SIU fall campus

[Hazel Grant]

Today was a windy but beautiful day for a walk on the SIU campus. Took this one, added Topaz simplify oil paint and a grain texture for canvas effect. Cropped some and took out a couple items. There is a bit more canvas to the photo but it would mean leaving in an electric box and I wasn't sure that wouldn't detract too much. Couldn't clone it out because of the details needed in the busy background behind it.

[Judy Howle]

Beautiful fall colors Hazel! I like the processing also, looks like a painting.

[Dennis Bishop]

I like this kind of image because it evokes the feeling of a warm autumn day. I'm not sure why, but the people seem to add something. Maybe because one can imagine them enjoying the day. However, I wished the man in the lower right were walking into the image instead of out of it. In a couple quick steps, I was able to turn him around with no trace of the change. (Make a duplicate layer of the image and turn off its visibility. On the original image layer, use the lasso tool to make a fairly tight selection around the man and do a content aware fill to make him disappear. Deselect. Make the duplicate layer visible, again, but reduce its opacity to something like 50%. Flip it horizontally, and move it to the right until the man is at the same place near the tree as he was originally. Add a mask and mask him out of the layer. Then, invert the mask so he's the only part of it that's visible. It takes a lot longer to write all that than to do it.) The best part about the change was a complete surprise. Not only is he no longer walking out of the image, but he's looking toward the two younger people striding along. And he appears to be standing there looking at them. Perhaps reflecting on his days as a student, there. To me, at least, it added an interesting element to the story.

[Paul Lagasi]

Very nice painting, the leaves are gorgeous, Dennis makes some good points above, well done

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hazel, it's a nice painting, beautiful fall colors and looks like a typical fall campus scene. I like the inclusion of people. Dennis makes a good suggestion

[Anita Bower]

You successfully achieved a painterly look to this lovely photo. Beautiful light! Pleasing composition. Cropping out the electric box was probably the right choice. I often crop my image. I don't mind seeing the man walking out of the picture. Image conveys the feeling of a college campus in the fall.

[Mitch Carucci]

You brought out the feel of autumn perfectly. You should sell this image to SIU for one of their publications!

[Hazel Grant]

thanks, Dennis....a technique I was not aware of. I'll try it myself and see how it goes. Is content aware a part of PS CS4?

[Dennis Bishop]

thanks, Dennis....a technique I was not aware of. I'll try it myself and see how it goes. Is content aware a part of PS CS4?

I think it didn't come along until CS5. It might be that you'd have to use one of the other tools, but -- if you keep him in the same place, there won't be a lot to deal with, anyway.

[Maureen Allen]

I love the look you've achieved here, Hazel. Beautiful colors and nice choice of filtering.

[Dennis Bishop]

If you want to see how it'd look before trying it out, Hazel, here it is with the man turned around. Because -- in my mind -- the man became a central part of the story, I also did a Darken/Lighten Center in Nik Color Efex with the area around the man become lighter and the rest becoming darker. That enriched the colors a bit, too. I also used a masked Curves layer to further lighten just the man.

[Anita Bower]

I like both Dennis' version and Hazel's version. They each have a different emphasis and a different feel and a different story to tell. It is interesting that Dennis found the man central, whereas when I studied Hazel's OP, he was incidental to me.

[Hazel Grant]

Yes, it fascinates me how we all have such different visions....and that's a good thing!

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Hazel, good suggestions already mentioned above. A lovely autumn scene well processed.