Under My Umbrella
I suppose the title and this image may be appropriate since it hasn’t stopped raining the last 2 days. This was taken just after sunrise in Jackson Square in New Orleans. The street vendors get there early to claim their piece of real estate for the day.
I converted the image to black and white using Topaz Black & White Effects and then used the local adjustment tool to selectively bring back the colour in the umbrellas.
Topaz Labs will be releasing, later today, Topaz Black & White Effects 2.1. I had the opportunity to test out the beta version before its release and the latest update has 2 excellent additions:
The Zone System Viewing Mode which lets you see your image broken down into 11 zones that represent the full tonal scale going from 0 as black to 10 as white. Zones are shown in different highlight colors for easy viewing. This viewing mode helps you determine whether or not you have the full tonal range in your image and then make exposure adjustments in the conversion module to correct these tones.
The Borders feature in B&W Effects 2.1 allows you to choose from several realistic darkroom borders, with several styles including both bleeding and crisp edges. This new feature also allows you to select the size of the border.
I really get excited when Topaz Labs updates their plug-ins because the enhancements are always so well thought out and makes the plug-in an even more powerful tool.
The update is free to anyone who already owns Topaz B&W Effects. If you don’t have it, Topaz Labs is offering 30% Black & White Effect v2.1 until April 21, 2013. Use coupon code bw21 off. You can check it out here.
Click on the image to enlarge (it really does look better) or to Purchase a Print.
Wonderful use of selective color, Edith!
Really looking forward to the 2.1 release. 🙂
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April 11, 2013 at 8:53 am
Thanks Lisa.
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April 11, 2013 at 9:51 am
I agree with Lisa, the selective color here works nicely! Hope it stops raining soon. 🙂
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April 11, 2013 at 9:52 am
Thanks Erin.
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April 11, 2013 at 10:32 am
Very nice article about Topaz plug-in. Although, I’m still planning to remain a loyal Nik software plug-in fan (-: Wonderful image & colorizing!
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April 11, 2013 at 10:05 am
Thanks so much Rick.
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April 11, 2013 at 10:32 am
Well done, very creative idea, Edith… 🙂
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April 11, 2013 at 12:19 pm
Thanks Nils.
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April 11, 2013 at 4:23 pm
Great pic indeed!
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April 11, 2013 at 1:18 pm
Thank you very much Annette.
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April 11, 2013 at 4:23 pm
Thanks for the news on Topaz 2.1, Edith. Nice example of clever use of selective colour.
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April 11, 2013 at 1:46 pm
Thanks Andy and my pleasure.
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April 11, 2013 at 4:24 pm
Nice selective coloring
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April 11, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Thanks Bashar.
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April 11, 2013 at 4:24 pm
Excellent use of selective color Edith!
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April 11, 2013 at 3:28 pm
Thanks Phil.
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April 11, 2013 at 4:24 pm
This image captures the essence of your article in such an amazing & fascinating way. I usually use photoshop to convert black & white images but will check out Topaz. Is there a free trial version for the app?
Cheers
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April 12, 2013 at 12:03 am
Thanks so much for visiting and for the comments David. Yes head on over to Topaz Labs and you can download a 30 day trial of any of their plug-ins.
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April 12, 2013 at 12:41 am
Have updated but not had a chance to try out the new features. Your selective color with the umbrellas is great. Given the upgrades Topaz has made with their black and white program which would you prefer to use at this point Topaz or onOne? just curious.
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April 12, 2013 at 1:25 pm
You know I really am loyal to Topaz because I’m always pleased with the results I get from their plug-ins. I love the improvements they’ve made to B&W Effects and I’d say 8 out of 10 times I use that when converting to B&W. I have downloaded the trial version of OnOne’s Perfect B&W and I must say I am impressed. They’ve really produced a quality product. Topaz still beats them out on the number of presets they have and I always like experimentsing with the different ones and then making adjustments to my liking.
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April 12, 2013 at 3:06 pm
You have a great blog filled with beautiful photos! I love B&W photos, think they make subjects more intense! Thanks for visiting my journey, it means a lot! I will be on the look out for your next post!
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April 20, 2013 at 4:26 am
Thanks so much Janaline.
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April 20, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Beautiful 🙂
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April 23, 2013 at 2:08 am
Thank you 🙂
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April 23, 2013 at 9:59 am