Now, of course, with Photoshop, we can go way, way further towards getting carried away. Plug-ins can take our pictures and either make them much nicer, or make them look really, well, "ookie."

In this month's Connected Photographer Plug-in of the Month, we're proud to honor a plug-in that can either enhance your photos or make them look very, very nasty. I know this because I spent a lot of time tinkering with the plug-in and not reading the documentation.

I like plug-ins that do some magic with a simple selection and also allow you to tune your selections for the optimal result. The plug-ins from Auto FX Software definitely do that. This month, we're actually giving our Plug-in of the Month award to two Auto FX plug-ins that work really well together: the Mystical Lighting and Mystical Tint Tone and Color plug-ins.

Mystical Lighting lets anyone apply photo-realistic lighting and shading effects to digital images. With this software you can enhance the ambiance of your images and improve its beauty. Mystical Lighting includes 16 visual effects, over 400 presets for instant results and an infinite variety of looks. Mystical Tint Tone and Color is a collection of 38 color and tonal editing effects built to creatively enhance images. Precise brush tools allow you to enhance your image by brushing over just the areas you want to change. Brush on sharpness, tonal and color corrections and effects with ease.

To illustrate these plug-ins, I started with the unretouched image shown in Figure A.

FIGURE A


This is a raw, unretouched weeping willow. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Then, I used the Mystical Tint Tone and Color plug-in to give it a quick, antique photo look, using, coincidentally, the antique photo preset of the plug-in, as shown in Figure B.

FIGURE B


Here's the photo, made all antique-like. Roll over picture for a larger image.

I liked it, because it gave me a bit of an aged look without the return to the very overused sepia effect. I also liked it because it was a single menu selection. Unlike many of the other Auto FX products, the Tint Tone and Color plug-in does not provide previews, so there's often a need to undo. Often.

While Mystical Tint Tone and Color provides you with simple tint, tone, and color changes, there's a whole kit-bag of neat little goodies in the Mystical Lighting collection, including stuff to make sparkles, rainbows, and a lot more. Although I certainly wouldn't accept this as a final image, Figure C shows what you can get when you combine a whole bunch of effects, including mist, lightcaster, and even their very sophisticated rainbow effect.