Hibiscus Fractalius

[redrew]

Canon 1Ds Mark II, Canon 600mm + 1.4x, 1/125 @ f11

[ggt]

oooooh!

[FrankMi]

That is so interesting and unusual that I have to ask how you took that image?

[Arlen]

Ditto Frank's comment. Adding to the intrigue is the lens combination that was used.

[Bobobird]

Nice shot and fractal processing.

There has been mention of using extreme telephoto lens to counter the very thin DOF that comes from macro lens. I am not sure if that was your intention so some of your thoughts about this would certainly be most welcome.

[cliffmccartney]

Wow! Stunning.

Details please

[Daisy Mae]

Totally brilliant!

[redrew]

Using a super telephoto is not essential to this type photography, I just happened to be photographing birds and saw a Hibiscus flower in our flower bed and photographed it. The long lens does flatten the flower but I think the same photograph could be achieved with a 50mm lens. The image posted is the result of applying a Photoshop filter plug-in called "Fractilius", which is software made by a company called Redfield. This plug-in is available in a trial basis by downloading from the internet if anyone is interested in trying it without purchasing it. After downloading the software, the method is very simple; one opens an image in Photoshop and under the Filter menu select the plug-in Fractilius, a window opens from which one can select an endless variety of effects utilizing sliders and menus. I particularly like the effect used with this flower but there are hundreds of other effects which can be applied.

Rollin E. Drew

[Daisy Mae]

Thank you for sharing that Rollin...I will certainly be having a look at it.

[Arlen]

I'm not usually a big fan of automated "distortion" filters, but you have used this one to nice effect here. I'll have to check it out.

[redrew]

Arlen, I agree, digital graphics is a separate art form from photography. However there is a lady who has used her interest in wildlife photography (she is a very skilled photographer) and filter plug-ins to develop images which are very creative. Her name is Denise Ippolito. She and world famous bird photographer Arthur Morris have come up with some novel approaches to digital photography which could only be achieved during this digital age. Her website is deniseippolito.com if interested.

[WJT]

This is art, and thanks for sharing the technique Rollin.

[Daisy Mae]

Well I tried downloading this and my Firewall considers it to be malicious.

What link did you use Robin?

[Arlen]

Thanks for the link to Denise Ippolito's site, Rollin. It looks very interesting, and when I have time I'm going to go through it more extensively.

Sharon, I downloaded Fractalius from this page http://www.redfieldplugins.com/Downloads.htm without problem, and when I checked it with anti-virus and anti-malware software, it got a clean bill of health.

[Daisy Mae]

Sharon, I downloaded Fractalius from this page http://www.redfieldplugins.com/Downloads.htm without problem, and when I checked it with anti-virus and anti-malware software, it got a clean bill of health.

Thanks Arlen...that link downloads fine ( no emergency bells) but doesn't appear on my P8 filters list and when I track it down says 'wrong format' :/

Any ideas??

[redrew]

Sharon, sorry you are having difficulty with downloading the Redfield plugin Fractalius. It may be that Photoshop 8 is incompatible or there is a later version Plugin. You might email Redfield support and see if they can help. Good luck.

Rollin E. Drew

[Arlen]

Sharon, I haven't tried to install it yet (about to leave on a trip), but Rollin's advice sounds reasonable. One thing to check: the downloaded .exe file will try to install the .8bf file in a specific folder. For PS 8, maybe it puts it in the wrong place. Make sure that the .8bf file is in your Adobe/.../Plug-Ins folder before you start PS.