Ok Rudra - I'm rising to the Challenge - Apart from the photographs of the old prints - most of my abstract work is done in Photoshop CS3 using NikSoftware plugins - Here is a Link to their Web Site in Europe:
http://www.niksoftware.com/products/en/entry.php
They have other sites worldwide.
I use the four products shown on the Page:
Dfine 2.0: which is a noise reduction tool.
ColorEfex Pro 3: which contains 50+ assorted effect filters - several of which have multiple settings to play with, Eg: B/W conversion, Solarization, Foliage enhancement, Polarization, High Key, etc.
Viveza: A colour control tool.
Nik Sharpener Pro 2: A sharpener tool.
The main advantage of all these programs is what they call their "u point" technology. Basicall you can place one or more control points anywhere on a photo that you like - then - depending upon which of the above plugins you are using you can determine the area you wish to change/play with and precisely control just the area.
Here is the original of one of my posts
swan1.jpg
I took this shot and converted it to B/W on Color Efex.
I then put the colour back in the beak with Viveza and created the cathchlight in the eye.
I then went to the background layer and created a new one by duplicating it and solarizing it with ColorEfex. I used a clone stamp to create the Cachlight on this one - taking the colour from the beak.
In CS3 I then created a suitable size canvas and having reversed the solarized picture I placed the layers on the canvas and cropped. I then filled in the border.
et voila!!
Swans.jpg
or voila!!
Swans2.jpg
from a rather ordinary shot which was a little overexposed originally - Don't tell anyone but somehow I had set the camera at EV +1.7 - I have produced what I think is quite an interesting and acceptable shot??
Th "u point" technology is very, very useful - for a full explanation I recommend you visit the web site and look at the short videos they have such as this one which explains things far better than I can. Watch the introduction video - it explains what is common through out the range - exact control points.
http://www.niksoftware.com/viveza/en/entry.php
All comments are gratefully received - even if you think it is rubbish - please let me know.