I’m sure you’re getting sick of seeing me ramble on about Topaz plugins, so let’s try something new here… My friend and fairly frequent contributor, Billy Burg has shared with us, some of his results using a couple of his favorite Topaz plugins and insight into his process.  

It so happens that Topaz is running a couple of pretty substantial sales right now as well.  As mentioned last week, Glow and Impression are available individually for 25% off by using the code “TOPAZART” via Topaz Labs HERE, which runs through the end of May, but now Topaz has decided to go full bore and offer the complete collection, yes all 17 products, for 40% off (normally $499, now $299) using the code “SPRINGSUMMER2016” at checkout via Topaz’ website HERE!  

Now, here’s another cool tidbit for those of us who’ve already invested in various plugins, if you sign in at Topaz Labs with the email address/account you created to download software, your account will automatically deduct the plugins you’ve already purchased from the complete collection price, and using that same SPRINGSUMMER2016 code, you can get the remaining plugins for 40% off!  Of course, you can always download full, free trials via the link above too, and give any or all of these killer plugins a try before deciding to buy or not.  This sale runs through Sunday May 22nd, so you have a couple of weeks to try them out and decide.

Come on in to see more of Billy’s befores and afters.

All images in this article are from Billy Burg (less one that was taken by his father as noted), so go check him out on Flickr HERE to see more of his photography.  The above image was taken on an iPhone5 and run through Glow with both a “Fur and Feathers” preset.  Graphic, and to my eye, as if it has jumped out of a comic book.

This set of images were sent over after chatting with him about the recent promotion by Topaz of two of their prominent “Art” plugins, being Glow and Impression.  Both are wonderful at what they do, and are very enjoyable, creative plugins capable of a vast multitude of results.

This image was taken by Billy’s father, and run through Impression with an Oil Paint preset.  I’d suggest clicking on the “after” to see the effect.  The medium replication in this plugin is pretty amazing.  I say this after having struggled to learn Corel Painter with all of it’s nuance and depth.  Not to trash Corel at all, actually it’s an amazing program, but it takes a serious level of commitment (akin to learning to actually paint) to truly master it.  Impression takes much of the work out of the equation, yet replicates results beautifully.  I’m a big fan, myself, and I’ve printed many of my own results at home.  Printing these on actual canvas adds the three dimensional depth, nicely replicating a printed painting.

This next image shows a few different effects from a single file, using Impression.  Billy shot this with a GX7 and Oly 17mm f/1.8 m.Zuiko lens… (also, possibly some extension tubes as I’ve seen how tiny these flowers are in real life and don’t think the Oly17 is quite up to macro standards)

Finally, here’s a portrait shot, run through Impression with an Oil Paint preset using the GX7 and Oly 25mm f/1.8 lens.

Thank you to Billy for sharing and for being a wonderful, whisky drinking friend who has long contributed to this site through comment, question, banter, insight and photography.  Go check him out HERE.  All images shown in this article are the property and copyright of Mr Billy Burg, and have been used with permission.  If you want them, you gotta go ask him yourself 🙂

I’ve reviewed almost every Topaz Plugin over the years, and if you’d like to do some more reading, you can find all of them about half way down the Review Page HERE

You can find all 17 of the award winning Topaz plugins via Topaz Labs website HERE.  You can download a full free trial, and if you purchase the collection before May 22nd, use code “SPRINGSUMMER2016” at checkout to receive 40% off!

If you have any questions, want to connect to collaborate, or just want to say hi, contact me HERE, or find me on the socials via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Instagram.

Thanks for the read.  Keep up with any new announcements, articles, reviews and tutorials by adding your email to the top right of the page, (down below if viewing on a mobile platform). 

Happy shooting,

Tyson