Category: Special Offer

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Special Event Special Offer

St. Paul Art Crawl 2016

It’s almost time for the Spring version of the St. Paul Art Crawl 2016!

St. Paul Art Crawl 2016

St. Paul Art Crawl 2016

The Spring version of the St. Paul Art Crawl 2016 takes place at several different artist studios and galleries throughout the city, with several locations close together in Lowertown, Downtown and Midtown. I hope you’ll hop on the Green Line for a free ride to the Dow Building at Raymond Station and stop by to say “Hello” some time during the event!

Dow Art Gallery

North Woods Photos will once again be showing at Dow Art Gallery along with 35-40 other artists, which is located on the first floor of the Dow Building at 2242 University Ave W, St Paul, MN 55114. It’s easy to get to with free parking if you drive, or even better – right on the green line at Raymond Station. You can even get FREE RIDES to the art crawl via Metro Transit all weekend!

Special Exhibits!

There will be a special Student Exhibition featuring the work of a few St. Paul middle school and high school students. These students were chosen to participate because of their hard work and dedication towards the arts. Hopefully this exposure will give them real life experience in the world of art shows and galleries and encourage them to pursue their dreams.

There will also be a special “Spring Outside the Box” exhibit showing during the Art Crawl.

In addition to amazing art, we will be providing free food, beverages and entertainment to our Dow Art Gallery guests!

Musicians:

Vanessa Bray – keyboard and guitar

The Olson Brothers – acoustics from rural Minnesota.

Scott Simmons – guitar & vocals, pastor and writer.

Literature Readings:

Stephanie Schultz

Ashley Ott – aspiring writer, poet, artist, and intern at Dow Art Gallery

Support Local Artists

Grizzly Forest Double Exposure

Grizzly Forest
Currently on display as metal print at Dow Art Gallery

Support local artists by stopping by and investing in a unique piece of art for yourself, or pick up the perfect gift for family or friends! I will have professional conservation grade archival quality photographic prints for sale as well as metals and canvases. Other artists will have textiles, sculptures, paintings and drawings. St. Paul Art Crawl is the biggest public art event of the entire year – DON’T MISS IT!

 

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Lightroom Photo Editing Photoshop Special Offer Topaz Labs

Topaz DeNoise 6 Update

Just a quick note to let you know there is a new update to Topaz DeNoise photo editing software available Thursday, Feb 25 and it’s got some great new features!

Fence Before & After DeNoise
Fence Before & After DeNoise

Topaz DeNoise 6

Specializing in extremely noisy high ISO images, DeNoise removes distracting image noise while preserving image detail, giving you the image you wanted without the noise you don’t. Major features introduced in Topaz DeNoise 6 include:

• Standalone Application – DeNoise 6 now works as a standalone product and doesn’t require a host editor to work. Although it can still be used as a plugin through Photoshop, Lightroom, and other supported host programs.
• Camera Specific Presets – DeNoise 6 introduces dozens of presets based on various camera profiles, with multiple ISO presets for each camera.
• Batch Processing (in standalone mode only) – DeNoise 6 introduces batch processing, allowing you to process a whole folder of images at once. That means no more need for Photoshop actions or Lightroom Presets! Note that batch processing is only available in the standalone version, not the plugin version.
• Support for High DPI (4k) monitors in Windows 7/8/10

Bottles Before & After DeNoise
Bottles Before & After DeNoise

With Topaz DeNoise 6, you can shoot anywhere in any light and still get crisp, clear and noise-free images 🙂

As always, those who already own Topaz DeNoise can get this brand new update for FREE!

If you’d like to get Topaz DeNoise 6, it will be on sale for only $49.99 (regularly $79.99) from February 25th – March 20th with coupon code “NOISEFREE” – that’s $30 off!! Get Topaz DeNoise 6 now and start getting the images you want without the noise you don’t!

 

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Lightroom Photo Editing Photoshop Special Offer Topaz Labs tutorial

Topaz Texture Effects Basic Tour

If you follow my blog at all, you know that I’m a HUGE fan of Topaz Labs photo editing products. While most photo editing software plug-ins need to work within Photoshop or Lightroom, Topaz Texture Effects works as a plug-in as well as a stand alone program. I personally find their software very easy to use, but there are plenty of free tutorials available on YouTube if you need a little help or would like to get some tips and tricks that may not be as obvious. For example, check out this video tutorial of Topaz Texture Effects basic tour by Mark Johnson:

Mark goes through all of the different layer adjustment options:

  • Basic Adjustment
  • Split Tone
  • Texture
  • Borders
  • Vignette
  • Light Leak
  • Edge Exposure
  • Edge Blur
  • Dust and Scratches
  • Diffusion
  • Film Grain
  • Posterize
  • Double Exposure
  • Color Overlay

Import Your Own Textures

The cool thing is – you don’t have to settle for one of the 275+ assets that come pre-loaded with the software; you can upload your own assets and use them within the program as well. Mark shows you just how simple it is.

Share With the Online Community

Furthermore, there is an online community that you get instant access to within the program where you can download pre-sets that others have created! If you want to create your own pre-sets from scratch, you can do that too – and share them with the online community with a single click if you wish. Mark shows you how to do that, too.

Fully Customize Your Image

You can edit any layer in the preloaded pre-sets by deleting, changing, or adding different adjustment options to each image. You can add multiple layers of similar adjustments if you’d like; two different light leaks, for example. Since every adjustment comes with a layer mask, you can customize each layer by choosing what parts of the image you want to apply a particular effect to. You don’t even have to start with a pre-set; you can simply open an image in Texture Effects and edit from scratch like I did with this double exposure of Sandhill Cranes and the moon 🙂

Sandhill Cranes Moon Texture

Save $20 Thru January

Since Topaz Labs just updated Texture Effects by fixing some minor bugs and adding EVEN MORE textures and assets, they are offering $20 off the software through January 31, 2016! That means you get it for only $49.99 instead of a still bargain price of $69.99.

Rain Drops on Rose
Added “rain drops” to this rose using new “weather” texture in the latest Topaz Texture Effects update.

Like all Topaz Labs products, you can get a FREE 30 day trial on their software and any future updates are always FREE 🙂

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Creative Tips Lightroom Photo Editing Photoshop Special Offer Topaz Labs

Save $20 on Topaz Texture Effects Thru January!

In case you’ve missed the previous sales, Topaz Texture Effects just had it’s first upgrade since inception a few months ago and they’re celebrating with a BIG SALE! Save $20 on Topaz Texture Effects through January 31, 2016! Regularly priced at $69.99, you can now snag it for only $49.99!

Great Horned Owl Silhouette Moon

I already wrote a post introducing the original program which includes a library of over 150 expertly crafted presets, 275+ high-resolution textures and effects, and instant access to effects other Topaz users have shared with the new Topaz Community, but now it’s even better 🙂

Trumpeter Swans in Flight

Original Photo

Trumpeter Swans Sun Rays

Edited in  Topaz Texture Effects

The update includes:

  • 42 NEW textures
  • 15 NEW effects
  • A whole new Weather category in the Texture Adjustment panel
  • Performance enhancements
Rain Drops on Rose
Added “rain drops” to this rose using new “weather” texture in the latest Topaz Texture Effects update.

All of this added to an already spectacular product that works as a stand alone photo editing program as well as a plug-in for Photoshop or Lightroom 🙂

I enjoy many of Topaz Labs photo editing software products, but they hit it out of the park with this one IMHO.

As with all Topaz products – try it free for 30 days. And unlike most of the competition, upgrades are FREE for life 🙂

Categories
Special Event Special Offer Trails

Special Discount For Upper Midwest Trail Runners

As many of you know, I sometimes shoot trail races here in the North Woods of Minnesota. I am happy to announce that North Woods Photos will be offering a 20% discount on any and all products in the Trail Races and North Woods Photos galleries to members of the Upper Midwest Trail Runners club for 2016!

Milky Way Runner
Superior 100 Mile Trail Race

Save 20% on:

  • Prints from my professional lab – archival inks & papers (including lustre, pearl, metallic)
  • Gallery wrapped canvases
  • Metal prints
  • iphone cases for 5/5s, 6/6s, 6+/6s+
  • Full resolution digital downloads with a print release if you’d rather print yourself or use a consumer lab (photos of race participants only).

Learn more about the print products available in the FAQ. Digital downloads are full resolution jpg files at 300 dpi and are not watermarked.

Get Your Discount

The discount is only available to current members of Upper Midwest Trail Runners, so be sure to sign up! Simply shoot an email to info thingy umtr dot net to get your coupon code, then go to the galleries and fill up your shopping cart (and I mean fill ‘er up)!

Use the coupon code at checkout to get 20% off your order – which can include my regular art in addition to any race photos. Makes a great gift for yourself, friends, or family!

Note:  The proofing site only allows you to order from one gallery at a time, so if you DO decide to order prints from the North Woods gallery in addition to Trail Race prints – please let me know before you order so I can move your race photos into the Trail Running folder of the North Woods gallery. Otherwise, you’d have to place two separate orders and pay for shipping on each. If you only want a digital file for your race and prints of my other art, you’ll need to order separately since digital files are not available for non-race images. If you only want race photos, you can do it all in one order even if you have both prints and digitals.

Get Your Stuff

Prints and products are delivered directly from my professional lab to you. Once you complete your order, it comes to me for approval and the order is sent to the lab. Please be aware that I’ve given you the power to crop photos as you see fit – and not all photos are going to work well with some sizes. When placing items in the shopping cart, you may see some red areas on the image depending on the size you choose. The red areas are the parts that will be cut off that image during printing to make it your chosen size. You can drag the image to change the crop. There are no refunds once the order has been sent since they begin the printing process right away. Turn around time depends on what products you order, but prints usually arrive at your doorstep within a week.

For digital downloads, you’ll get an email with a download link shortly after completing your purchase. Since these are high resolution files, download time will depend on your internet connection and service provider. Currently, there is no MN sales tax on digital photos.

As always, low resolution digital files will be posted on the North Woods Photos FaceBook page (so please “like” it) and will be FREE 🙂

Which Races For 2016?

I don’t know yet – it depends on lots of factors (both personal and professional), but I’ll try to let you know as soon as I do! I tend to favor ultras 🙂

Other Questions?

Do not hesitate to contact me at any time if you have questions or concerns.

Happy Trails – and try to bust out of that walk when you see the camera 😉

Categories
Lightroom Photo Editing Photoshop Special Offer Topaz Labs

Topaz Labs Holiday Sale!

In case you missed all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, you still have time to capitalize on Topaz Labs Holiday Sale!

If you’ve visited this site before, you know that I LOVE Topaz Labs photo editing software products! Their products have saved me more hours than I can count in the photo editing process and some of their presets even help stimulate new ideas.

The discount applies to any one of their 17 different products, or you can get the entire suite (highly recommended).

Topaz Labs products come with pre-loaded presets, but also allow you total control to just start from scratch or edit any preset you may start with.

Bitchin’.

Favorite Topaz Labs Products

Clarity: this isn’t just a simple clarity slider like you find in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw. This one allows you to control contrast at the micro, low, medium and high levels without getting artificial artifacts – as well as mask out areas of the image where you don’t want the effect applied. Works as a plug-in to Photoshop or Lightroom.

Detail: crystal clear sharpness without noise. I especially like this product for macro shots of flowers or foliage, or fur and feathers on critters. Want to see every last detail of that Bald Eagle feather? Here ya go. Works as a plug-in to Photoshop or Lightroom.

Impression: awesome for converting photos to a variety of different painterly effects or drawings. Watercolors, oils, Monet, charcoal drawings – no problem. Works as a stand alone or as a plug-in.

Canada Goose Pair abstract

Adjust: this is an older product and one that I’m just starting to use. It has an amazing technology called “adaptive exposure” that I still can’t really wrap my head around, but it evens out shadows and highlights without getting artificial looking or noisy. Certainly not like just moving the highlights and shadows sliders. Also allows for adjustments to color and detail. Works as a plug-in to Photoshop or Lightroom.

Glow: one of the newer products and one that’s easy to go “over the top” with. Yes, you can add electrifying effects to photos and make them otherworldly. I find it a cool program to use as a subtle way to bump up color or other smoothing effects when you dial it waaaay down. The fur and feather presets are my typical starting point, even if the image I’m applying it to doesn’t have fur or feathers. Neon can be a ton of fun, too 🙂

Simplify: I like this one for creating painterly effects, too. I gave a tutorial about how I used it to create surreal forest effects recently. Works as a plug-in to Photoshop or Lightroom.

Impressionist Painterly Effect
Impressionist Painterly Effect in Topaz Simplify

Restyle: want to mess around with color palates? This is the product for you! Another program that comes with a ton of presets (some you’d never think of on your own) that can also be tweaked to taste. Comes as a stand alone program or works as a plug-in.

Remask: the easiest mask selection tool I have found thus far for making composites. Hands down.

Star Effects: just did a tutorial about a sneaky little trick in this product that makes adding realistic star effects to images a snap. Works as a plug-in.

Split Rock Lighthouse Star

Texture Effects: this is a brand new product and one of my all time favorites – for real! You can not only add textures, but you can create double exposures with ease – especially since it’s ridiculously easy to add your own texture files (or any other file, for that matter). I wrote a post about Texture Effects recently and will probably write a quick tutorial about how to do double exposures with it soon. It comes with a boat load of high resolution textures, dust and scratches, and other assets, so it’s a monster download! Another unique feature – you can create your own presets and share with the Topaz community – as well as download other people’s presets if you want to. Works as a stand alone or plug-in.

Sandhill Cranes Moon Texture

This is just a sampling of what’s available from Topaz – they have 17 different products currently available. I also appreciate that any future updates to their products are FREE rather than asking you to pay for an upgrade. Any new products are offered at a discount to those who’ve purchased from them in the past.

Topaz offers a 30 day free trial if you want to try before you buy. Or go ahead, take advantage of the Topaz Labs holiday sale and buy it now to save 35% 🙂

Categories
Abstract Black & White Landscape Minnesota Nature Special Offer Wildlife Wisconsin

Blowout Holiday Sale on Gallery Wrapped Canvas Art

Just in time for last minute holiday shoppers, I’m having a blowout sale on gallery wrapped canvas pieces that have already been printed and are ready for you to pick up and take home – today! Wildlife, landscapes, nature, outdoor abstracts – there’s something for everyone who enjoys the outdoors! All of my pieces have all been printed by a professional lab using archival inks and materials and are ready to hang. All they need is your wall to hang on and be admired from 😉

Save Up to 50% on Select Pieces

These pieces are currently on display at Dow Art Gallery and Picture Framing on University Ave in St. Paul. Stop in during business hours to purchase.

North Woods Photos Wall at Dow Art Gallery
North Woods Photos Wall at Dow Art Gallery

Each of the four 12 x 18 pieces shown on the top of the gallery wall: Water Lily Reflection, Pattison Sunset, Lena, and Canada Lynx Kitten retail for $155 + tax. Sale price is only $79 + tax!

The Yellow Flower Abstract & Frosty Maple (not shown here) measure 11 x 14 inches and 1.5 inches thick and retail for $135 + tax. Sale price is only $69 + tax!

The Morning Glory Butterfly measures 11 x 11 inches and retails for $97. Sale price is only $59 + tax!

These pieces are not currently on display but are available for purchase:

Gallery Wall 1

The two Bald Eagle pieces at the top are photographs that have been digitized to make them look like watercolor paintings. They both measure 16 x 20 inches and retail for $185 + tax. Sale price is only $99 + tax!

The Trumpeter Swan Reflection at the bottom is a black and white photograph on canvas, measures 12 x 24 inches and retails for $175 + tax. Sale price is only $99 + tax!

Trumpeter Swan Reflection

I also have a single wood print available. Crex Meadows Crane Sunset measures 8 x 12 inches on 1/2 inch maple board and has keyholes drilled in the back so it’s ready to hang. The grain of the wood shows through on lighter portions of the photo (like the sky). Printed by a professional lab using archival inks. Since every board is unique, this piece is truly one of a kind! Retails for $149 + tax. Sale price is only $75 + tax!

Crex Meadows Sunset on Maple

All of these pieces come ready to hang and don’t need any other framing or hardware. Local buyers may arrange to purchase and pick-up locally to save shipping costs (and avoid any potential damage caused by shipping).

Shipping is available anywhere in the continental US and will vary depending on the piece and my cost to ship to your location. These pieces are available on a first come, first served basis. Additional gallery wrapped canvases can still be ordered through the online gallery at the regular price.

If you have any questions about a particular piece or would like to see a better photo, shoot me a message! We can also meet at Dow Art Gallery if you’d like to see anything in person before purchasing. There won’t be another sale on gallery wrapped canvas art any better than this, so get it while you can!

 

Categories
Lightroom Photo Editing Photoshop Special Offer Topaz Labs

Save 50% on Topaz Labs Photo Editing Software

Topaz Labs is rolling out their holiday sale – and it’s a doozy!

From November 25-30, Topaz Labs is offering 50% off of the full Topaz Photography Collection. Whether you want to achieve stunning photo enhancements or apply artistic effects, this unique collection has you covered.

With the recent addition of Topaz Texture Effects, the Photography Collection now includes 17 products for only $499.99. With the 50% discount, new users can purchase the entire collection for ONLY $249.99! The savings aren’t just for new collection purchases either. Owners of the older Topaz Collections can take advantage of the savings as well! You will just need to log in to your account to see your unique Collection upgrade price, then apply the code for 50% additional savings! And with Topaz Labs, you NEVER have to pay for upgrades to the individual products you purchase 🙂

You can also download a free 30 day trial before making any purchase to take the software for a test drive. It integrates seamlessly with Photoshop and Lightroom, and some of the products also work as stand alone programs.

Happy #BlackFriday! Happy #CyberMonday! Happy Holidays!

Categories
Special Offer

#ShopSmall & #SaveBig Photo Print Sale!

Get ready for the best prices EVER offered on photographic prints from North Woods Photos now through November 30! That covers Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and then some. We’ve got plenty of outdoor photos from the North Woods of the Upper Midwest to choose from! #ShopSmall and #SaveBig on gifts for your friends, family, colleagues, or yourself 😉

  • Landscapes from Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin
  • Wildlife Photography
  • Nature Photography including some macro shots
  • Abstract Photography including textures and composites

151109Light Leak1

Save 30% on Photographic Prints!

Save 30% on any size or paper type of photographic prints! Choose from lustre, pearl, or metallic paper finishes – all from a professional lab that uses archival papers and inks!

Bald Eagle in flight

Save 30% on Gallery Wrapped Canvas!

Any size, including custom sizes! All done by a professional lab that uses archival papers and inks!

 Lake Michigan Beach Maple

Save #30% on Metal Prints!

Have your image printed directly on to aluminum for amazing detail and clarity! Done by a professional lab that uses archival materials and inks!

 Sandhill Cranes Moon Texture

How to Purchase

Same as usual – head to the online galleries and load up your cart. Use coupon code ShopSmall2015 at the checkout to get your discount. The offer is good from now until November 30, 2015, so it covers Black Friday and Cyber Monday as well! Then just sit back and wait for your order to be shipped directly to you – or any other destination in the continental US if it’s a gift. Simple. As. Pie.

#ShopSmall and #SaveBig this weekend! Support a small local business on Small Business Saturday!

Categories
Creative Tips Photo Editing Special Offer Topaz Labs

Introducing Topaz Texture Effects!

Topaz Texture Effects Scratched Bronze

If you’ve ever experimented with adding textures to your photos in post processing, you know that it can be a fairly time consuming experiment. In the past, I’ve always used Photoshop and had to add several layers to an image to get all of the effects that I wanted. I’ve even added several layers just of different textures and then clicked the little “eye” icon on or off to see how each one would look on the actual image (not to mention scrolling through the blending modes). I do have a software program that has some texture pre-sets, but any time they update their software (which is usually at least once a year), they want you to purchase it all over again to get the updates. As of today, Topaz Labs has introduced a brand new product to their outstanding line-up of photo post processing software: Topaz Texture Effects! Now you can preview a bunch of different effects applied to your image simply by scrolling over with a mouse, then making a selection with a single click! And any time Topaz updates their software, you get those updates free of charge 🙂

Topaz Texture Effects allows users to create a variety of textured, toned, and lighting effects in a fraction of the time it takes in Photoshop or other editing software. The program includes a library of over 150 expertly crafted presets, 275+ high-resolution textures and effects, and instant access to effects other Topaz users have shared with the new Topaz Community.

Check out these before and after images made with a single click:

Topaz Texture Effects before & after

cherries_ba

From soft and subtle lighting effects:

Crisp Morning Run1

… to high impact grunge and contrast:

After

… turn a good photo into an amazing image with just a single click!

If you want to tweak one of the 150 presets that come with the software, you can do any part of it easily. The program comes with 275+ high-resolution (5000x5000px) image textures, light leaks, dust and scratches, borders, color overlays, etc and you can edit any of them by clicking the black circle with horizontal lines icon – or start your own from scratch.

Topaz Texture Effects Main Interface
Topaz Texture Effects Main Interface

You can also upload other textures that you may have downloaded elsewhere or created from scratch yourself and use it within the software.

Topaz Texture Effects Texture Manager
Topaz Texture Effects Texture Manager

You can even add masks and do basic image edits.

Topaz Texture Effects Masking Module
Topaz Texture Effects Masking Module

Topaz Texture Effects can be used as a stand alone program or as a plug-in to other software programs.

Compatibility:
Photoshop CS4+, Photoshop CC, Photoshop Elements 6+,
Paintshop Pro X, Serif PhotoPlus X5+, Lightroom
*Not compatible with Fusion Express

System Requirements:
Mac OSX 10.8+
Windows 7/8/10 x 64bit + OpenGL 3.2
*Does not support Windows 32bit

 

Adjustment Stack View
Adjustment Stack View

Topaz Texture Effects will retail for $69.99, however you can purchase for only $49.99 ($20 off) off until November 20 by using this coupon code: TEXTUREFX

As always, they offer a 30 day free trial on all of their software products.

You’re welcome 😉