We’re continuing the fun of our #MexturesxMoodMagic formula contest in partnership with our friends over at @mood.magic with another tutorial piece created around two of the formulas in the new Mood Magic Formula Pack. Read all about the contest right here and learn the ins and outs of formula creation from two of Mood Magic’s finest below!

@MY_TWILIGHT_GARDEN

DUSKY ROSE

When I do flower edits, my aim is to make them resemble the flowers in an old Dutch masters painting.  Light, shadows, texture, romance, a pinch of drama and a dose of soft magic are key ingredients.

For this particular cluster of one of my favourite musk roses, with the very appropriate name Buff Beauty, I wanted to make the flowers glow against a dark background and really bring out the blush hues in the petals, while keeping the overall tones muted and pale.

For a soft vignette and to highlight the blooms in a warm tone I went straight for a favourite adding-subtle-glow-to-anything filter from the Vintage Gradients: Soil, blending mode overlay, taking the opacity down slightly for that clean yet soft look. 

To tone the slightly over-exposed petals down a little and bring out the pink in them, Winter Dusk from Landscape Enhancement worked like a charm, again I lowered the opacity to 32%, blending mode overlay for muted and dusky rosy hues. 

To add just a little more pinkness to the center blooms, and to darken the background just a tad more, I added a bit of Vintage from the Vintage Gradients. 

So, now the dark background, the glowing blooms, and the muted soft light that I was aiming for is starting to take shape, and I just need to add some texture, light and emphasis. 

The texture of an old canvas and some lovely complex hues I found in the Grunge Filter Mulberry, so I added a bit of that; Waterfront from the Radiance filters added some lovely light and really pulled it all together, I left the opacity at 50% because, well, it was just perfect there. 

The Neutral Density filter from Landscape Enhancement is excellent for adding emphasis to any edit I find, so I often finish off with that. Here it brought out the dusky pink just as I hoped it would, muting and slightly saturating the subtle tones. 

Lastly, since I never make an edit without adding at least one of the absolute must-have Atmospheric filters, the Reverence filter wrapped up the edit nicely. The Atmospheric filters are really just magic filters, I find. It’s like blowing fairy dust all over your pictures. 

And that’s all there is to it. A favourite rose, a bit of Mextures, and I’m really quite pleased with the result. If it was a painting, I might even hang it on my wall.

@SEVENSLEEPER_

SOFT GRUNGE

With my edit I wanted to show what I associate with Mood Magic - a light mood with a pinch of glimmer. I have a thing with photographing grasses, so I chose what is for me a typical photo.

For this 5-layered edit, I first went to the "Grit and Grain" textures and used "Sand Blasted" in blending mode "Screen" Opacity 56% for a soft, texturized, and faded touch.

After that, to add a bit more light texture, I used "Yololomo" Opacity 48% in blending mode "Difference" to keep the softness and to let the grass stand out more.

I aimed for a summery feel, so I added some golden effects. For that I chose "Roosevelt" from the "Emulsion" Pack in Opacity 46%.

In order to get more warmth, I went to the "Athmospheric" Pack and chose "Barren". I lowered the Opacity to 29%.

Now I just had to apply a sort of magical glimmer. So I used "Space Dust" from the "Anomaly" textures and went up with the Opacity to 94%.

For a very professional finish, i turned to the adjustments, where I tapped nearly every button there is. Here I lowered the saturation, contrast and fade and increased the temperature and highlights for an overall polished feel.

We hope you’ll participate in our contest with @mood.magic and we look forward to seeing all of your amazing photographs!