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Posted on 06/12/21 10:35:49 AM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
I love the bizarre connections people make. Anna what on earth brought up a dancing Rasputin?

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The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 06/12/21 11:07:27 AM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4898

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
Frank wrote:
I took your image into PS and lightened it up for a closer look.


Although it was dark that shouldn't be necessary. It gives rise to a question I often wonder about: "How do our images look on each other's monitors?". It is inevitable that we will all have them set up differently. Sometimes I see an image here and it looks so odd that I think "Surely they cannot have meant it to look like that?" and I wonder how their monitor is set up.

Because of my professional background I am used to working on calibrated monitors. The professional post houses do this every morning. Because of needing to check material at home I also used an external calibrator and calibrated my monitor once a week. Old habits die hard and, although now retired, I still do. It takes only a few minutes. It not only keeps my monitor perfectly set up for sRGB (web) it also keeps my second monitor, which is from another manufacturer entirely, matched to the main one.

It's one of the most difficult aspects of image exchange. Sadly there is no answer aside from calibration and that is a complete overkill for most of us. So it has to stay a bit hit and miss. Pity. I would love to feel sure I was really seeing your images the way you meant them to be.

Apologies Steve for the diversion.

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The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 06/12/21 12:44:15 PM
Frank
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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
David, I believe I viewed your image as intended but merely out of curiosity lighted it up for a more detailed look at your characters.

That being said I certainly agree with your calibration scenario. However not to get into a lengthly discussion on a complex subject I would like to say that many of the viewing problems on different monitors is “color management”.

In short an image in PS is RGB meaning it is made up of Red, Green, Blue, light. PS writes down the “exact” colors the image is made from (there are many shades of red for example)

To keep it simple the solution to the variances in monitors can be as simple as making sure the box “Embed Color Profile” is checked before saving an image. That ensures another program knows what color profile to decipher.

In PS we can tell if a profile has been checked by looking down in the lower left corner “Document Profile” to either see the profile OR “Untagged in RGB “ - which means PS will view the image in the profile the viewer has set.
PS will assume a space of sRGB IEC61966-2.1 but to view different spaces go EDIT > Color Settings >Working Spaces > RGB

Info extracted from a Ben Willmore discussion.


Posted on 06/12/21 12:51:45 PM
Frank
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Posts: 1563

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
Thanks Anna - nice entry and colouring

Posted on 06/12/21 1:18:49 PM
michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist
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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
A modern take.



Posted on 06/12/21 1:49:01 PM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4898

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
Thanks for that Frank. Obvious but had passed me by completely. I shall look into it. So much to learn ........

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The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 06/12/21 8:53:01 PM
michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist
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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello



Posted on 06/12/21 10:32:39 PM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4898

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
Funnily I really like the second Michael!

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The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 06/12/21 10:42:22 PM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4898

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
Some of the ladies who didn't quite make the first take.

They had some serious bouncers on the door in those days!

Not really up to snuff. Just having a giggle.



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The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 07/12/21 09:25:42 AM
tooquilos
Wizard of Oz
Posts: 2793

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
David, I was watching a documentary on the Romanovs and they discussed Rasputin visiting brothels and his alleged dalliances with the Tsarina.
For me, it was the obvious choice this week.

Your images are well chosen. I always enjoy seeing what images are used to make the final FC.

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Posted on 09/12/21 05:55:25 AM
Mariner
Renaissance Mariner
Posts: 2788

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello


Posted on 09/12/21 08:39:20 AM
dwindt
Realism Realiser
Posts: 767

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
Some beautiful entries. Well done.

What I thought was going to be a quickie, turned into a plus 180 layer collage' of 2d and individually posed 3d characters and objects. The degrading of the image whilst reducing it to size, loses a ton of detail.

There's dust in the God rays, flies, lady bugs, butterflies, bumble bees, a rat, spider webs and spiders, ants, dust, twigs, leaves, a snake, petals, various object and lots of people.



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Posted on 09/12/21 11:26:53 AM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4898

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
The girls don't seem to live up to your preferences Mariner.

The clean approach to the entrance is interesting. It took me right back sixty years.

When we look at old churches we tend not to project back to how they would have looked, when first built, without the marks of time. I remember as a teenager a visit to Buckfast Abbey, most of which was completely re-built in the first half of the twentieth century. Looking at this perfectly clean construction, I suddenly realised how old churches must have looked when new with fresh dressed un-weathered stone. On reflection, it seems so obvious ........ but, at the time, it was a real revelation!

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The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 09/12/21 11:29:40 AM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4898

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
Judging by the queues in the background Dennis, the girls have a very busy time ahead! Or are they the police come to shut it down?

Terrific work. Very convincing!


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The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 09/12/21 3:32:38 PM
Mariner
Renaissance Mariner
Posts: 2788

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
David wrote
...The girls don't seem to live up to your preferences Mariner.

Really, David. Despite what I wrote earlier I am not in the least attracted to tarts. These two are obviously, erm, nice clean girls, though the one is very bold in a see-through toga, and the other is showing a lot of leg.
The clean approach to the intrance is interesting. I always try to clean up Steve's images. They are often of poor quality, desaturated, and with lens distortion. I am almost certain he does it on purpose. Part of the fun is making the photo look attractive.
Thanks for showing us some of your images. You must have worked hard to put them together. Well done.

Posted on 09/12/21 6:33:38 PM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4898

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
Mariner wrote:
Really, David. Despite what I wrote earlier I am not in the least attracted to tarts.


I don't doubt it for a moment Michael. I took your remarks as entirely tongue in cheek. But we all like to have a giggle at each other's expense now and then. It's part of the fun here.

As for the rest I rather like dirty. The scars of usage and imperfections of reality are often what gives credibility to an image. I frequently find myself dirtying down elements I have pulled from the web or created myself. 'Add Noise' and 'Render Clouds' in Multiply Mode overlays get a lot of use from me.

But then everyone's different approaches are what make the challenges so fascinating.

_________________
The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 10/12/21 01:55:10 AM
Mariner
Renaissance Mariner
Posts: 2788

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
David wrote
...The scars of usage and imperfections of reality are often what gives credibility to an image...

I couldn't agree more. Especially when creating an object from scratch. I have some grime patterns I got from the web (a bit like clouds) and use them fairly often. In general, though, I prefer things clean and shiny, and to hell with reality. Paintings, not photographs.


Posted on 10/12/21 08:09:19 AM
Steve Caplin
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Posts: 6822

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
First to visit the bordello this week was lwc, with a very painterly entry, the trio nicely framed against that treated backdrop. The presence of the cello suggests a curious fetish.

Excellent work from Frank, with plenty of Greek national costume and a good view through the open door. I like the lighting from the street lamp, but shouldn’t the lamp itself be lit in order to cast such brightness?



There’s much bawdiness in DavidMac's entry, which really needs to be seen at full size. So much emotion here, with great interaction between all the characters. I really like the candlelight, and the way it back-lights some of the people. I also appreciate the fact that you’ve taken the trouble to make the two candles different shapes. Great to see the source material, too. I like how the women appear behind glass in the second entry, the subtle reflections giving the glass substance. And the expression and pose on the man at the back are priceless.

Retrofuturism from Ant Snell, with a robot of the night stepping out of the bordello. The expression and pose of the knight are glorious and perfectly judged - what on earth did you search for to come up with this?

A glimpse through the doorway from tooquilos, the red street lamp signifying the street’s purpose. I like the wiggle on Rasputin’s shoulders in the animated version - he never gets entirely hands on with the lady though, does he? Despite all the arm waving. Maybe he spent too long changing his clothes first. It does, however, remind me of just how awful that song is.

An interesting take from michael sinclair, who has removed the building from behind the wall and added a cruise ship. A very fine brick thickness to the wall, and the perspectives are all perfectly judged. My only small niggle here is that the arm should really be waggling from the elbow, rather than from the middle of the forearm. A gorgeous second entry, though: it’s one of the few times when I find these automated reflections to really work. The way it slopes down the left hand wall is particularly impressive. Serene and beautiful.

A touch of the classics from Mariner, who has taken the Greek theme to extremes: this town was built in the 16th Century AD, Michael! Still, very pleasant to look at, and I like the subtle transparency of the blue gown. Once again, though, you do have a tendency to oversaturate colours. Such vividness does make the scene look artificial.

There’s a vast amount going on in dwindt's packed entry, with a cast of dozens and tremendous interaction between the characters. The chap in the foreground appears to be a king, is that right? I really like all the additional detail - the garlic, the brush, the bowls of food, the litter, and the birds. Tremendous.

Posted on 10/12/21 08:41:23 AM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4898

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
Steve Caplin wrote:
I also appreciate the fact that you’ve taken the trouble to make the two candles different shapes.


You spotted it! Looking cloned is always a problem when multiple objects are made from a single source. I contemplated bending the metal work on one as well. Problem is when you start down that route you can get drawn in to going on for ever.

And the expression and pose on the man at the back are priceless.


He was just a lucky chance! I love the image searching part of the challenge.

Bawdiness aside, I had real fun with this in purely visual terms. It was really quite challenging. Thanks Steve.

_________________
The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 10/12/21 10:18:31 AM
Mariner
Renaissance Mariner
Posts: 2788

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Re: Challenge 886: The Maltese bordello
Thanks, Steve, it was a fun challenge.

Steve wrote
...this town was built in the 16th Century AD, Michael!

According to Wikipedia it was once occupied by the Romans. It was called Melite in those days, and was the capital of Malta.
... Once again, though, you do have a tendency to oversaturate colours. Such vividness does make the scene look artificial.

I appreciate what you have told me time and again over the years.
I regard my pictures as paintings, not photographs, which gives me a reason to oversaturate them. This, in my eyes, makes them more attractive. Sorry, but I am set in my ways there and doubt if I will ever change.


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