How to Cheat in Photoshop

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Posted on 20/06/14 07:39:58 AM

joeysala
Perfect Palmist
Posts: 604

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Sorry for poor quality, shoddy work. Very late entry due to unexpeccted company.

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Posted on 20/06/14 08:46:23 AM

Steve Caplin
Administrator
Posts: 7025

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

First to reflect in the mirror this week was GKB, with a splendid interpretation: the angle and distortion are perfect, and that Silence notice and the man with the pneumatic drill are great additions. I especially like the way you've added the noise to your own image, to blend it in. And you're right, people should be more considerate - those shorts can only shock the other patients.

Most amused by Frank's hospital gown mishaps - where did you go to find such images? And the photographer works really well, too. Plenty going on here, and the distortions are exactly right.

A great image from brewell, with not only a couple of doctors running but a zebra reflected in the mirror - very nicely blended in. The hardest part, of course, was getting rid of me and patching the tiles, which has been achieved expertly, even down to adding the reflection of the closest light. Perfect.

I like the view of the girl in Vibeke's entry - she fits rather neatly into the space. She is, however, rather too contrasted and pin-sharp to blend in; the important thing here is not just to match the distortion, but the grain and tone of the original scene as well.

My image library, mainly assembled in the late 1990s, is full of the kind of distorted man who appears in tooquilos's entry - and up to now I've had little use for them. I was really tickled by the animated version, with some great posing in front of the camera, and a great soundtrack to go with it. A very fine screen effect as well. Very funny work!

A clever selfie from Garfield72, with two girls in hospital gowns holding up their phone. Where on earth did you find this shot? A very good solution. Just one small point: take out the background above and below the arm between the pair.

A packed corridor from Deborah Morley, who has thrust her chap Richard into a perilous scene. Very obliging, is Richard. I like the way you've turned one of the dinosaur's tails to make them look different - and of course the distortion does the rest.

A remarkably powerful image from DavidMac featuring a high body count and a truly fearsome surgeon. I especially like the blood on the surface of the mirror, which gives the image an extra dimension. You know what, though? It could have been stronger without the three victims in the hallway, just the man with the chainsaw and the splattered blood. (Having said that, I'm most impressed with the poses of the victims.) And I was most amused by the second entry, particularly the reflection of the cloth and the brooms leaning against the wall. Excellent.

A strong image from Daniel Millar, whose figure blends in well with the texture and noise of the original image. I like the idea ofd the added stripes, but I feel they should narrow in perspective as they recede into the distance: the one on the left, for instance, starts about a quarter the width of a tile, but it's at least half the width when it reaches the end of the corridor. And while I like the idea of the ripple distortion, do you think those ripples are rather too small?

I like srawland's collection of assorted odd bods, who populate the corridor rather well - nicely achieved. I especially applaud your sentiment: "This is not a contest… If I am successful at this, then I have accomplished something. The point is to learn how to do it, not to "wow" anyone." Absolutely. The spirit of the Friday Challenge in a nutshell.

Very glad to see James back in action, with a trio of workmen scratching their heads. Good distortion, and good interaction; do you need to fade back to the original image at the end, though?

A great bunch of doctors from Emy, and I like the fact that one of them is holding a camera to take this photo. But they're all a little too sharp and clean for this view: you could do with lowering the contrast and adding some noise, to blend them into the background.

A clever image from BigVern, with a bunch of half-dressed men pushing a hospital bed. I can't imagine what you Googled to find this. A great concept, but they're much too big for the scene - if the one on the left stood up he'd scrape the ceiling. And are you sure the distortion is in the right place? It seems to me their heads would be larger, not smaller.

A Batman-themed image from Darren, with the Joker taking a selfie while Batman waits in the background. I can't make out the text on the sign - shouldn't it be Arkham Asylum? And while it's distorted in perspective, it really needs a bit of curve to match the distortion of the ceiling above it.

An intriguing image from Linda Eckert. There's something very sinister about the way the girl is examining the spider, who sits perfectly at the top of that wall. Maybe nudge her eyes a little to the left, so they're looking straight at the spider?

I was going to tell Mariner off for not applying noise and defocus to the woman using the mirror for checking her makeup, and then I noticed that the whole scene has been cleaned up, with a sharper floor, new door, new signs and posters, and a vibrant new pot plant in the corner. Remarkable job! What an ingenious entry!

I like the idea of puffin31939's entry, and certainly the tone and texture of the woman matches the background well. I'm interested to know why her feather duster cuts off so sharply, though. Do you perceive a gap between those ceiling tiles? This is really confusing me!

I enjoyed joeysala's monochrome entry, with Charlie Chaplin in his usual pose, neatly distorted to fit. I think his contrast is rather too strong for the surroundings, though: the blacks shouldn't be any darker than the mirror edge nearest us (bottom right), and surely his face wouldn't be brighter than those white walls? Ah - just seen your apology for "poor quality, shoddy work". Not at all! I can quite understand a work in progress.

Minor misunderstandings aside, a very good week for the Forum.

Posted on 20/06/14 08:59:33 AM

GKB
Magical Montagist
Posts: 4005

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Steve Caplin wrote:
those shorts can only shock the other patients.

Thanks Steve. I used the GoPro on the 'copter and had it hovering above me at just the point where the mirror would have been. As it's a fisheye lens it gave exactly the correct amount of distortion.

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Posted on 20/06/14 09:28:44 AM

Mariner
Renaissance Mariner
Posts: 3063

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Thanks, Steve. One of my worst entries.

Posted on 20/06/14 10:18:08 AM

brewell
Pixel Pentagrammarian
Posts: 752

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

I was feeling guilty for not exactly following the brief.

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Posted on 20/06/14 11:35:12 AM

DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 5676

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

I used the GoPro on the 'copter and had it hovering above me at just the point where the mirror would have been. As it's a fisheye lens it gave exactly the correct amount of distortion.

Now that is seriously impressive!!

Posted on 20/06/14 12:04:46 PM

DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 5676

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Steve Caplin wrote:

You know what, though? It could have been stronger without the three victims in the hallway, just the man with the chainsaw and the splattered blood. (Having said that, I'm most impressed with the poses of the victims.)

And I was most amused by the second entry, particularly the reflection of the cloth ...

It never occurred to me Steve ..... and you know what though? ............ you are quite right! It would have been far stronger.

The bodies came from a rather strange gentleman at the Deviant Art site who has photographed himself in a whole slew of bizarre poses dressed in a hospital gown. Funny old world we live in .........

My original concept for the second image was to have the lady cleaning the last traces of dried blood off the mirror. A symbolic erasure and cleansing of my previous tastelessness. I lost my nerve at the last moment fearing that it might be construed as thumbing my nose ...........

Posted on 20/06/14 1:54:20 PM

Emy
Composition Chef
Posts: 390

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Thanks Steve.

Posted on 20/06/14 2:14:28 PM

BigVern
Q Quipper
Posts: 674

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Thanks Steve ... I had a quick stab at the distortion as not much time this week (as usual).

By the way I Googled "bed racing" to find the base image ... amazing what resources are out there on peculiar subjects.

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Posted on 20/06/14 4:05:09 PM

Garfield72
Montage Manceau
Posts: 353

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Thank you Steve, I forgot the piece of background
I find this shot here :
http://fr.123rf.com/photo_26767602_deux-soeurs-asiatiques-mignons-prennent-un-auto-portrait-sur-un-arriere-plan-blanc.html

Posted on 20/06/14 8:19:49 PM

vibeke
Kreative Kiwi
Posts: 2166

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Thanks Steve, I was heading in the right direction, but didn't go far enough.

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Posted on 20/06/14 9:10:54 PM

srawland
Pixel Perfectionist
Posts: 885

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Thank you, Steve.

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Posted on 20/06/14 11:28:49 PM

darrenandcolleen@telus.net
Serene Synthesist
Posts: 119

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Gotham City General, thx for feedback as always

Posted on 23/06/14 08:20:03 AM

tooquilos
Wizard of Oz
Posts: 2898

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Thank you so much Steve.

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Posted on 24/06/14 9:43:20 PM

Frank
Eager Beaver
Posts: 1750

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Thanks Steve - just searched open hospital gown.

Posted on 29/06/14 8:06:23 PM

puffin31939
Montage Mariner
Posts: 383

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Re: Challenge 509: The distorting mirror

Thanks, Steve. As for the feather duster -I got confused by the reflection so it seemed a good idea at the time. It doesn't now!

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