May 30, 2008

If you follow my photography blog, you probably saw my latest digital art work, that I call Road to the past. As promised here is the details of how I made it.

Animae effect with Road to the past

I recently saw the movie Speed Racer, and liked the smooth saturated Anime like feel. Not that it would work for every image, but it had a good feel. So I started to work an some actions. I frequently get visual ideas from movies, and movie posters, and though I’m sure this does not meet the official standard for Anime, it was inspired by that look.

I‘ve finally found a sweet spot with a few adjustable actions that give a saturated, Anime type look, without looking fake and foolish. Here’s a bit of what I did to get this image.

This is my original image. This was taken on a side road of HWY 12 in Washington. A cool shot, but not yet spectacular…

My first job in making this into digital art, was to clone out the things I didn’t want. The goal here was not to make an exact representation of this scene, but use it as the model for the piece I really wanted. I also added some clouds in place of the blank sky that was in the corner. Below is the cloned version.

So when all the cloning was done the rest was easy now that I had the action I needed. I ran the effect I’ve titled Anime II, and then spent some time doing final adjustments on the layers & masks. Lastly I added subtle beams of light (look far up the road) to add some dimension do the image. Basically this was dome by painting white lines on a new layer, blurring them, adding a little outer glow, and then setting that layer to overlay mode.

I‘m happy with the finished product, and it looks great in print. I feel the effect is not too over the top, and yet still has a good feel to it that offer something more than just a plain photo. It’s close to that line between painted, and photograph, yet without looking automated. I’m defiantly loving these actions

If you want to hurry me along making these actions available, or want to be added to the notification list just drop me a note… Gavin Seim

Animae effect with Road to the past

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May 17, 2008

Seim Effects now has it’s own page on Facebook. I’m finding FB a good way to network, and stay involved. What’s really cool is anyone can become a fan of the Seim Effects page. It’s a great way to stay up to date. It also helps spread the word, and show your friends that you use my Lightroom presets and effects, which I really appreciate. Speaking of staying up to date, I know I don’t post here nearly every day, but if you want more tips, articles and news theres a lot happening over at prophotoshow.net, and even a forum where me and lots of other great photographers hang out. It’s a fun community Also you can find me on Twitter where I try to post useful things at a moments notice. Gav

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May 15, 2008

I love my Hollywood Effects actions and use them all the time, but I’m working on a brand new set, not to replace Hollywood, but to accent it.

With all the amazing glows and fantasy effects in H.E. I’ve ben thinking it’s time for some cool effects that are basic and down to earth. The new Photographer Essentials actions won’t be a huge set, but it’s going to have some really cool effects that you can use everyday.

The development of the set is in progress. Stay tuned for updates, and if you have something you’ll like to see in this set throw me a comment… Gav

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March 30, 2008

I wanted to post a free video from my up and coming Seim Effect video series.

Burn and dodge is one of those overlooked gems that can give you control over where viewer attention is drawn to in an image. Some people avoid vignettes, burns and dodges because they don’t realize how effective they can be.

I see images nearly every day that could be twice as good with a little B&D Love. This is just as important with HDR images ass well ad they tend to be a bit flat in their natural state. Here’s a Seim Effects video on the topic. It’s slightly cheesy, but a good look at how I leverage B&D. Click the link to get the free High Res version.

~Download High Quality Version For Free~



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March 18, 2008

There’s a new version of Hollywood Effects out today. Along with a few minor updates, there’s a brand new action I’m really excited about called Dragon Eye. It’s a great general use Dragonizer effect that I think you’ll really like.

We also launched a new Hollywood Effects sneak peak video showing you what inside, and what you can do with the latest Hollywood Effects Actions.

If you already own the action check your inbox for the update, If not head over to the Hollywood Effects Page and pick them up.

dragon action gavin seim

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