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Posted on 16/01/13 7:52:12 PM |
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Linda.Eckert@wanadoo.fr
maîtresse marocaine Posts: 91 Reply |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Sjef, I tried to clean my screen to drive out your insect. I cleaned and cleaned but the creatures multiplied and one has just bitten me. |
Posted on 17/01/13 3:04:11 PM |
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Sjef
Flying Dutchman Posts: 571 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
O my goodness! That's not funny at all. I suppose it's your thumb where my insect did his job? Keep it in you mouth for a day and all damage is solved. In the mean time download this file (I hope you can run a swf-movie) and practise on a little more insects (hit them with your mouse). https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzFZbF6GxG_8Y2pNSWRZbjBqRG8/edit Greetings |
Posted on 17/01/13 4:00:03 PM |
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michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist Posts: 1871 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
What? The topic! I haven't the foggiest! But here is a flying swan on a "foggy day"
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Posted on 17/01/13 4:06:52 PM |
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Sjef
Flying Dutchman Posts: 571 Reply |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Flying swan: Documentum extrememagnificentexquisitentum! |
Posted on 17/01/13 6:38:42 PM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Looking forward to Steve clearing up the .... mistery 
 _________________ "We don't need roads where we're going!" |
Posted on 18/01/13 03:57:38 AM |
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Artwel
Satire Supremo Posts: 607 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Nothing to see here..  _________________ "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure" |
Posted on 18/01/13 05:09:17 AM |
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sciteach
Professor Pixel Posts: 126 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
[quoted] Artwel wrote: Nothing to see here.. [Artwel: that looks like home here in Oregon. Nicely done! |
Posted on 18/01/13 08:33:57 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7052 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
This was a tricky Challenge, all the more so because of one specific aspect of distant fog: the fact that foreground elements must stand out from it - in this case, that means painstakingly cutting out that spindly tree on the bank. It's a problem that only Mariner dealt with perfectly, although there were several brave attempts. The first entry was a truly hilarious one from Josephine Harvatt, which really tickled me. The real entry showed a good awareness of the distant fade, although the attempt to bring the front tree to the foreground has included much of the far trees as well - it takes more dedication than that to get it right! I do like the Hound of the Baskervilles in the third entry though - especially the jiggling frame as it fades in and out. I was most impressed with GKB's entry, with a distinctly frosty scene: I like the cloudy sun just showing through in the distance, and the fog effect is impressive. But that foreground tree needs to be brought back to the foreground. A sunny entry from joeysala, with a bank of fog hanging over the river itself. But with so much low-lying mist, would there really be such bright sunlight as well? I like the bank of fog in the second entry, but it does accentuate the fact that the tree in the foreground needs to stand in front of it, rather than behind it. The colours in the third entry are interesting, giving the scene a very faded 1970s Polaroid feel. But still too much blue sky, I think! A very evocative, fantasy image from darrenandcolleen, with very tasty colouring and a pair of added cows - nice reflections! - to complement the mooses. I like the riders in the distance, and those - er - what exactly are those things? Are they birds, or flying fish? I enjoyed the second entry very much - so much going on, you've clearly had fun with this. When using Save for Web on this kind of image, though, you really should choose JPEG rather than GIF - the complexity demands it. GIFs are really more suited to large areas of flat colour, or for animation. As a JPEG, you could have made the image very much larger. A good sense of distance from Nick Curtain, with subdued colours - but are they still too strong? And that tree needs to be brought into the foreground. Aha! Colours corrected in the second entry - much stronger, I think. Patchy fog from Lorenzo1977, which has a look of the Clouds filter to me. I like the knocked-back colours, and good work on separating out the foreground tree. There are some hard lines in here, though, on the left and at the bottom right - did something go wrong during the making of this image? An enjoyable scene from Ant Snell, with ducks on the river and an added walker on the opposite bank. The choice of coat colour, and the position, line up perfectly with the Rule of Thirds - which makes a very pleasing composition. I like the way the mist bubbles up in the foreground, too. A very impressive entry from puffin31939, with that soft, fuzzy sun adding a real sense of focus. But... bring that foreground tree back into the foreground! There's a very tactile sense to Garfield72's fog, which is hanging around in clumps right over the river. I think the distant trees may be too clear, though; that's where most of the fog would be. A good sense of distance in Frank's entry, with the distant trees just visible. I'd beware of using the Clouds filter, though, as it does produce a very tight, small pattern; one alternative would be to enlarge a portion of the layer with the Clouds effect, to make it much larger. A better solution, though, is to draw the mist freehand. A very doom-laden image from sciteach, with that foreground tree well brought back out of the fog. But what are those yellowish vertical streaks around the upper branches? This is a really difficult object to cut out. An extraordinary, desolate scene from tooquilos: there's something about that bird of prey that gives the whole field a very apocalyptic appearance. I like the way that bright band of fog goes behind the tree! An absolutely beautiful animated version - the sun coming out, and the butterfly at the end, are such powerful moments. Would like to see more movie, and less interface! Both near and distant mist from James, although there's still too much blue sky in the reflection in the water. But very fine work in the animated version, with fish beneath the surface and a rather fine walking and grazing horse. I like the way the tail moves when it puts its head down! There's a beautiful quality to the foreground mist in katew's entry, which has a real sense of lightness and presence as it hangs over the water. Most realistic. I like the overall desaturation, too, which works well - but that foreground tree, etc etc. And so we come to Mariner's remarkable entry, in which that tricksy tree has been cut out with incredible skill and patience, and brought right to the foreground. And you can see what a difference it makes: the distant fog now pushes the far side of the field much further away, really accentuating the foreground. You mush have spent a long time on this, and it really shows. Just one thing - maybe less saturated colours overall, and no blue in the sky or water? There's a real early morning feel to Vibeke's entry, with the mist hanging just over the water - both on the river, and in the flooded field behind. I like the crisp quality to the sky here. Is the foreground mist just a touch too opaque, though? A clever idea from Linda Eckert, as the frostiness of the morning produces a cloud of vapour. Does he need to be blowing so obviously, though? It makes it appear as if he's causing the fog, rather than simply breathing out! I like the subdued colours; maybe his skin tones need to be desaturated as well, to blend in with the overall feel of the image. A subtle entry from Ben Mills, with a very overcast sky and banks of mist in the foreground. The distant trees may still be too visible, though: the contrast should diminish with distance, I feel. I'm used to michael sinclair being wildly off-topic, but there's usually an internal consistency to his work. This time... midsummer corn with wintry trees? Are you sure? Nice blending, though - I really can't see the join. And good to see a touch of on-topic mist in the second entry! I like the idea of the flying swan in the third entry - but do you need more than two frames to really get the sense of smooth motion? There's a fine textural quality to Emy's mist, floating delicately over the river. Such a blue sky implies a sun that would have burned it off, though; I don't think you can have both sunshine and fog at the same time! A neatly obscured far side of the field from brewell, with the foreground tree ably cut out from the background. But I think the fog over the river just serves to flatten out the image; without it, there would be a much stronger sense of distance. An extraordinary scene from Sjef, depicting Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-Europe United Kingdom Independence Party, after a plane crash - and EU president Herman Van Rumpoy looking on gleefully. A huge amount of work and detail here, with a fantastically rumpled Farage. Tremendous work! I do keep trying to squash the ant in your avatar, though. Some strong fog from Whaler, with a sense of frost on the ground and a very desaturated river. It works well - but that foreground tree needs to be brought out of the mist. And does the green of the field make it look a little too sunlit? There's a very glassy quality to Deborah Morley's mist on the river, and a great desaturation throughout the image. I like the way that tree has been brought forwards, especially in the upper branches; I think there's still some cutout work to be done lower down, where parts of the background are showing through which really need to be more obscured. It is a really, really fiddly tree! Patchy fog from BigVern, with what looks like liberal use of the Clouds filter. And yes, it does look more or less like fog, but it doesn't give any real sense of distance; the far trees are too strong, and need to be knocked back into the mist much more than this. Clever work from Artwel (and how often do I say that?) with strong rain that's splashing into the river and - ingeniously - leaving water drops on the camera lens. That's a really excellent touch! I'm trying to work out how you achieved the realism of those drops. I like the white line of rain in the distance, and the tremendous desaturation of the whole image. Extraordinary! ____________ And so to the big reveal: here's the scene as I photographed it: 
The overall contrast is low, but the colours in the grass are probably stronger than most of us would have expected. But notice how the crispness and clarity of the foreground tree really serves to throw the far trees into the distance. This was a very tricky Challenge, but hopefully an instructive and even entertaining one. |
Posted on 18/01/13 08:45:04 AM |
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joeysala
Perfect Palmist Posts: 604 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Definately challenging..........that tree was problematic for me - I suspected it should've been more visible, but gave up after a dozen attempts! Here in the mountains it's not unusual to have incredibly blue skys with fog and mist - no moors here! Did enjoy this one. _________________ "Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art........" Joseph Conrad |
Posted on 18/01/13 08:46:14 AM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Thanks Steve I applied the fog and then took a copy of the original image and placed it at the top of the stack. I used 'blend if' and a hide all mask to paint back the tree, but the question was how much? From our perspective and not having the benefit of the original scene, this was largely guesswork and I'd thought the fog would be thicker than it was. A good challenge. Nick |
Posted on 18/01/13 08:52:52 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3126 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Steve, thanks. Yes, tricky. instructive - and gloomy. I couldn't resist cheering it up a bit. |
Posted on 18/01/13 08:54:22 AM |
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josephine harvatt
Gag Gadgeteer Posts: 2603 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Thank you Steve - I thought I had got away with those trees until I saw it posted and then they jumped out rather - with PS as many other things the devil truly is in the details _________________ I'm not really bad - I just draw that way |
Posted on 18/01/13 08:57:54 AM |
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Deborah Morley
Makeover Magician Posts: 1319 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Thanks Steve. As a matter of interest how would you have selected that tree? I tried all sorts of ways but nothing worked particularly well. As a matter of interest you saying about sunshine and fog, the other day there was thick mist on the ground and in the background, with brilliant sunshine. The sunshine was diffused through the mist which just lit up part of the sky, couldn't stop to take a shot. Have a good weekend |
Posted on 18/01/13 09:00:32 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7052 Reply |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Slowly and painfully, one twig at a time. I have had to cut out whole heads of hair this way in the past, and it does take a while!
Ah, really? I stand corrected! |
Posted on 18/01/13 09:02:26 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 4033 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Thanks Steve. I didn't think I would live long enough to cut the tree out
Lots of very atmospheric images this week. _________________ 76.38% of all statistics are made up on the spot. |
Posted on 18/01/13 09:20:29 AM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Thanks Steve, Tricky it was ... and informative ... and fun. Nature is never quite what we imagine. So really great moody images have been produced. Cheers Vern _________________ "We're going to need a bigger boat!" |
Posted on 18/01/13 10:05:35 AM |
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katew
Virtual Virtuoso Posts: 681 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Thank you Steve. Ah, yes ... that tree! |
Posted on 18/01/13 2:42:37 PM |
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michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist Posts: 1871 Reply |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Steve, As you probably already appreciate I do try to have as much relevance to your remit as much as possible; however, When you mentioned I had put in a corn/wheat in a winter scene, I was somewhat "miffed"! here is the original winter reeds picture in...erm...winter! 
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Posted on 18/01/13 9:28:12 PM |
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puffin31939
Montage Mariner Posts: 383 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Thanks, Steve. I must take more note the next time there is fog around here! Always something new to learn. _________________ Man cannot change the direction of the wind but he can adjust the sails |
Posted on 20/01/13 09:03:35 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2905 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 436: A foggy day
Many thanks Steve. I had done two versions of the video..one without the interface and one with and was undecided which one to post .. I guess I chose the wrong one lol _________________ Dorothy: Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore |
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