California road trip-crop dusting
Another with my iPhone. Was hoping to catch the plane actually dusting, but I think it was through for that run. Must have been dusting the field to the far right where dust is still visible. It's fun to watch those planes dip and rise as they cover the fields. Sort of like a private air show. Cropped heavily in so had to deal with some noise especially in the sky. Slight cloning for unwanted items.
I think the composition is very effective, and I like the colors and the implied motion of the plane. The idea of crop dusting is appealing, but I'm not sure I would've recognized that had been happening if you hadn't mentioned it. To test something out, I extended the dust farther to the right and lightened it some. Based on how that looked, I think it might be worth taking some artistic license and extending the dust far to the left and, then, curving it up toward the plane. (If that were as easy to do as it is to say, I would've tried it.)
Thanks for the idea, Dennia. Instead of moving the cloud, though, I moved the airplane and increased the cloud a bit. (also took out the telephone pole because it looked like a crash about to happen.)
It's almost like that rise in the dust was meant for that. I like the big sky and the expanse of the farm in the original, though. Sometime after my earlier comment, I felt I needed something therapeutic and doing some work on an image seemed like a good thing. Instead of working on the one I've been banging my head against, I'd decided to try what I'd mentioned. Here's what happened. (It didn't take as much effort as I'd thought it might.)
Fun what we can do isn't it. Like the expanse, too. Good job.
Hazel,
I like the open sky in the original, but I have to admit to liking Dennis's versions a bit better (especially the second). He is amazing in what he can do in editing!
Yes, I agree on both counts.
I like them all! The first one tells a different story--a peaceful rural scene with airplane--I imagine pilot enjoying the beauty of the countryside. The other two tell the story of dusting the fields. Hazel's version is more realistic, Henry's provides more balance to the composition. As I said, I like them all equally well. I did a Brighten/Contrast adjustment and like it better.
How did you two add the "dust" to the photos?
Thanks, Anita. I just used the clone tool at a lower opacity.
Thanks.Originally Posted by Hazel Grant
Fun!!
I think I have a camera on my iPhone -- need to try it out some day...
Anita, I did the dust two different ways. On the right side of the building, I copied the original dust, then distorted it with the transform tool and moved it both laterally and vertically. If I remember right, I used a mask to alter the outline some. The first addition of dust to the left side of the building was pretty much started the same way but altered some when the next segment -- including the curve up toward the plane was added. For that part, I used the Lasso tool to draw the outline and filled it with a color from the original dust. That made it all too even and dense, so I used a low opacity soft brush to partially mask some of it away as well as a high density (and maybe harder) brush to alter the shape a bit. The low opacity brush was applied to some extent on the segment to the left of the building so there was a better transition between it and the segment with the curve.
Thanks, Dennis. This type of work is new to me and I appreciate the explanation.
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