Day off play with the G11 and Photoshop. The image is of the bottom of our unused patio fire pit. I’m also posting the original to show the difference from capture to post. I used a variety of Photoshop layering “tricks” for dramatic effect. First, I converted the image to black and white using the Nik Silver Efex plugin. In Niks I boosted both the contrast and structure to pump up the details. I then added some vignetting (a current addiction) to push the visual focus toward the center of the image. Once I had the Nik layer, I duplicated the original layer, move it above the Nik layer and set it to “overlayed” at 100%. This move radically pumps up the color and contrast. I merged the overlayed layer into the Nik layer and then used the Photoshop “Shadow/Highlight” image adjustment filter to pump up the shadow detail. I did a little extra stuff on each of the moves, but figure those are “to taste.”

Below is the straight from the camera shot. All I did to it was resize to fit the blog format.

BTW, It took a lot longer to make this blog post than it did to create the image.

Canon G11 playing in the yard.