Something for the Weekend - Part 239 - Misty Mountains.

[davescm]

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who took part in our last 'Blast Off' challenge. 

This weekend, we leave industry behind and move to open spaces. 'These mist covered mountains...', sang Mark Knopfler in Brothers in Arms. Well we have our own mist covered mountains here which, I hope, are more peaceful than those in the song. Of course that choice is yours, what will you make with this scene?

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

[davescm]

Very apt Jacob. Again the scale is a bit off, but that is down to me providing no reference for it. I'll watch out for that in future challenges.

As an aside, it may be better to use the forum image widget to embed the images. That way no-one need experience the problems that Leslie encountered.
Dave

[Jacob Bugge]

Dave, I found the sizes quite obvious, with a Misthenge at a distance, but having already zoomed in was an irresistible oppportunity to upsize the burds (and the tune) and to show the dance clearly within the circle, legs behind/before stones, with an adaptation just/barely within the size range of ling.

The exquisite mistscape has clearly inspired a great freedom including surprising sizes.

[Leslie Moak Murray]

I see it now! Beautiful, and it does look like Scotland. The Malwarebytes bug is finally fixed. Thank you for all your help on that.

[Jacob Bugge]

Thank you, Leslie. I fully agree: it does look like Scotland.

Your mentioning Scotland made me go back to the origin and forth through SFTWs. The dancer is actually caught in a moment performing a sword dance, right foot just off the ground,

First swordless (and piperless) on Skye
Then with a swords substitute and the the piper on a rooftop
Then back on Skye with the piper
Now both burds honouring Misthenge, still with the old tune from Skye.

As a curiosity, the word burd goes all the way back to Old English, then spelled byrd and meaning wellborn, through Middle English and still applied to a lady/woman/maiden, fallen out of use everywhere else.

And as a further curiosity, burd is pronounced like bird also applied to a lady/woman/maiden, the u/i sounding like the u in burrow.

[Greg_S.]

Support for the theory that the stones came from Scotland?

[davescm]

Proof at last, Greg! 🙂

Dave

[Greg_S.]

I should have added Jacob's dancers to make the argument more convincing.

[Jacob Bugge]

Even more convincing indeed, Greg: the song that made this old tune famous is all about leaving (mainland) Scotland.

[JR Boulay]

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me

…

We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

[JR Boulay]

Verdun

[Trevor.Dennis]

I bet we all have that song in our heads now.  The album was apparently the first CD that most people bought when CDs were first introduced.  That included me, and it's still a favourite of mine. One of the few songs that I like to play loud.

[JR Boulay]

Animated with Firefly: https://abracadabrapdf.net/parking/SFTW239HighlandMist-music.mp4

[davescm]

Wow, AI did a good job with that animation!

Dave

[davescm]

Very poignant, and a good match for the light direction. Nicely done!.

Dave

[MicahBurke]

Reminds me of the song Angriff by Front Line Assembly

Rows and rows of crosses
Standing in the sand
Statues of the fallen
Watching over the land
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Lays tilted in decay
Another year passes
On remembrance day

[SG...]

[Trevor.Dennis]

We talked about this in a recent SFTW thread. How adding image Elements can change the image perspective.  The middle ground look reasonable flat, and on a similar elevation to the foreground, but your lake and its reflections has significantly lowered the middle ground from the viewer's PoV.

You have done a very nice job of the intersection between foreground and the lake.  There's no obvious demarcation in the original to help make that selection, so what I think you have done is select the lighter toned, and slightly closer, foreground,  and placed a grass edge texture behind it.  It works really well.

[davescm]

Welcome to SFTW, SG. It's a very nice edit. Keeping the foreground, flooding the middle, and adding nice reflections make for a nice scene. Then putting the grouse in the foreground is a very clever touch!

[Trevor.Dennis]

Road to Nowhere

[Leslie Moak Murray]

Well done, Trevor!

[davescm]

I'd drive it, Trevor. I'd be itching to get up into the mountains and hopefully the twisty bits!

Dave

[Trevor.Dennis]

I'd drive it, Trevor. I'd be itching to get up into the mountains and hopefully the twisty bits!

Dave

By @davescm

An enduring memory of driving in America is of the long straight roads that disappeared over mountain passes, revealing whole new vistas.  The Painted Deserts of Arizona was a favourite.  I remember one of those roads (I think it was New Mexico) where we could see a vertical cliff way off in the distance.  The road refused to veer away as we got nearer to the cliff that was hundreds of feet high.  When we reached the bottom of the cliff face the road actually managed to find a way up it!   New Zealand is beautiful, but American scenery is not to be sniffed at.

[War Unicorn]

"Medium"

[Jacob Bugge]

An extraordinary pair of colours, James. I had to extract them, create an overlap, and enjoy the greenish red.

[davescm]

Cool! The edge reminds me of an old film frame!

Dave