Surf’s Up, Plan Ahead

New Prisma style out, called “Surf”. 

Why does it make me look so old here? Most be too much sun. 🙂

Actually, it has to do with how the Prisma styles work, emphasizing shadows more in some cases, and needing certain colors for better results. Most dramatically to me, fine details versus more coarse shapes makes some pictures great and others awful, which is why the photo you use is critical to a good result.

Here is a set with my dogs using “Surf” with the setting put at 67% to leave a little of the red in one dog’s fur.

And a version with Mondrian, one of my favorite styles, but only when matched with the right picture. This pairing doesn’t work for me.

Too many curved edges and fine color differences leave us with two disparate sections.

But the Mondrian style also netted this result with the other dog earlier this year, so it only demonstrates my point.

Play, experiment and learn where something fails so you can plan your photo for the filter style sometimes, instead of only hoping for good luck.

—–David

P.S. You bet this applies to anything you shoot, filter or not, angle, lighting, subject, timing… Planning can get you closer to stunning (as can a bit of judicious editing like bringing the style down, but also brightening, contrast adjustments and more.)

P.P.S. Of course some of my best photos were taken almost by accident or on the fly, so you never know. When you need consistent results plan ahead and enjoy the experiments when you can.