driving rain

[Dennis Bishop]

This was taken on westbound I-80 near Mercer, Pennsylvania. It was raining quite a bit, but conditions weren't nearly as threatening as they might seem from the image. In truth, we were passing the truck on its left, and the distant vehicle was going away rather than speeding toward the truck. I invoked artistic license for dramatic effect. Oh, I wasn't driving with one hand and shooting with the other.



iPhone 5S with the PureShot camera app, ISO 160, f/2.2, 1/30 second

processing highlights

• Three additional exposures were done in Adobe Camera RAW and all four were processed in Nik HDR Efex
• straightened and cropped (some because of straightening; some for composition)
• flipped horizontally
• Topaz Simplify -- saved watercolor preset
• Alien Skin Snap Art -- saved watercolor wash preset, Hard Light blend mode, 28% opacity
• Fractalius -- three saved black & white presets, 2 Multiply, 1 Divide, various opacities
• Snap Art -- saved black & white Line Art preset, Multiply, 57%
• Simplify -- saved black & white edges preset, Divide, 23%
• For the "oncoming" vehicle, 20-pixel white circles were placed over the "headlights." Then, all layers were stamped for processing in Topaz Star Effects. To hide the white circles, afterwards, a soft, low-opacity brush was used to paint over them in airbrush mode using nearby colors.
• The same procedure was used for the trailer lights, which were given different settings in Star Effects and painted over in different colors.
• Alien Skin Exposure -- a vignette and a texture in a single layer
• Alien Skin Eye Candy -- Water Drops preset, 83%, masked off car interior
• Eye Candy -- Drip preset, 20%, masked off car interior
• Eye Candy -- Lightning preset, 32%
• Photo Filter adjustment layer -- Warming 85, masked off sky
• brushed on the leading edge of the windshield wiper with a soft brush
• copy of base layer -- Color Dodge, 8%
• copies of the black & white Snap Art and Simplify black & white layers
• gradient vignette

[Hazel Grant]

Glad you weren't the driver! Great effects, as usual, and love the double meaning of the title.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Dennis, this is a great concept work! I love the overall effect and mood, so dreary and wet. The thick paint look really adds to the wet look too, and I like the treatment of the lights. The lightning offsets the bit of auto interior nicely, and the wiper blade looks like a menacing shadow. Nicely done!

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Dennis,

Greetings. I'm immediately out in the rain driving on a highway. That particular blurred look through a wet windshield is perfect. Good show!

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Judy Howle]

Very nice composition and processing Dennis! The lightning is a nice touch.

[Nancy Bell]

Fabulous! All great effects blended into an image we can all immediately relate to and feel. I like that you left part of the windshield framing in, to put the viewer in the "driver's seat". Love the rainy texture! And the lightning adds the perfect balance to that side of the image.

[Diane Miller]

Wonderfully done!!

[Steve Adkins]

Boy, I did not expect this from the thumbnail!! Powerful image and processing, Dennis. Unique and interesting subject. Well done!

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Really effective processing Dennis. It really looks dark and stormy. I love the look of the lights on the truck, and it looks like a car is coming towards it, (even though they are just tail-lights)- it adds to the eerie effect.

[gary ellwein]

Great vision and execution.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Dennis, I think everything has been said but I'd like to say that you've outdone yourself on this one - from concept to conclusion

[Dennis Bishop]

Dennis, I think everything has been said but I'd like to say that you've outdone yourself on this one - from concept to conclusion

Thank you, Cheryl, and everyone else. The thing that really tickles me about this is that it started out with an iPhone photo.

[Anita Bower]

That is exactly what the road looks like to me when I'm driving in the rain at night. Excellent. As others said, I like that one knows one is in a car.
The lighting is gorgeous, as are all the squiggles of water.
What fun to know you are using an iPhone!

[Mitch Carucci]

Dennis.

What an original image! Like what you did with it (as always) and it reminds me of tense rainy nights on the road. Don't drive much at night anymore, but you really caught the feeling...

M.C.