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Bodie Methodist Church

© A. J. Perry

Bodie Methodist Church

Uploaded: December 25, 2007

Description

Originallly photographed with Ilford XP-1 Chromogenic B&W film. I then colorized it in Photoshop.

Comments

Kerry W. Willis December 25, 2007

Inspirational.... all joy, K.W. #814757

Tim Heimel December 25, 2007

Beautiful! #5252217

Dorothy Neumann December 25, 2007

Wonderful! I haven't a clue how you did it, but I love the results! Merry Christmas! #5252304

Jeff Robinson level-deluxe December 25, 2007

Outstanding work!! Jeff #5252314

Shelly A. Van Camp level-classic December 25, 2007

Very Pretty...Can you explain the effects alittle more? Thanks! #5252334

Kristine Slipson December 25, 2007

W0W, that is really cool! Excellent work- a masterpiece!! #5252337

Patrick Rouzes level-classic December 25, 2007

Captivating, incredible & exceptional image here!!! Amazing work,A.J.!!! #5252543

Mike Clime December 25, 2007

Nice PS work! #5252626

A. J. Perry December 25, 2007

Thank you all for your reviews. Shelly asked if I would explain the effect a little more....First, one must possses limitless patience and secondly, not much in the way of a social life.

The only plug-in I used was the Fractalius filter to create the yellow glow effect of what appears to be snow. In reality, this shot was taken in mid-summer of 1977 and after a lot of experimentation I managed to turn desert sand into the illusion of freshly fallen snow.

Since the town of Bodie was abondoned more than 75 years ago, I had to figure out a way to bring it back to life for just one more Christmas service. The best way to describe it is to first, take as much time as neccessary to separately "select" every important feature within the image. Then, use all of the "auto" features first under the adjustments pulldown menu and then go with what looks best. Doesn't always work but it's a good starting point for optimizing your highlight and shadow points and "stretching" out your mid-tones.

Then, I colorize each selected section individually using the "colorize" feature of hue/saturation and further enhance it with the "color balance" sliders" until it looks close to where I want it. If it still needs further tweaking, I'll use the "Selective Color" feature under Adjustments.

Finally, after a few cold bottles of Yuengling's Black & Tan and a good cigar, I'm able to flatten anywhere from 30 to 40 layers and then proceed to the final step which is the "Apply Image" feature that will ultimately give it that "dramatic" look. Apply Image can't really be explained in a tutorial....you just have to experiment, experiment and experiment until it either drives you crazy or you're finally able to shout, "THAT'S IT"!! Of course, all of the above is assuming that you're using Photoshop as your editing platform.

I hope that helps, good luck....AJ #5252654

Shelly A. Van Camp level-classic December 25, 2007

Thanks AJ for taking the time to explain...not that I could ever do anything like this! It is beautiful and your work sure payed off...the Yuengling sounds good too!! Have a nice Christmas!!! #5252861

Lorri Shane December 25, 2007

What a masterpiece, AJ! #5253062

Dianna Hauf January 25, 2008

Excellent in every possible way, A.J.! Congratulations!!! #5392810

Jill Odice level-classic January 25, 2008

Congrats on your finalist and also portraying my fav church in such a unique manner! #5393347

Steve M. Harrington January 25, 2008

Good on you, AJ! Richly deserved!
Steve #5394058

Kay E. Mahoney level-classic January 25, 2008

Congratulations on your second place winner, AJ. #5394391

Margaret R. Barry January 25, 2008

Congratulations on your beautiful winner, AJ! #5395329

Elida Gutierrez level-classic January 25, 2008

Especialy for the winners
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/big.php?photoID=5538549&catID=&style=&rowNumber=1&memberID=258086 #5395639

Evy Johansen level-classic January 25, 2008

Big congratulations on your beautiful win, AJ!! Super work!! #5396616

Linda Blair January 26, 2008

Congratulations!!!!! ☺ #5398990

Kathleen K. Parker level-deluxe January 26, 2008

So cool!! Congrats, AJ!
KK #5400098

A. J. Perry January 26, 2008

Thanks to you all for those kind remarks. Much appreciated. I had just returned from a trip this morning and almost missed that 2nd place email notice. My service provider thought it was SPAM and had it quarantined....I almost deleted it. #5400612

Roger Fry January 26, 2008

Fantastic ! #5402090

Donna La Mattino Pagakis January 26, 2008

Congratulations on your unique and beautiful winning image AJ!!! Excellent work! #5402303

Dominick M. Dimacale level-addict February 01, 2008

Congratulations AJ on your Win!


#5426663

Robert Baer February 23, 2008

wonderful ps work to create this fantastic image. congrats on your win! #5540124

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