Photoshop Explorations

I decided to do all of my explorations in Adobe Photoshop. The first image I chose is a photo I found on a google search. I chose this image because I felt that the contrast in it would work well with the first effect I found. The effects I used are as follows:

Stylize -> Polar Coordinates -> 20+ iterations
Distort -> Spherize (Normal mode at -100%) -> Around 10 iterations

The second image is one I took of an Xbox360 controller.  I thought the pattern of the buttons would be cool after I use my second effect and I was not disappointed.  The effects I used are as follows:

Stylize -> Emboss -> 10+ iterations

Filter -> Oil Paint -> Turn all the brush and lighting tools up to the max.

The last photo is one I took of the Notre Dame band.  I chose it in hopes that the blue and gold would blur well together.  The effects I used are as follows:

Pixelate -> Fragment -> 12 iterations

Stylize -> Wind -> 3 iterations "From the Left" -> 3 iterations "From the Right" 

Here are my notes during my exploration: