Fractalius Fireworks : How to Create the Effect..

Fractalius Fireworks.
Originally uploaded by Mark1970Vintage

To create a similar dreamy/ethereal firework photoy ou'll need a good base image to start with. Some advice for shooting fireworks can be found here. http://marklandon.blogspot.com/2010/11/watching-in-awe.html

This image was from the Legoland Windsor, fireworks display last weekend, which was truly spectacular.

You'll also need the Fractalius plug in for Photoshop to create the dreamy effect. Read more here. http://www.redfieldplugins.com/filterFractalius.htm

As you can see from some of the fractalius images at the above link I toned the effect down a bit by having it as a duplicate layer with reduced opacity.

Create a duplicate layer of your image and run the fractalius plug in on it and play with the sliders/experiment until you find an effect you like. There is a back button that reloads previous settings so you can find your way back if you continue to explore settings. Once you have an effect you like save the changes and let your computer churn away and then change the blend mode opacity of the fractalius layer until you have the look you want. Save and post to your favourite photosharing site.

Have fun.

Outdoor Autumn Portrait : Tutorial

Find a location that has some nice coloured foliage in the background.I used some stunning red acers in Windsor great park. The place where your subject is positioned should ideally be shaded from direct sun to give a more flattering/softer light. Use the aperture priority setting on your camera and set the Aperture as large as possible. The aperture is lens dependant. Remember a large f nmber = small aperture, so you want a small f number to have as large an aperture as possible. A large aperture lets in more light giving a faster shutter speed and creates a more limted depth of field. It's the limted depth of field which will give the bokeh/blurry background... and if you have chosen well you'll get some lovely colours blurring into each other.

Zoom in (the higher the level of zoom the more the background will blur) and compose your shot. Remember to position your main subject off centre rather than in the middle. Think of the rule of thirds and position key elements on or near intersecting points of the 1/3 lines.

Set your ISO as low as possible to maximise image quality but keep your eye on the shutter speed. In this case the shutter speed at ISO 100 was too low and would have resulted in camera shake ( I didn't have a tripod with me) so I ramped up the ISO to 400 to give a shutter speed of 1/80 allowing me to comfotably hand hold the shot.

Fire off a few shots and remember to keep the camera ready as you quite often get t he best shot when your subject thinks you've finished and relaxes. The most natural expressions, especially in kids can't be forced or requested, they just happen and you need to be ready.