orton 2

orton 2, originally uploaded by pr9000.

I came across a website that showed a very convoluted way to do what is known as the "Orton Effect," which is basically showing something (usually a flower) as being both incredibly in focus, and somewhat out of focus, at the same time.

I always thought it was some camera trick I'd never figure out ... turns out it's (like most things) a technology trick. Orton originally took two shots of the same thing, overexposed and didn't focus one, and then overlaid the two as slides. The technology solution involves two layers in Photoshop, some Gaussian blur and a very soft, very large eraser.

I need to find some other flower shots and start experimenting -- I'm not thrilled with this one, but it's a good first try.