This started out as a photo of small round pebbles on a rocky beach at Bar Harbor, Maine. The interstitial spaces were black. I wanted to create the illusion of an explosion around the larger stone at lower left, almost like a dense asteroid belt with the observer riding on the large stone while everything else was blasting away radially. I inverted the image which converted the interstitial spaces to white, converted the white to yellowish-white, did a radial gradient about the center, then selected the large stone, masked it, did a radial blur (zoom #15) on everything outside the stone. I took my inspiration from Denise's "Soft Colors" post of yesterday, but was trying to do something a little different. Comments much appreciated.
10-01-2009, 06:20 PM
denise ippolito
Keith, This is totally cool! I love the explosion look -it really worked out well. The masking and zoom blur were done perfectly. I may add a tiny tiny sliver to the bottom. I love the blue in there! Great job Keith and thanks for sharing your PP steps.
10-01-2009, 06:40 PM
Dave Mills
Hi Keith, I think you succeeded in creating the illusion of an explosion. Interesting explanation of PP and good placement of the large stone thats the center of interest. The lighting also works in creating the desired effect...
10-01-2009, 08:17 PM
Christopher Miller
I definitely think you achieved your vision, Keith! Great sense of motion. The image has a very nice 3d effect; the large stone really jumps out!
