Twirl photography

Original photo: Hill House by Mihaly Slocombe

Original photo: Basser House by Mihaly Slocombe

What is it?

An interesting photography manipulation technique for Photoshop learned via The Artist Makena and Digital Darkroom Techniques:

1. Start with any photo
2. Filter > Pixelate > Mezzotint > Medium lines
3. Filter > Blur > Radial blur (slider = 100, blur method = zoom, quality = best)
4. Repeat step 3 up to 5 times, as desired
5. Duplicate layer
6. Remain on original layer. Filter > Distort > Twirl (angle value = +80 or as desired)
7. Select new layer. Filter > Distort > Twirl (angle value = -80 or opposite of step 6 angle value)
8. Alter new layer’s blending mode to lighten
9. Merge layers
10. Finish