On a recent trip to the park I took the following picture of some branches. I framed them against a clear blue sky, creating a high foreground/background contrast.
Using Adobe Illustrator, I imported the image and used the 'Live Trace' feature to render the branches as crisp, black vectors (see second image). I then corrected any imperfections by manipulating the shapes of the branches with 'Live Paint'.Live Trace works really well with well-defined, high-contrast photographs and great looking results can be achieved with minimum time & effort.
In this instance, the contrast has been drastically enhanced, creating an almost abstract image with more visual 'punch'.
Cleaning out the garbage can.