![Slums at the North of Petare, Caracas - Venezuela.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmcCFd2LiXGvoyeiyZrPMU13Gdfy68a6QUh7eorGBDWhLb/Slums%20at%20the%20North%20of%20Petare,%20Caracas%20-%20Venezuela.jpg)

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Hello my people, this time I present to you one of my photographs that I have transformed into Visual Art with the help of Photoshop, those who already know me, know that for approximately a year I have been giving importance to my photography by exploiting the filters and adjustments that can be digitally applied to an image.

Since before applying filters to my photos, I already had a great interest in photo retouching; especially what is the adjustment of contrast and color saturation. I constantly retouched my photographs before publishing them, so I was experimenting and growing in this area.

Later I timidly started trying the filters, then I started applying adjustments to the photos after applying the filters and the results I had achieved allowed me to fall in love with visual arts. However, photography has continued to have a privileged place in my artistic journey, which is why I am careful when applying filters; since I seek that my works preserve the main essence of the photography that gave rise to them.

Now, if you allow me, I would like to present you with the photograph that I originally took and that has served as a canvas for this urban extract:

![IMG_0028.JPG](https://images.hive.blog/DQmdeQeAYhuiGDbFTPYS7Y3qBhZZCYoeJ8cVBv9cUoQ5kak/IMG_0028.JPG)

This is the original image (no retouching of any kind) as exported from my BenQ DC C840 camera. I would define this photo as a small excerpt from a large neighborhood, since the sector is actually huge; however, I decided to focus only on this part due to the great variation in shapes and colors that the houses present.

Here I wanted to capture the essence of a Caracas neighborhood, where everyone builds their home as best they can and with the resources at hand, where everyone paints with the color they want or simply leaves the work clean. These neighborhoods are often fascinating for tourists and there is always room in the space of any memory of any camera to even dedicate a few images.

I admit that I quite liked the original photograph, however I am also a lover of painting and drawing (despite the fact that I am not a good drawer), and for this reason I take advantage of some of the best filters that Photoshop offers to give my photographs the textures of these great arts.

Something that I like about applying these filters to images is that these types of textures allow us to take the saturation to levels that we could not do with pure photography without it looking bad. By applying these textures I can exaggerate the colors without risking them looking horribly saturated and bring the image to life.

In this comparison we can see how photography evolved and improved after applying filters and retouching:

![1 Slums Comp.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmd3rBz64LvMbkAqsnmfJyeofZNbb2JR1zyehUecdiiunN/1%20Slums%20Comp.jpg)

At the same time we can see that the essence of the image was not affected, and that despite the exaggeration of colors and filters that make the photo look like an illustration or a painting; the elements and the drama of the light that I managed to capture when I released the shutter and took the picture are still intact.

Likewise, I would like to add that every adjustment, retouch or application of filters that I carry out on my photographs is done manually and very carefully. I take my time with each image, applying and removing filters, trying different settings and evaluating until I settle on just one version.

I do the same with retouching, I play with contrast, with colors and lighting, I draw my conclusions and decide on the possible version of the image; which is the one that gives me the most satisfaction.

Although it is true that I have been trapped by technological tools and although it is true that I feel a powerful attraction to digital art, it is also true that I will never stop being a photographer, I will never stop capturing with my camera everything that captivates me. and everything that interests me. Therefore, at this stage of my life as a Visual Artist, I will not stop having one of my photos as a canvas.

I also want to add that this type of art does not save a bad photograph, the images I capture have to be good to be able to work on them. Similarly, knowing how to use tools like Photoshop will not make you a good photographer, but they can help you make the good images you have achieved more impressive.

Likewise, with these techniques, a good standard photo can become an extraordinary work and I also believe that it is a new way to interest more people in photography as an art.

To finish, I want to share with you the exciting news that this photographic work already has an owner (and it's not me), since I sold it as an NFT. If you want to see the pertinent details, I invite you to click on this link and visit the work in the market where I minted and sold it:

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[Slums at the North of Petare, Caracas - Venezuela](https://kalamint.io/KT1EpGgjQs73QfFJs9z7m1Mxm5MTnpC2tqse/token/81182)

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I really thank you for reading my post and supporting me, I hope to see you again in my next post and also to see the fantastic photographs and photographic works that you share through this community.

![Fran Afonso Visual Artist Banner 1.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmRrFB4nj1MtUc2KmsHw1A8M1CxwHdxQmUve8bueCHMgDf/Fran%20Afonso%20Visual%20Artist%20Banner%201.jpg)

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