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Hi
Thanks to all who took part in our piggy bank challenge. There were some great ideas and images.
For this week, I've set a scene for you. 'Twas a dark and misty night in old London town....... but what happened next?
The “rules”:
* 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".
* There are no prizes apart from the chance to practice, show off, or bring a bit of humour 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 image below at full size, hover over the image and click on the circle with the arrows at the top right. 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 blue reply button in this first post. If posting a comment on someone else’s entry then please use the grey reply button next to their image post.
Have fun
Dave
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This is beyond amazing, Dave, it's really beautiful!
I love the touch of Bert Monroy — do I have to explain?
Jane
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Thank you Jane. I'd not thought of it that way but I do know what you mean when you mention it. 🙂 Mine is all 3D render, no illustration, but one photo on the wall.
Dave
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Agree with Jane in that you have producd another amazing image Dave. Well done.
Jane - I did to do a web search to look up Bert Monroy.
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Bert Monroy wrote Channel Chops for Photoshop 4 (not CS4) and is best known for his Times Square image. My reference was to Dave's showing us what is inside the one room! 😊
https://www.bertmonroy.com/timessquare/timessquare.html
Jane
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Thanks for the additional info @jane-e . I did find out that Bert is known as a Photoshop expert. I did not know the other things you menioned. I looked at the page about the Times Square image. Amazing that it was over 6.5 GB flattened and had over 700,000 layers. Need to be super organised and super skilled for that.
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Dean, in this case it's Bert's. Amsterdam Mist illustration we are reminded of. It's similar to Times Square in that none of it is from a photograph. It's all 100% Photoshop. Speaking of 100% Photoshop, Steve Caplin has a book with that name. It's probably my favourite Photoshop book along with Steve's How to Cheat at Photoshop titles. I have just looked at my book shelf and CS6 is my most recent version, although I have just checked and there is only one more recent version after that which was published in 2013.
Steve has a nice wee website with a small forum. It's a bit clunky, but he is good at answering questions.
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I just had to try the Camera Raw Dehaze slider
I lightened up those gloomy shadows with the Exposure slider, too. Everything else was default.
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It worked well, if I get a few minutes, I'll re-render it without the mist for comparison 🙂
Dave
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John, I told Dave the same thing by email last night, but I said I resisted the temptation for fear that it would reveal Jack the Ripper and give me nightmares!
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Good work in transforming the image and revealing a less gloomy character. My transformation is a bit different 🙂
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A menacing presence. Nah actually it's my old boyfriend.
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I thought the photographer had got his shadow in the pic 🙂
Dave
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Leslie if he is from Texas, how come he is not wearing a Stetson?
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Here ya go (as an Adobe Stock contributor, he was one of my favorite models. Below next to the cowboy hat pic is where I make him look real scary, and it 's one of my best sellers):
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Leslie, I'm glad you showed both photos — he looks normal in the first and super-mean in the second! 😊 I love the scary shadow!
Jane
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One of the 'in crowd' 🙂
Dave
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I love this one Dave. It reminds me of Bert Monroy's Amsterdam illustration.
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It's a while since I last used it, but Content Aware Scale is one heck of a handy tool when you need to change the aspect ratio.
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Great job with the book cover Trevor. As you said content aware scale is a great tool for adjusting the width whilst protecting important elements. It's easy to forget it's there.
Dave
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Book cover looks perfect for the title. What is the background behind the book?
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Dean, I wanted a crusty looking old library with a desk or table, but I'd finished the book by this time, and I coukln't find anything with a close enough perspective. So I went with a big old library and blurred it.
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Here is a version with a library by a famous American architect - Louis Kahn.
https://www.nealrantoul.com/posts/louis-kahn-exeter-library
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