Late last year I treated myself to a number of photo filter plug-ins in order to stretch my vision and my approach to photography.  The newest of the plug-ins for me was Topaz's bundle of filters.  During January and February, I've participated in a number of photo webinars to help me learn more about the filters and see applications of how they work.

The other day I was looking at a photographic opportunity within our home.  I spied our cats little balls that she bats around the living room, close to the fireplace.  I gathered all of the balls in one area and started shooting.  I took about 5 shots and then used Topaz's Bundle within Photoshop to see if I could create a look that was similar to my feeling as I capture the images.

The first shot doesn't look altered at all.

But it is....

I started out in Photoshop, then duplicated layers twice....one of which was getting ready for Topaz B&W2.  I used a simple classic B&W filter for this layer.  Then I used the blending mode on this layer and changed that to "multiply".  I modified the opacity in order to get the look that I wanted.  As you can see, the image doesn't even suggest any B&W processing at all.

Then I wanted to experiment just a bit further.  One of the things about our cat and her little toys is that they are always in motion.  So, I brought in the same shot and use Lens Effects in the Topaz bundle, trying different filter looks under motions.  I changed the center of motion to be slightly off center and viola....here's the resulting image....

To me, this altered image really represents how I view the little play balls.  They always seem in motion since our cat moves so quickly and the balls are very light and mobile.  I love the way the colors complimented each other as they blended together changing everything from the very static shot that I originally captured to this more abstract shot signifying motion.

I really liked this bit of experimentation and will continue to look for shots that lend themselves to this kind of transformation.