Favorite extreme visual effects plugs?

[squirrel$$$bandit]

My friend is a visual artist, and I'd like to get him some really weird interesting plugins as a Christmas gift (I'm late, I know). His pictures are photo abstracts...he takes pics with a point-and-shoot digital, often of things like television screens close-up, and then manipulates them into evocative shapes, colors, etc. He's really good at this.

Can anyone recommend really extreme, really bizarre effects for Photoshop? I don't know this stuff since I'm mostly a representational photographer...

Thanks!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Alienskin makes some cool plugins that I use for graphic design work sometimes. Eye Candy is the most popular plugin from them. Check with your friend though, he might have it already, as it is very popular.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I was checking them out, mostly because I'm interested in Exposure for my own stuff...but it all looks a little too commercial for my friend. I know he doesn't own any plugins though.

I suppose I'm looking specifically for nonrepresentational effects...like buying a new kind of paint, if you're a painter, or painting on a new surface, if that makes any sense. Bizarre color juxtapositions, strange morphing of shapes, contrast experiments, etc.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I was checking them out, mostly because I'm interested in Exposure for my own stuff...but it all looks a little too commercial for my friend. I know he doesn't own any plugins though.

I suppose I'm looking specifically for nonrepresentational effects...like buying a new kind of paint, if you're a painter, or painting on a new surface, if that makes any sense. Bizarre color juxtapositions, strange morphing of shapes, contrast experiments, etc.

Those kind of effects are really not hard to do with tools that come with Photoshop. One thing you might try, I had forgotten this, is Auto FX Dreamsuite. Also check out Flaming Pear's website. That might actually be the best one, and thier plugins are cheap. I have their Melancholytron (imitates Diana/Holga look) and Lunarcell (creates moons and planets for you to drop into photos or drawings). The Creative Pack is the one your friend would probably like best.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Also check out Flaming Pear's website. That might actually be the best one, and thier plugins are cheap. I have their Melancholytron (imitates Diana/Holga look) and Lunarcell (creates moons and planets for you to drop into photos or drawings). The Creative Pack is the one your friend would probably like best.

Ahhhhh that looks perfect, but is it Mac only? He's on a PC...

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

They don't make it obvious on the product page, but if you go to the download page, you'll see a windows version. Flaming pear lets you download a demo then buy a serial if you like the demo.

http://flamingpear.com/download.html#top

 

[russianRF]

Color Efex Pro is pretty sweet -- it has some wild effects, and it's all based on emulating film chemistry. At first it might seem like it's strictly representational, but actually I've only found 6 or 7 filters out of the few dozen that don't create surreal, non-representational effects. It's made by Nik Software...