My LPS 9 ideas...

Pat664422

I've been having some trouble with the theme this time. I was wondering if either of these two pictures communicated the theme very well... any feedback would be very welcome and appreciated.

Symbolic Expression (both):




Into the wild blue yonder (freedom):



Thanks!

hawkeye978

The first one doesn't do anything for me. I think the second is more on target.

KvPhoto

I like the second one a lot. The first really does not say much to me.

Shizam

I agree, the 1st one does nothing. The 2nd one is great, I really like it but I would reshoot it on a day where there was more blue in the sky and just one or two well defined clouds and use a opaque yellow balloon (as yellow is high contrast vs blue) and probably a polarizer.

Sam

KvPhoto

Sizam wrote:

I agree, the 1st one does nothing. The 2nd one is great, I really like it but I would reshoot it on a day where there was more blue in the sky and just one or two well defined clouds and use a opaque yellow balloon (as yellow is high contrast vs blue) and probably a polarizer.

Sam

Yeah, I think more billowy, defined clouds would be nice! and a bit deeper blue.

Pat664422

Thanks very much for the feedback. I'll try to reshoot the 2nd shot with better skies. You'd think I'd get plenty of opportunities in the Sunshine state, but it hasn't seemed to work out since I took the one I posted.

I was also pondering a different perspective for the balloon shot, perhaps being under the balloon as it drifts up. I wondered what that would look like with a super wide angle lens of some kind, but the widest I can go is 18mm. I'll have to experiment, and find a better selection of balloon colors. Thanks again for all the input!


Edit:
Here is the other shot I took on my first run... This one leaves the balloon a lot of room to go up into and it's a more contrasty balloon color:

Shizam

I do like that balloon color more, but personally liked the balloon being more upright, and having the 'canvas' be thinner with the balloon more towards the top as it created more visual tension. Having it in the center gives me a feeling of stasis, having it at the top gives a feeling of movement, fleeing and well 'freedom' Love the hand positioning btw, great geusture.

Sam

Pat664422

Sizam,

Thanks for the continued feedback. Had some beautiful skies today. Here is my latest effort. I'm afraid I blew it though.... the balloon is not quite straight and I clipped off too much of my devoted assistant's hand:




A shame I didn't get it right with these better looking skies. Getting a balloon to cooperate in the wind and the weather to cooperate to make a lovely background is actually turning out to be quite challenging. And I'm getting concerned about my effects on the environment!

PaulThomasMcKee

The clouds and saturation of the blue are much better in this rendition. The position of the ballon doesn't bother me. Would it be possible (and within the rules) to Photoshop the hand from the previous shoot into this one?

paul

Shizam

Pat664422 wrote:

Sizam,
A shame I didn't get it right with these better looking skies. Getting a balloon to cooperate in the wind and the weather to cooperate to make a lovely background is actually turning out to be quite challenging. And I'm getting concerned about my effects on the environment!

Yea, the clouds, sky and ballon are spot on, too bad on the hand. I was going to suggest tieing some clear fishing line to the balloon and the wrist so you can take some time composing the photo w/out filling up the state downwind with balloons

dlscott56

PaulThomasMcKee wrote:

The clouds and saturation of the blue are much better in this rendition. The position of the ballon doesn't bother me. Would it be possible (and within the rules) to Photoshop the hand from the previous shoot into this one?

paul

Photoshop it in! They're both photos taken within the current time frame. Should be ok.

Pat664422

My finest photoshop effort to date...
Given that I am a photoshopping newb, it's not saying that much...

Shizam

PaulThomasMcKee

Sweet!

Debboggy

Your latest version looks great. You've got the clouds, the bluer sky and the better hand.


The only thing I think that might improve it is to adjust the sharpness of the hand's edges to get rid of the pasted in look. I'm still very new to editing too, so it's hard for me to suggest the easiest way to do this, but I think if you select the hand, you can then feather the edges a few pixels and that should help make it look more natural to the background.

dlscott56

Awesome!

Llywellyn

Nice job! For a PS newb, you managed to make a GREAT composite photo (easier to do with such fantastic starting photos ). I agree on feathering the hand a bit more (which can also be done with a mask or even a "dry brush" on a low opacity run around the hand to ease off some of the over-crispness).

Good luck!

emmalou

It looks fabulous! Great work.......

Pat664422

Fourth times the charm?
I finally figured out how to do the feathering. I'm not sure it made a huge difference after the image is shrunk down to this size, but I can notice a slight difference on the edges of some of the fingers. How does this one look?