Something for the Weekend - Part 230 - Northern Isles

[davescm]

Hi,

Thanks to all who took part in the previous 'Hippity Hop' challenge, and in particular to @jane-e for stepping in at very short notice and setting an excellent challenge image.

This week, we are off to the North Coast of Scotland looking out from John O'Groats harbour,  toward Pentland Firth and the island of Stroma. The weather is not as nice as in Jane's last challenge, but it was a summer's day! There is not much happening in the harbour or the firth, or is there...?

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”.
• 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, 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 and use the 'Insert Photos' icon at the top of the reply box. If posting a comment on someone else’s entry, then please use the grey reply button next to their image post.

Have fun!

Dave

[Camilo Gutierrez Ch]

[davescm]

Harking back to primeval times 🙂

Dave

[@mj]

Cool!

[Trevor.Dennis]

That's a nice sky and lightning effect.  How did you do the lightning?  It doesn't look like Difference Clouds, and most of the stock lightning (on black backgrounds) don't look as nice as that.  Was it Eye Candy 7?   

[Camilo Gutierrez Ch]

I made a Mix of Generative Fill, Adjustments, Blurs and a Replace Sky Effect in Adobe Photoshop

[Oh.N8]

getting a grip on things

[Dean_Utian]

Visiting boats.

[davescm]

I knew our Whitby boat was sea-worthy. It's nice to see that our lakes and mountains boat survived the trip 🙂

Dave

[@mj]

I see that!

[Oh.N8]

boating... 

[Greg_S.]

Santa's Safe Harbour:

[davescm]

Haha, that's where they keep him in the summer!

Dave

[@mj]

Oh so there's a safe escape route? I knew it!

[Oh.N8]

Santa's new sleigh...

[AlanGilbertson]

Slipping back to a grittier time, when battleships and Spitfires roamed these parts.

I needed genFill for the reflection of the harbor boat, which is composited from a photo that didn't include a (usable) reflection. The airplanes and warships are real.

 

[davescm]

They did indeed Alan, the Pentland Firth was not as quiet as it is now. I like the graininess which adds to the era.

Dave

[AlanGilbertson]

The image was crying out for a gritty look, and my formative years were in post-war Scotland. The high-contrast grainy look comes mostly from maxing out Clarity and Grain and reduced saturation in the ACR filter in the main image, but all the composited images got the same treatment. The big ship on the right is the King George V, which would have been seen in that area during war years. 

[Oh.N8]

love the lighting

[@mj]

Like the gritty look too

[AlanGilbertson]

The thing about Scottish weather is how often the light messes with you by being stubbornly flat and grey despite having all the ingredients to be uber-dramatic. I grew up in an area that was wonderfully picturesque several --perhaps as many as ten! -- days a year. I got a tripod so I could shoot slow, fine grain, high-contrast film like Panatomic-X (ISO 40) and FP-3 (ISO 64) as a defensive measure against luminal monotony. 😋 Color wasn't really a thing, most of the year, except when the heather bloomed.

[fbeaume]

Love the vintage look! It gives a nice realistic effect! Nicely done!

[Christelle RD]

Blue mood & dolphins! 

[Trevor.Dennis]

Thhat's another nice sky, and I love that the colour of the sky is reflected in the foreground.

If I saw a sky like that for real, I'd be worried about waking up the next morning blind and being eaten by Triffids. That was based on a true story, in case you didn't know.

[Christelle RD]

Thank you Trevor ! 
Are you talking about ‘The Day of the Triffids’ by John Wyndham, which is a post-apocalyptic science-fiction novel that presents a humanity that has suddenly become blind to a threat of plant origin: the triffids?
OK, I've just discovered it on Google and I thank you so much for this discovery, I'm putting it in my list of books to read. I have to build my SciFi culture 🙂
Happy Holidays,
Happy and Merry Christmas

[davescm]

Very calming, Christelle, I like it.

Dave