Desert Light Fantasy [Contest Finalists April 2004]
Uploaded: April 24, 2004 13:39:26
Neon cacti help light the desert
Julie Turner April 24, 2004
Carolina, this is gorgeous. I love the rich vibrant colors. #120962Carolina K. Smith April 24, 2004
Thank you, Julie :) While I think we are lucky, as photographers, to capture a moment, this was my first real try at compositing to get an idea out of my head. I used 4 of my pictures, which were originally 1) a hawk flying overhead, 2) a sunset, 3) the mountains/desert (taken from a plane as we approached the airport), and 4) a cactus. I used some PS plug-ins (Mystical Lighting, Mystical Tint and Color, Shadow) as well as PS tools, and will probably make the cactus shadows more evident in a redo. One thing I realized from doing this project is that some pictures you take may not be so great in and of themselves, but they may have promising elements to use in the future. (Isn't digital photography great? We can be closet pack rats!) Thus, I am now not so quick to delete some photos. #500338Julie Turner April 24, 2004
You did a great job. I have photo suite 7, but I haven't mastered it yet. The only plug in I have used is dreamy suite so I'll have to check the sites for the ones you mentioned. Thanks for giving me more information on it. I'm still learning... #500359Carolina K. Smith April 24, 2004
Mystical series at autofx.comNote: if you are a teacher/faculty or student and can prove it w/ID, Adobe has some software at ~50% or more off.
See academicsuperstore.com
BTW, andromeda.com is offering an incredible bundle of $1000 stuff for $200. No I don't work for them! Just passing the info on since I'm on their email list :) #500400
Julie Turner April 24, 2004
Thanks for the info, I'll check it out. #500424Evy Johansen April 24, 2004
Beautiful image and a great work, Carolina! #500536Carolina K. Smith April 25, 2004
Thank you, Evy:) I enjoyed visiting your gallery and look forward to viewing your future work :) #501412Dale Ann Cubbage May 15, 2004
Wow, stunning! Congrats on another finalist Carolina! #541723Carolina K. Smith May 16, 2004
Thank you Dale Ann :) #543586Susie Peek-Swint May 16, 2004
Many congrats on this cool image Carolina! You did a lot of work and it's paid off ~ well done! #543861Carolina K. Smith May 16, 2004
Thanks Susan, I sure did sweat over this, but I couldn't quit until I was somewhat satisfied with it. Some things you could tweek forever, I guess... #543868Susana Matos May 19, 2004
Congratulations on this great photo! I love the creative world you created here!!!!!!!!!!Carolina K. Smith May 19, 2004
Thank you Su, the whole process almost felt like having a baby... the labor pains...Carolina K. Smith May 31, 2004
Mitesh, Thank you for your comments. One of the things I love most about digital photography is that it can capture AND enable one to produce something not only what the human eye can believe, but WHAT THE HUMAN MIND CAN CONCEIVE...Much of art, no matter what the medium, comes from the mind and people resonate with it, or are moved by it, precisely because we are more than the sum of the natural elements.
I do think you hint at something which is important in photography, since such 'mind concepts' were not as easy before the advent of programs such as Photoshop. That is, that I think it is preferable that when an image is heavily manipulated, like doing composites, it should be noted, so people can know what was real (the way photography used to be thought of as capturing reality. That is why I labeled mine a 'Fantasy'. Just my thoughts...
I have uploaded the original 'natural' photographs to show what I started with. #569299
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