Thanks to everyone who took part in our ‘Close shave’ challenge. There were some sharp entries over the last two weeks.This week we take a trip into the woods where we find a mysterious pair of boots and a spade. Something is going on. Can you show us what it is? The “rules”:Use the starter image as at least part of your own image entry. Anything goes, as long as it meets the forum rules on decency, copyright, etc. Anyone, and everyone, is welcome to have a go, whether you are a complete beginner or a Photoshop expert. This is not just for our forum “regulars”. The challenge is not limited to Photoshop. Any Adobe software can be used. There are no prizes apart from the chance to practice, show off your skills, or bring a bit of humor and fun. Don't be shy, join in and have a go! The starter image is made available for you to use in this forum challenge only.To download the starter image, click it, then, when the image opens in its own window, right-click and choose “Save Image As/Save Target As” (or similar, depending on your browser). When posting back your image, please use the reply button in this first post and use the 'Insert Photos' icon at the bottom of the reply box. If posting a comment on someone else’s entry, then please use the reply button next to their image post.For those interested I took the picture in Shin Forest, Scotland a few years ago. The spade and boots are Adobe 3D assets which I textured in Adobe Substance Painter before rendering in Blender 3D and compositing in Photoshop.Have fun! Dave.

Community Expert

StickyQuestion

Something for the Weekend - Part 268 - It's a mystery!

Forum|Forum|7 days ago
September 25, 2026
111 replies
748 views

Thanks to everyone who took part in our ‘Close shave’ challenge. There were some sharp entries over the last two weeks.

This week we take a trip into the woods where we find a mysterious pair of boots and a spade. Something is going on. Can you show us what it is?

The “rules”:

Use the starter image as at least part of your own image entry.
Anything goes, as long as it meets the forum rules on decency, copyright, etc.
Anyone, and everyone, is welcome to have a go, whether you are a complete beginner or a Photoshop expert. This is not just for our forum “regulars”.
The challenge is not limited to Photoshop. Any Adobe software can be used.
There are no prizes apart from the chance to practice, show off your skills, or bring a bit of humor and fun. Don't be shy, join in and have a go!
The starter image is made available for you to use in this forum challenge only.

To download the starter image, click it, then, when the image opens in its own window, right-click and choose “Save Image As/Save Target As” (or similar, depending on your browser).

When posting back your image, please use the reply button in this first post and use the 'Insert Photos' icon at the bottom of the reply box. If posting a comment on someone else’s entry, then please use the reply button next to their image post.

For those interested I took the picture in Shin Forest, Scotland a few years ago. The spade and boots are Adobe 3D assets which I textured in Adobe Substance Painter before rendering in Blender 3D and compositing in Photoshop.

Have fun!

Dave.

N

Nils M. Barner

Community Expert

well…

Greg_S.

Community Expert

I inserted this photo in a reply Dave made to my original post. It shows up in the editing box but not when posted. Someone else has commented about issues with this thread. Perhaps this was another example.

In any event, @davescm high visibility jackets are necessary to avoid being shot by hunters in the woods.

Edit: The photo is not showing here either.

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

Greg did you paste directly, or use the Insert Image icon, or tried both?

A tip for when this forum plays up is to do a hard refresh (Ctrl F5 or Shift Ctrl R for most browsers AFAIAA). I sometimes see the red ‘Failed’ error pop-up, but when I escape out of it and refresh I find that the operation had succeeded. Go figure.

This new forum is definitely more flaky than the previous version. I like that we can now paste images directly into a post, but I HATE the small window. I have lost count of the number of times I’ve messed up through having to create a long post into the letterbox shaped posting window.

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Trevor, I refreshed the page several times. There were no error messages. The photo successfully uploaded into the post using only the insert image icon method, and I could see the photo in the edit box. (I did not know about the copy method, so I will try it in this post. )

There are too many problems with this forum to list here. And it doesn’t seem like anyone is listening anyhow.

N

Nick Gioia

Community Expert

One of my Favorite cartoons. I think somewhere in this forest is the Mystery Shack? Maybe...

davescm

Author

Community Expert

A flame in the forest, there might be no forest soon 😮
Dave

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

jane-e

Community Expert

Now I’ll be singing this all day — thanks for the earworm, Trevor!

Jane

jane-e

Community Expert

…and that has made all the difference.

@Greg_S., I almost did Frost instead of Thoreau, and am happy that you did it! Excellent image!

Jane

Greg_S.

Community Expert

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less travelled by:

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

An interesting aspect of your added workmen is that you have changed the scene’s perspective. I’ve been seeing it as gently rising, but the change in height of the workmen’s eyeline makes the scene now have a more significant climb towards the distance.

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

Guys, check this out. A new feature called Relight in the Layers menu. You can have multiple light sources and control colour, intensity, how hard/soft, distance, and how much original lighting to keep. It uses AI to work out the depth of objects, and automatically casts shadows and light drop-off. A really stellar new feature. I think it uses 30 credits, but not till you hit Done in the CTB, so you could screen shot it and cancel if you have limited GenCreds. [EDIT] Looks like three light sources max.