Recently I was at the Swartkops Air Force Museum for the monthly training day. A pretty great experience where you get a chance for close up photos of the planes on display as well as those that fly on that day.
I took a photo of the Harvard and experimented using Topaz labs, layers, gradients and masks to create the effect of the first photo. The two photos below it were created using a tutorial from from Digital Photo February 2013 issue 164.
Harvard - with watermark
My original photo (top) will be on sale soon in A4 and possibly canvas. I will post a link when available. The photo will be available without the watermark.
On the training day it was overcast and all I had available was my on camera flash which was pretty weak so couldn't use that. Opening the photo in PSE 10 I worked with Topaz Adjust, Simplify and Detail to bring out the colours and details. I used masking and gradients for the sky (which was bland, it didn't even show a single cloud) and brought out hidden details.
I unfortunately didn't save the PSD file so can't remember the steps exactly. But I can recommend having a look at the Topaz Labs tutorials and archived webinars.
There is a wealth of info there and Topaz is, in my opinion, one of the best software purchases I have ever made. You can even rescue old, blurry and badly exposed photos :-D.
Taken with a 50mm, not a zoom so you can imagine how close I was. That's why I said above, this is a great opportunity for photos.
:-D
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