For me, the photograph is just the beginning of the journey. It’s a start point, not an ending. I use a number of tools to help me create the picture that I saw in my head when I clicked the camera shutter. These include Photoboto, a plugin for Photoshop, Dynamic Auto Painter, a stand alone fine art editing tool, Rebelle, a digital painting tool, Topaz Studio and Smart Photo Editor. Of course not every photo is a candidate for artistic rendering, many “straight photographs” stand proud here on this website.
As an example of straight work with a twist, let’s talk briefly about this image of Norwich Cathedral. Taken using one of my favourite early CCD digital cameras, the Olympus E500, this is an example of a technique called Intentional Camera Movement or ICM. Here, the camera was moved upwards while the shutter remained open. This created this image, a state between abstract and impressionism, full of colour and movement. A man walking his dog through the scene added a twist. With regards colour, the warm orange and teal glow was as shot but with a little push in post processing.
Charles David
