A magic GLOW on my photographs

I am usually not much into changing my photography in ways that it departs from reality. But you should never say never and the last years I’ve learned to appreciate what some presets can do for you.

I sincerely believe that reality is so great that most of the time you just need to play with light and what is available to get a good enough photograph. But I do accept that not everybody has to follow my ideas, and we live in a world where a lot of other magic is possible. Things you dared not even dream of a few years ago are now viable with a simple click.

Things like the examples shown on this page. All created with a unique program from Topaz Labs, the Topaz Glow. Let me say that although I use Topaz Labs regularly in my photos, especially the Clarity and Lens Effects programs, which are part of my regular workflow, I do not use Glow or other programs from Topaz for most of my photography. I do have some of them though, because, sometimes, when you need a special effect, mood or feeling, they offer you ways to achieve results, even if just as a starting point to your own creative explorations.

You see, the programs from Topaz Labs are not a source of canned results that you apply and are stuck with. They are always starting points that you can change in infinite ways, and even save as a new preset — your own — that you can apply to your work. The exploration of these program, even those I do not use much, has helped me to see things in new ways.

I am still a photographer, I do not want to be more than a photographer, most of the time, but there are times when being able to create something different helps to widen horizons. Then, tools like those Topaz Labs offers are good to have around. I am, as I said, a full time Topaz Clarity user for my photography, but exploring the presets in tools like ReStyle or Impressions has been a fantastic ride. As is this Glow, which was launched during a Christmas period, a right time for the results it offers.

Glow is, again, a look at the new and more user friendly interface Topaz Labs has designed for its program, but it is also a set of new visions that depart from pure photography, most of the time, in complete new directions, some of which may be much too graphical for some… and just the right thing others need for their projects. There will always be someone that finds the right tool or effect in these visual collections.

I applied the presets to some of my photographs of flowers, as it is there I mostly like to “feel” the changes the software offers. In fact, I’ve created before a small eBook with some of my photos of flowers as seen after the Topaz Labs “treatment”. In Glow I found some filters that I may probably use in my photography, as they offer some subtle changes, still keeping with reality, but do offer new visions for the same subjects. But Glow offers an ample series of effects that can be adapted to different types of photography and create unique ways to share our adventures painting with light. And, let me say this again as I feel it is important, each preset is not a canned solution but just a starting point that can be editable for hours, searching for an infinite number of new visions. Give it a try!