Something for the weekend - Part 29 - Castle

[davescm]

Hi

There was a great response to last week's basement challenge. This week I have another scene for you, and this time it's a real place rather than a 3D model.

Eilian Donan castle is on the west coast of Scotland. Originally constructed in the early 13th century, it was destroyed in 1719. It was then rebuilt in the early 20th century and has become one of the most photographed castles in Scotland and has appeared in many films. It is well worth a visit and the iconic view of the castle with its bridge and loch is a must for photographers.

I bring you though an image on a gloomy day inside the castle grounds, what can you do to bring it to life?

Anything goes as long as it meets the forum rules on decency, copyright etc.

Anyone is welcome to have a go - whether you are a complete beginner or a Photoshop expert.

There are no prizes - just the chance to practice, show off, or bring a bit of humour and fun.

When posting back your edited images please use jpeg and downsize to 1200px on the long side.

To download the image below in jpeg format with ICC color profile (sRGB) and without the forum scaling artefacts , right click and then use Save Image As /Save Target As (or similar depending on your browser).

Have fun.

Dave

[Trevor.Dennis]

They've repaved the courtyard...

Hollywood style.

[davescm]

Have you been playing with Filter Forge ?

Dave

[davescm]

You never know what you might see at night...

Dave

[Semaphoric]

It's only a model.

    

[Trevor.Dennis]

Semaphoric

I was thinking Monty Python as well.     The Frenchman hurling insults from the battlements in Holy Grail sort of thing.  Terry Gilliam was the unsung hero of Python IMO, but he bought that amazing animation to the TV series, and went on to make one of my all time favourite movies Brazil.   Anyway...  I started something last night, and so far no one else has had the same idea, so'd better get at it.

[KJerryK]

Nothing lasts forever

[Trevor.Dennis]

[davescm]

Wow - they are flying in this week

Semaphoric - you caught me out - it's made of Lego.

Rista - I love the lighting , and bonus points for using teh guard from a previous SFTW challenge

Jane - I see the urban atrists have been visiting!

KJerryK - a dark , end of the world feel. I wouldn't like to meet that vulture-it's huge!

Trevor - as usual you keep us smiling

Keep them coming - everyone is welcome to join in.

Dave

[Trevor.Dennis]

You just can't get decent groundsmen.  Even if you are The Queen.

[KJerryK]

That gave me a good laugh to start the day

[Trevor.Dennis]

KJerryK  wrote

That gave me a good laugh to start the day

The great thing about doing these challenges is that we often find ourselves covering new ground. Running into problems, and having to work out ways round them.  They are a good excuse to practice, and stay on that learning curve that keeps us sharp, and makes using the apps continue to be fun.  The issue I had with the Whack-a-Mole was with colour.  The red blood splatter that looked fine, standing out against the background, became lost when output to GIF with 128 colours.  It only has 28 frames (kept down by pausing some frames for a second or so), but I wanted to keep the resolution and the GIF file size is still just short of 1Mb.  I had to resort to giving the splatter layer a light pink Outer Glow to pop it from the background, and it doesn't look that great I'm thinking, so it maybe needs revisiting.

Anyway...  The weekend is nearly over, so perhaps we'll see some more entries.

[jane-e]

Trevor.Dennis  wrote

...Running into problems, and having to work out ways round them.  They are a good excuse to practice, and stay on that learning curve that keeps us sharp, and makes using the apps continue to be fun. 

Sometimes the "problems" are small. I knew before I started, for instance, that I would be using the Multiply blending mode on the graffiti. But then it was too faded. So I duped the layer and applied the Overlay blending mode to the duplicate which popped out the colors nicely, leaving the stones still visible. Yes, good excuse to practice and have fun!

Pink blood? Maybe that's what the Royals have?

[Rista12]

Heeeelp!

[jane-e]

what every castle needs...