It’s once again time for After-Before Friday, hosted as always by Stacy Fisher over at Visual Venturing. To see other pictures from ABFriday, click here.  It’s always fun to check and see the many variations that happen each month!

On the left is the original photo; on the right is how the photo looked after I enhanced it in Lightroom. The colors and textures have improved and there is more variation between the sky and water.

The original photo.

The original photo after I enhanced it in Lightroom.

This was the finalist, using Topaz Glow “Whiskers and Fur 1”. Topaz Glow uses “energetic sparks of neon lights” (per their advertising) “to create beautiful and vibrant images”.

I’ve found it difficult to find anything I like when using it, so my challenge this month was to see if I couldn’t figure it out. It took some experimenting, but I finally found a look that after some adjustment, I thought showed off the textures and colors in a way that was pleasing. To finish it, I used a border called “antique” from onOne Software to give it a vintage look.

I didn’t clone out the people. On the other experiments, I thought it helped give perspective to the photo and they were clearly recognized as people. For the Topaz Glow, it’s harder to tell what they are and if I were to redo the picture, I’d try it with and without the people to see how it looked.

Here are some of the others that turned out surprisingly well, even though I didn’t use them as the finalist. The left one has a softer effect from using Topaz Adjust “Simplify” to remove details. The right one used a Topaz Adjust effect called “Bleached Bypass Cool” to give it a desolate and wintery look. Yes, I’m from the Midwest so the thought of winter doesn’t bother me.

Using Topaz Simplify; I liked the softness of the look.

This used a Topaz Adjust filter called “Bleach Bypass Cool”. I liked how it made the picture look desolate and wintery. This was a favorite also.

On the next set of photos, the left one used Topaz Lens Effects to create a fog on the right; the right photo used a cracked paper texture from onOne. I liked how they both turned out, but I’m not sure if I’d be in a hurry to repeat either one in another photo.

Using Topaz Lens Effect to create a fog. If I liked it more, I’d use something else to help enhance it.

This used a cracked paper texture from onOne. I like the effect and thought about making this the final one.

I always love to hear which ones you like, so please – vote below and let me know what you think! Besides of course, the laughter that comes from seeing all the experiments.

To see other months of different effects, click here.

The original photo.

Using Topaz Simplify; I liked the softness of the look.

Using Topaz Lens Effect to create a fog. If I liked it more, I’d use something else to help enhance it.

This used a cracked paper texture from onOne. I like the effect and thought about making this the final one.

This used a Topaz Adjust filter called “Bleach Bypass Cool”. I liked how it made the picture look desolate and wintery. This was a favorite also.

The original photo after I enhanced it in Lightroom.

The finalist! This used Topaz Glow, “Whiskers and Fur 1”, with an antique border from onOne.

ABFriday Photography Topaz Labs ABFriday One Photo Focus onOne Perfect Effects stone wall Topaz Adjust Topaz Effects Topaz Glow Topaz Labs water winter