10-Arches sans arches Photoshop style
Initial version
drcrowther-arches-sans-arches.zip |
drcrowther-arches-sans-arches.zip includes the style file, a lichen pattern file, and a swatches file.
A couple of days before creating this style, the Photoshop style I was planning to make had something to do with the color purple and a swirl design. (And, maybe that will be a good style to do still.) Then I went with our neighborhood Boy Scouts to Arches National Park for an overnight camp. The temperature was about 19 degrees (Farenheit) during the night, but the next morning the sun shone bright and the air warmed up quite nicely. I was taking pictures of our group when I realized that the colors all around me would make a great Photoshop style. I decided to take advantage of a long drive to an amazing place.
Since the arches are so often the focus of photos in Arches National Park I decided to focus on the other features and their colors. Thus, the name of the style: Arches sans arches. However, I couldn't resist using the photo of Delicate Arch as the first A in the style name.
The sky was an amazing and very deep blue. The various browns and tans of the sandstone fins; the black of the stains on the sandstone; the mottled colors of hard lichen; the blacks of the cryptobiotic soil; and the greens, grays, and reds of the cedar trees all add to the beauty of the landscape.
Since the arches are so often the focus of photos in Arches National Park I decided to focus on the other features and their colors. Thus, the name of the style: Arches sans arches. However, I couldn't resist using the photo of Delicate Arch as the first A in the style name.
The sky was an amazing and very deep blue. The various browns and tans of the sandstone fins; the black of the stains on the sandstone; the mottled colors of hard lichen; the blacks of the cryptobiotic soil; and the greens, grays, and reds of the cedar trees all add to the beauty of the landscape.
Preparation:
Features
Credits:
- The photo of Delicate Arch was adjusted for contrast and lighting. The reds, yellows, and oranges were also adjusted. The arch was separated from its background.
- A portion of a photo of slick rock taken along the trail to Delicate arch was flipped horizontally and used as the base for Delicate Arch.
- A deep blue to lighter blue (taken from a photo that included the sky) was used for a gradient for the sky.
Features
- An outer glow was added to the arch to pop it out from the sky.
- A bevel was added to the sky to provide better separation from the slick rock.
- A drop shadow on the slick rock provides a better transition to the sandstone pattern in the rest of the image.
- The credit text uses Bauhaus 93 (which I was about to use for the style name text) and includes a bevel & emboss and stroke effect.
- Styles: The stars of the image are foreground and background styles of the style name, Arches sans arches, which combine the less prominent features of Arches National Park and their colors.
- The top layer style is meant to provide the most prominent color of the park: sandstone. Style effects include: bevel & emboss with contour and texture, a transparent stroke which reveals the bottom layer, and a color overlay with a sandstone color taken from a photo.
- The bottom layer provides a stroke with a gradient that begins with the deep blue sky and includes colors of the sandstone, lichen, and cedar trees. Blend modes provide a dark, almost black, color of the dark stains on the sandstone. A pattern of lichen was taken from a photo and used for the texture on the bevel & emboss.
- The top layer style is meant to provide the most prominent color of the park: sandstone. Style effects include: bevel & emboss with contour and texture, a transparent stroke which reveals the bottom layer, and a color overlay with a sandstone color taken from a photo.
- A swatches file with colors from Arches National Park is also included.
Credits:
- Fonts used: Hobo Std at 50pt and Bauhaus 93 at 19pt.