| » Forum Index » The Friday Challenge » Topic: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins |
|
Posted on 25/05/22 07:31:46 AM |
|
dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 741 Reply |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
Oh dear...too dark again.  _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 25/05/22 11:58:22 AM |
|
Frank
Eager Beaver Posts: 1520 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
Wow - quite an array of entries - don't think I'll have time this week. Dennis - beautiful quickie and ship entry, also love the silhouette David - great work Mariner - oops lunch , well done Ant - great way to get him out of the water and still participate Nice one Anna, like the idea of the fire hoop Michael S - like the 3rd entry Static - looks very nice Beautiful entries Loyd - love the mermaid addition |
Posted on 25/05/22 2:19:41 PM |
|
lwc
Hole in One Posts: 2555 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
Nonsense, it's a great silhouette...! Thanks Dennis! Thank you Frank...! |
Posted on 25/05/22 5:46:31 PM |
|
michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist Posts: 1699 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
Loyd, Dennis is being a tad facetious in that I might make it lighter  |
Posted on 26/05/22 01:19:32 AM |
|
Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 2698 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
 |
Posted on 26/05/22 01:28:32 AM |
|
Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 2698 Reply |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
You all put in some really good entries this week. Well done! |
Posted on 26/05/22 1:39:51 PM |
|
Frank
Eager Beaver Posts: 1520 Reply |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
As David would say " A Quickie" 
|
Posted on 26/05/22 3:10:30 PM |
|
michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist Posts: 1699 Reply |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
Loyd I love your wave effects.
Michael most poignant : 
Frank aesthetically pleasing
This last time-consuming (?) entry is my most advanced effort to get a realistic animated sea with the waves not only going uo and down in alternate frames, but getting the sea to move from right to left [b 50 frames[/b]. j There was toooo much effort involved inserting a dolphin. The first is the "stitched seamless image (4000 x 3000) good for at least 200 frames, but unfortunately I have 20 mb limit on Imgur even on a much reduced image size. 
|
Posted on 27/05/22 08:13:18 AM |
|
Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6781 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
First to float the dolphins was dwindt, setting the bar really high with a beautiful underwater scene. I like how the pattern on the sea floor is replicated on their backs. When making the shadow, though, remember that the light is coming from the top, not the side. A truly glorious second entry - absolutely perfect in every way. I couldn’t suggest a single improvement here. And the third entry is a beautiful silhouette. Dennis, you’ve really produced some stunning images this week. Ingenious and convincing motion from lwc, with an endlessly scrolling background. But why do I get the feeling that the dolphins are in front of the scene, rather than immersed in it? Maybe adding Dennis’s texture to their backs would help. I like the leaping in the second entry, although that is very shallow water to hold a full-size dolphin! A fabulous (literally) mermaid in the third entry, but again the dolphins don’t feel like part of the scene. Maybe it’s the colour? See my response to Mariner’s entry, below. I do like the setting the fourth entry, and that ray in the foreground adds a good contrast. I like the selfie in the fifth entry! Very nicely done. The over/under scene in the fifth entry is beautiful. Perhaps the water edge should waft up and down with the wave motion? A glorious rolling wave in the sixth entry, and that surfing action is splendid. Perhaps the toucan is a bit of a distraction? Moving the splash in front of the dolphin really makes DavidMac's entry come to life: although that is a small splash for a big dolphin. Wouldn’t a lot more water come out of the sea with it? Funny work from Mariner, and flipping the smaller dolphin really makes it. Congratulations on getting the shadows right. But as with a couple of Loyd’s entries, the dolphins don’t look as if they’re in the sea, but rather in front of it. A simple solution here is to copy a piece of the background (I used a vertical slice between the dolphin and the whale), stretch it to cover the animals, change it to Hard Light and add a large dollop of Gaussian Blur. Adding a little of the sunlight to their backs also helps: 
I like the second entry, with its sense of drama and beautiful composition. But again, the colouring of the dolphins makes them look as if they aren’t part of the ocean; the colour of the bubbles is also at odds with the sea colour. I’ve never singled out two corrections to one person’s entries before, but in this case I think this makes the point. Here’s the image with a unified colour applied to the whole scene: 
Do dolphins really leap through hoops of fire? Tooquilos thinks so. But I think health and safety might have concerns about putting both in a hotel swimming pool. Ingenious work in the animated version, using a filmed background, and the fiery hoop leap really is spectacular. A terrific series. Entertaining acrobatics (and a nausea-inducing sea) from michael sinclair. I know we don’t see the dolphins entering the water, but an on-screen splash at the end would help a lot here. Interesting to see your HDR response to dwindt's entry, but I feel the same as I usually do about this sort of treatment: with everything so sharp and screaming for attention, nothing really stands out. (As it happens, it’s the same as I feel about your always busy skies: they scream too much, and always detract from the focus of the image.) Ah - that’s the splash I meant, in the second entry. But should the splash on leaving the water be the same as on entering it? Not sure about the motion blur in the third entry, mainly because I can’t imagine dolphins leaping out of the water dorsal fin first. Surely they’re aerodynamically styled for a reason? I enjoyed the fourth entry, with the spacehopping dolphin bouncing on the water surface. But you really, really need less busy clouds. A lot of effort must have gone into the sea motion in the fifth entry, but I really wish you had blended the edges to produce a seamless animation. I found Ant Snell’s fish bar a refreshing diversion from all that deep sea action. Nicely done - but it’s difficult seeing Farage in any context whatsoever. A school of leaping dolphins from Frank, the lens flare really bringing the scene to life here. Maybe they could do with some corresponding shadows in front of them? Outstanding work this week. |
Posted on 27/05/22 08:27:36 AM |
|
dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 741 Reply |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
Lovely work everybody. Thank you for the kind words Steve.  _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 27/05/22 08:49:48 AM |
|
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 4722 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
One would think so yes! Lots! But here's the photo I used for the water and the splash base as well as a reference for the dolphin's pose. You can see that I have actually added to reality with extra splashing along with keeping the original water pouring from its body. The real thing on its own looked far too inadequate! This took me completely by surprise too. Seems dolphins are better designed for moving cleanly through water than we realise. Thanks Steve. Interesting challenge.  _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 27/05/22 09:40:08 AM |
|
Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 2698 Reply |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
Steve, thanks for taking the time to correct my two entries. I like the way you matched the sea colours. I knew something was wrong but, stupidly, couldn't figure out what. |
Posted on 27/05/22 11:02:41 AM |
|
Frank
Eager Beaver Posts: 1520 Reply |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
Thanks Steve, I added our dolphins, a sun flare and a few tweaks to the original image which had no shadows hence went with that. |
Posted on 27/05/22 4:57:53 PM |
|
lwc
Hole in One Posts: 2555 Reply |
Re: Challenge 908: Free the dolphins
The toucan was an afterthought and certainly not needed, I agree it is a bit of a distraction... thanks Steve, I had fun with this one! |
| page: 1 2 3 last |