67 – Orton Imagery – The Orton Effect – Interview with Michael Orton and Darwin Wiggett

June 3, 2009 on 11:52 am | In Photographs, Photography podcasts, Photography tips, podcasting

Photography podcast #67 discusses how to use Orton Imagery (AKA the Orton effect or the Orton Technique) to give your photographs an ethereal/painterly feel. This technique was invented by Michael Orton in the mid 1980’s using 2 pieces of overexposed slide film sandwiched together. The principles of this technique can also be used in graphics programs like Photoshop to achieve a similar effect. This podcast contains 2 interviews; one with Michael Orton discussing  the technique’s history, and one with Darwin Wiggett,  discussing his method for creating Orton Imagery using Photoshop and other graphics programs. Darwin’s step-by-step is outlined below and his Photoshop action is also included. Thanks a ton Michael and Darwin!!

Image by Michael Orton - click to enlarge

Orton Imagery by Michael Orton - Click to enlarge

NMP2823 - Non-Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge

NMP2823 - Non-Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge

NMP2823 - Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge

NMP2823 - Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge

NMP9058 - Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge

NMP9058 - Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge

NMP6435 - Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge

NMP6435 - Orton image by Darwin Wiggett - Click to enlarge

Here’s how to create Orton Imagery Using Photoshop. Portion reprinted from from Orton Imagery – A “How to” guide for Photographers by Darwin Wiggett. Thanks to Nature Photographers online magazine for allowing me to reprint this.

Digital Technique to Create Orton Images

Here, there are many ways to simulate an Orton slide sandwich. You can do it the same way as outlined above for slides overexposing two separate images and then in the computer stacking the images together in software and blending them. Personally, I prefer to take my existing digitized photos (either from film scans or digital camera files) and running them through the process below to see if they work as “Orton Images”.

Here is the step-by-step recipe for making Orton images in Photoshop:

  1. Open any image you wish to try the technique on. Make a duplicate of the image (Image>Duplicate). Close the original image.
  2. Lighten the image as follows: Image>Apply Image… then in the dialog box that comes up change the bending mode to “Screen” and the Opacity to 100%. This will give you an appropriately overexposed image.
  3. Duplicate this overexposed image (Image>Duplicate).
  4. Blur this second image (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur… and in the dialog box use a Radius setting of 15 to 50 pixels – the higher the pixel setting the blurrier the photo and the more ‘painterly’ the image… but you can go too far!). Experiment with different settings, for my tastes and for the size of my digital files (50-100 megabytes) a radius of about 25 pixels works perfect.
  5. Now select the move tool from the Photoshop tool bar (or just press “v” on your keyboard for quicker access to the move tool). Hold down the “shift” key and use your mouse to drag and drop the blurry image onto the sharp one (don’t let go of the shift key until after you release the mouse button or the images won’t be in perfect alignment).
  6. Bring up the layers palette in Photoshop (F7 is the keyboard shortcut). Under the word “Layers” in the layers palette will be a menu box of blending modes. Change the blending mode from “normal” to “multiply”.
  7. Now “flatten’ the two layers by pressing “CTRL+E” or by clicking on the sideways triangle in the layers palette to select ‘flatten image’.

There, you now have an Orton image – if you like your new masterpiece save the file!

Copyright Darwin Wiggett and Nature Photographers Online Magazine – All rights reserved.
—————————————————————————————————

Dwayne Oaks from our photography forum also lists the way he uses the Orton effect using NX2 software. Thanks Dwayne.
1-use midtone (levels) slider to brighten photo (2.04)
2-select gaussian blur, set radius slider to (15.85)px and opacity to (100)%
go to blending mode and select (multiply)
3-readjust (levels) sliders if necessary
4-in the case of my work to get the muted colors just turn down
the saturation

Links /resources mentioned in this podcast:
More of Darwin Wiggett’s work on Timecatcher.com
Photographing Creative Landscapes: Simple Tools for Artistic Images and Enhanced Creativity by Michael Orton
Dances with Light by Darwin Wiggett
Download Darwin’s Orton Action
June’s low shooting angle assignment on the Photography.ca forum
See and vote on May 2009’s member images

If you are still lurking on our forum,
feel free to join our friendly :) Photography forum

Thanks as always to everyone that sent comments by email about our last podcast. Although ALL comments are appreciated, commenting directly in this blog is preferred. Thanks as well to all the new members of the bulletin board.

If you are looking at this material on any other site except Photography.ca – Please hop on over to the Photography.ca blog and podcast and get this and other photography info directly from the source. I Subscribe with iTunes I Subscribe via RSS feed I Subscribe with Google Reader I Subscribe for free to the Photography podcast – Photography.ca and get all the posts/podcasts by Email
You can download this photography podcast directly by clicking the preceding link or listen to it almost immediately with the embedded player below.

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22 Comments »

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  1. Just tried it out!! Thank you! Wonderful information and the steps were easy too! No more quessing how now!!

    kat

    Comment by Kat — June 3, 2009 #

  2. [...] a podcast interview with Michael Orton and yours truly about the Orton Effect  please visit the Photography.ca Blog. You can also download for free my Orton Photoshop Actions [...]

    Pingback by Random Stuff « Darwin Wiggett — June 4, 2009 #

  3. Hi,
    Love the podcast. I’m using Lightroom & have never used Photshop. Would you please keep this in mind and include any links so we can try out this and other things on your podcasts.

    Thank you!

    Comment by Marsha — June 4, 2009 #

  4. Hi Marko,

    I almost finished listening on my commute this morning. I thought it would be intersting to see the accompanying material. So here I am and writing a comment.
    The technique for me was completely new and never heard off. (But that is nothing strange for a relative newbie…)
    I loved the whole podcast and it is great that you find these people and interview them for everybody to learn from.
    The technique itself I will certainly experiment with it. That said, I am less on the artistic side at the moment and more on the photography techniques. (Taking a basic Good Shot)
    Nevertheless thanks for what you are doing here and I am already waiting for the next show to be available.

    TJD

    Comment by TJD — June 5, 2009 #

  5. Another excellent podcast, Marko! Very useful info presented in an engaging way.

    Thanks, and thanks again.

    Comment by Kent Wilson — June 8, 2009 #

  6. Would be a great assignment for July!!!!

    Comment by Ed Kriz — June 9, 2009 #

  7. Great Podcast! Great guests! So that’s how it’s done. Excellent! I’m having a blast going through my image archives to find the ones that are “Orton-worthy”.

    Comment by Syd — June 23, 2009 #

  8. [...] 2, 2009 · Leave a Comment I heard a great podcast about a month ago from photography.ca that made me think about the Orton effect in a new way. It [...]

    Pingback by The Orton Effect « This and That — July 2, 2009 #

  9. [...] http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=383 (en inglés) [...]

    Pingback by EFECTO ORTON « Fotografia, diseño y cositas que me gustan — July 29, 2009 #

  10. [...] http://www.photography.ca/blog/?p=383 (en inglés) [...]

    Pingback by EFECTO ORTON | Fotos - Fotografía - Blog de Fotografía. Imágenes y Fotos — July 29, 2009 #

  11. [...] Effect: Download Action | Read about the effect Raw Sharpener: Download [...]

    Pingback by Free photoshop actions @ Pleasant Nights — July 30, 2009 #

  12. [...] images stitched together in a square by shifting my 24mm TSE Canon lens. I added a slight Orton blur to enhance the mood and mystery. I am really happy with the photo and the image will look beautiful [...]

    Pingback by Photo of the Week – Week 2 – August « Darwin Wiggett — August 11, 2009 #

  13. thanks sooooo much… the pic looks great

    Comment by meredith — August 16, 2009 #

  14. [...] 67 – Orton Imagery – The Orton Effect – Interview With Michael The technique itself I will certainly experiment with it. That said, I am less on the artistic side at the moment and more on the photography techniques. (Taking a basic Good Shot) Nevertheless thanks for what you are doing here and I … Categories: Cameras for Less Comments are closed. OLYMPUS FE-280 DIGITAL CAMERA REVIEW (PART 2) RSS feed [...]

    Pingback by Cameras for Less » 67 – Orton Imagery – The Orton Effect – Interview With Michael — August 23, 2009 #

  15. thanks for the simple explanation. I tried a few others places, but could not get the right result until I followed Darwin Wiggetts instructions. A very nice result. I agree that the one thing that will alter from pic to pic is the amount of Gaussian blur. I did 3 photos, and the amount of blur I used was different on each one.

    Comment by Wendy — October 18, 2009 #

  16. I’ve been working my way through the podcasts and this one was fantastic! I found that it really helped clarify the process for me.

    thanks

    Comment by Bambi — November 23, 2009 #

  17. [...] one from archives and my trip up north. I added an Orton Effect to this photo to make it look slightly painterly. Possibly related posts: (automatically [...]

    Pingback by The Daily Snap – March 24 « Darwin Wiggett — March 24, 2010 #

  18. [...] just a handheld shot at 1/500th at f2.8 with the G11 in macro mode. I added a little bit of an Orton Effect to the whole image except the flower to soften up the busy background. I hope to make some time to [...]

    Pingback by The Daily Snap – April 2 « Darwin Wiggett — April 2, 2010 #

  19. [...] on the Waterfront in Burlington  but this time I took a standard shot and then applied a little Orton effect to the photo in post-processing Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)The Daily Snap – [...]

    Pingback by The Daily Snap – April 21 « Darwin Wiggett — April 21, 2010 #

  20. [...] with deep and brilliant shades of blue in the still water and the bright sky.  I applied the Orton Effect to get this sort of dreamy, painterly look.  Thanks DW 53.540941 [...]

    Pingback by mo.dus op.e.ran.di « LAZAblog — April 21, 2010 #

  21. [...] f2.8 to make sure I did not get any extra depth-of-field due to aperture. I also added a slight Orton Effect to help keep the dreamy nostalgia-look going. Canon EOS-1ds Mark III and Canon 90mm TS-E [...]

    Pingback by Weekly Photo – June 25 « Darwin Wiggett — June 25, 2010 #

  22. [...] one of my favorite places for intimate landscapes, Allstones Canyon near Nordegg. I used a little Orton Effect on this one for a painterly rendition. Click on the photo to see a larger version. I almost always [...]

    Pingback by The Daily Snap – July 14 « Darwin Wiggett — July 14, 2010 #

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