Santa Fe just had its last snowfall of the season which reminded me of a photo I took early December morning 2008….

I loved the winding driveway with the sun and tree at the very end so I cropped the image and thought it might look better without the color. Here is what I came up with:

I did more than desaturate the color… I bought a set of plug-in filters from Topaz Labs. What I love about the filters is I can create new settings, name them and easily apply them again onto new images.

After I found a setting a liked I tweaked it more. Then I desaturated the image.
It was not as simple as 1,2,3. There was a bold grid in the best image. I blended it out using the rubber stamp tool, lightened the image and entered it into a contest with my fingers crossed.

The people at Topaz Labs are friendly and helpful.
Their plugins are resaonably priced with a 30 day free trial period.

If you have a problem or question Topaz-help will work with you.
I was very impressed.
Have fun!