Over-cooked is right! I make no bones about it. I call it over-processing when you go beyond the normal color correcting, levels, sharpening etc. Its not for every picture or for every person, that's for sure.

Just like HDR, Orton, solarization and what ever manipulations are out there, this one is the current fad in some circles and it will run it's course.

But for now, I am having fun and learning a new skill set. I am getting requests from customers to process images like this.

I am sure, as with any excessive manipulation, there is a lot of information cast away - but at least I always have the original to go back to.

Have Fun!
Jeff

I am adding a third Kelpie Puppy pic.

I took the original into Photoshop and then placed the over-processed Kelpie picture on a layer above and then reduced the opacity to 30%. The Illustrator process will tend to emphasize details that normally are not brought out. By combining the two, you can get a more 'natural' image with more detail evident

I'll have to try that last one Jeff thanks for the instructions. It is nice and subtle but effective.

I actually really love your "over cooked" version the best. I really like your original photo too...but I like always like to see something a little different than the norm.I strive for that in my art as well (although don't always achieve it). For me, it is just a real treat to look at something for the first time and think, this isn't like the hundreds of other nice photos of a puppy I've seen...this one goes a bit further.

I am starting to see a lot of images done with similar treatment and I suppose at some point it won't seem "fresh" anymore but I think it worked really well with this particular image and worked great. The loss of detail in areas doesn't bother me, I think it looks quite artsy.

Oooph. I went waaaay too far fantasy way lol but I wasn't getting this to work at all like it should. I am posting it only because I will hopefully be able to look back and see some progress! Maybe I didn't start with a sharp enough image to begin with....more likely I didn't follow the directions right.

Oh my, I love this process. Thanks for the information. Here is a Rottie that I shot today.

That is awesome Peggy Sue! This stuff gets addicting real fast doesn't it.