because there almost always good photo ops at various places on the way including this crossroads where the main road turns. For some reason I like to take pics of the sunset with car headlights. It seems to me that it adds a little bit of motion to a set piece. I’m just a lowly picture taker so what do I know

I’m still learning how use Lightroom and Photoshop and I am definitely in the “Why had I not done this earlier?” mode. I really like how the various parts interact. I can open up and do basic edits in LIghtroom and then pass it easily to PhotoShop where I can send it to a Topaz filter. And like magic it sends to the Topaz edits back to Photoshop and Photoshop sends them Lightroom and in Lightroom I can publish directly to Flickr. It works so smoothly it is almost scary.

Next I’m going to learn layers in PhotoShop. I’m interested in layering images on top of each other. Just of the heck of it at first but I also want to see what I can do creatively with the techniques.

Oh well, enough for all that. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.

Fences Around the World – Oxley Nature Center

DSCN7447

I went on a run at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center this week. I have taken off the whole week between Christmas and New Years and the weather has been quite mild. Unlike other parks around town, Oxley has their trails extremely well marked some even with gates like this. I’m a Forest Service kid and I love this type of construction. And, who can resist checking out a trail called the “Meadowlark Prairie Trail.”

And I am donating a free shadow selfie at no extra cost.

I am linking this post with Fences Around the World

as a PS I am ashamed to say that I have subscribed to Photoshop for over a year and just this week have been figuring out how it works. I had always discounted Lightroom before but I have learned it is an integral part of the whole process. You do the easy edits in Lightroom and then pass the photo easily on to Photoshop. And then you can pass it back. Easy Peasy. Plus I have some of the Topaz Filters and have learned that the they are easily integrated into Photoshop as well. In the photo above I used I used a free Nik Filter from Google. They made them free in March of 2016 and they are very powerful. Anyway, they are integrated into Photoshop also.

I feel kind of dumb but having a little time to study things shows me that I have been wasting a lot of time. Better late than never I guess.

Skywatch Friday – Orange Beach Sky

Orange Beach Sky - Impressions Okeefe

This week for Skywatch Friday I’m going back to our summer vacation in Orange Beach, Alabama.  I can sit and look at the Gulf of Mexico for hours, and have especially when there is a little color in the sky. Our Fall here in Oklahoma has been way too dang warm. I know the cold and ice is coming. I’m hoping we get back to the Gulf next summer.

Go check out Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Arkansas River Sunset

Arkansas River Sunset 2

Tuesday night I made a run late in the day on the Arkansas River Trail right off downtown here in Tulsa. I was able to get this shot above of a sunset. Pretty soon my evening runs will be in pitch dark but now I’m enjoying the earlier sunset and slightly cooler weather.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Digital Art Meme – Sunlit Steel

Sunset Building - Topaz Glow Liquify I 55 pct

I was driving home Tuesday afternoon and I noticed the light coming off the beams of this bank building that is under construction. I had to (I just had to!) pull off on a parking light and take a pic with my phone. I amped up the reflections off the steel with a dose of Topaz Glow and backed off about half. I’m learning that with the filters sometimes less is more.

Have you ever just had to pull of the road and take a picture????

Linking with Digital Art Meme

Skywatch Friday – Zoi Trail

Zoi Trail Fall Woods Skywatch

Processed with Topaz Labs Impressions

 

I cheated a little bit today. I went back to last Fall to find my photograph for SWF. This is a scene on Turkey Mountain’s new Zoi trail. I am not cool enough to know what “Zoi” means but it is a nice trail that doesn’t get a whole lot of traffic mainly because you have to hunt a little bit to find it.  It is one of the few places on Turkey Mountain where I have seen deer in the last year or so.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

 

Turkey Mountain Snow Day

Turkey Mountain Snow - November 2014

This is a scene from Tulsa’s beautiful Turkey Mountain Wilderness Park after a brief snow in November. It is a beautiful place where Simon Malls plans on putting in a huge luxury outlet mall (whatever that is.)

I used Topaz Impressions with their Watercolor IV filter to make this.

Check out Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition for more information on Turkey Moutain

Linking with Digital Art Meme

Eric Baker’s “Oklahoma Autumn” at Philbrook

Philbrook Redbud Tree

This is a Topaz Labs Impressions modified photograph of part of Eric Baker’s “Oklahoma Autumn” installation” at Philbrook Museum of Art‘s Gardens. It is made of steel, agate, and kiln fired glass and is absolutely beautiful and I always have to go check it out whenever I visit the museum. I used Topaz’s Impressions to give “swirly” the photo a little bit.

Linking with Digital Arts Meme