Theme - Steampunk Gator
I made this photo on Wednesday at Noxubee Refuge in late afternoon. I used Topaz Clean and the Nik vintage camera plugin (I forget the name!) to get the color, and used Overlay blend mode at 70% to make it darker. Hope it fits the theme! I added some wings from Spiritus Mortis scrapbook kit from deviantscrap.com.
I am not sure this gator could attain lift off with only one wing, not really sure about this one, Judy....good to see you back.
I like what your processing did to the gator and the water The diagonals are very effective, too. Vertically, the composition is right on, but I'd be tempted to add some canvas to the left to move the eye out of the horizontal center. The wing idea is definitely out of the box. Did you add it before or after the other processing?
Hi Paul. I thought the wing was ify. I'll remove it. I had to mask the other one due to the low position.
Thanks Dennis. I cropped it like that because it looked better to my eye, not really long and pano looking. In this instance the whole gator is a line closer to the top and I didn't even notice the eye being in the center! I added the wing after processing. I'm going to remove it and offer another version also.
Last edited by Judy Howle; 09-19-2014 at 08:44 PM.
Gator with wing removed. It really didn't work
Another version but it has the wing. I couldn't repeat it! I used the new Topaz Impression Oil II on it. I love that program already! And I've only used it with web images just to see how it does. I think it will be a big hit among photo artists. I like it already better than Snap Art after doing just 3 images. 25% off till end of Sept.
Last edited by Judy Howle; 09-19-2014 at 08:54 PM.
Never mind the gator -- I LOVE the water! Especially above the gator -- a very different look with great colors and textures! I like it in frame 6 more than in 7.
I haven't tried Impressions, yet. Why do you like it better than Snap Art?Originally Posted by Judy Howle
I think it looks more realistic to me and has lots of cool presets and you have quite a few sliders to change settings. I disliked all but the oil paint settings in snap art, oh except that one that has the wavy lines, but I forget what it's called. I haven't used SA in several months. I actually like the cheapo jixipix apps less than $10 each for PC and Mac and use them more than SA, you should try the demos. I had them on my iPhone first and really liked them so I bought the plugin bundle with like 18 of them! I'll post another Impressions image tomorrow. I should try to start with a hi-res image instead of a web image and see the difference.
Thanks Diane! I love the water too. It really looks better dark green than the sort of avocado green it actually was.
Hi Judy, I'm with you on Impression versus Snap Art. I got very frustrated with SA because it is very limited in its effects and most of them render the image into "mung". I found that I was only using the oil paint "detailed" preset and ignoring the others. I find Impression to be much more flexible and offers tons of different looks. The learning curve is a bit much, but when you realize that you are mostly changing the properties of the brush and its strokes it all starts to fall into place. I'm looking forward to creating my own brushes and love that it gives you that option.
I really love the water and prefer the image in pane #6 over the others. The wing is a cool idea but it looks "planted" in those versions.
"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." - Henri Cartier Bresson
Please visit me on the web at http://kerryperkinsphotography.com
Glad to hear you share my opinion of Impression. Kind of "blew me out of the water", haha. Yep the wings look planted, bad idea!
I really like the textures and colours Judy. The tones in the water from dark to light, left to right is very effective and gives the composition more dimension.The gator stands out really nicely against the water. I think #6 is the most effective. The wing is a neat idea, but think he should have two for lift-off.
Great effects on the gator and water. The light across the gator's eye area is very nice. The crop and composition work just fine for me. Maybe the wings can be used on another image. The one wing looks too different from the gator to work here, in my view. I don't know if this is considered chiaroscuro, but I do like the darkness--fits the subject.
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