06-10-09 – Tilt-Shift Faked Miniature Scenes

Forums Forums Farktography General Chat This week’s contest 06-10-09 – Tilt-Shift Faked Miniature Scenes

Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 123 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #22463
    Curious
    Participant

    i did some photoshop dodging on a friend’s photo over the weekend to try and fix some harsh shadows. it’s too much trouble for a contest. also my results were barely passable.

    when i shot for a contest i take a lot of exposures. if i can’t find a good one from the many then it wasn’t meant to be anyway.

    and for those that feel out of the loop …. yeah, me too. this is the first i’m hearing of the rule change.

    #22464
    soosh
    Participant

    I’ve never been able to use the dodge or burn tools in Photoshop without horrible results.

    I am, however, a master of the clone stamp and healing brush, thanks to my habit of neglecting to clean my sensor.

    #22465
    SilverStag
    Participant

    The dodge and burn tools in Photoshop are not exactly the same effect as you expect, and they do not work *at all* like you would intuit them to.

    A more correct way to dodge and burn in Photoshop is to add a new copy layer and a layer mask filled with black (Alt-click on the layer mask button) and change the layer blend mode to screen for dodging (making lighter) or multiply for burning (making darker). Using a soft-edged brush, paint white on the layer mask where you want to dodge/burn. When you’re done, use the layer transparency slider to tune the effect. Flatten the Image. Lather, rinse, repeat.

    Bonus protip: When thinking of.working with layer masks in Photoshop, remember this- black conceals, white reveals.[/b]

    #22466
    staplermofo
    Participant

    Getting not crappy results is turning out to be a lot harder than I expected. I even started a full minute early this time too, the 2nd to last minute.

    #22467
    corsec67
    Participant

    I was specifically trying to take images for this theme last weekend, so now I have 3 entries, each one from a different country.

    Some of the buildings in Calgary, AB have labels on them which is just perfect for this theme.
    And then I have the view from a hairpin turn less than a mile from my parents house in Colorado.

    I found that if I had the gaussian blur factor double between each layer, I could make the selection areas fade almost continuously into each other, so 6 layers would cover the image. One of my entries has a diagonal “in-focus” area, so there I copied the layer mask between the layers and scaled it up by 200% to make it easy.

    #22468
    bucky_bacon
    Participant

    As a general matter of preference, how do you all feel about people in the shots? I have a few that I’m considering that have folks in the foreground/background, and for me it makes the believability of the miniature much more difficult. Or maybe someone just crafted up a bunch of mini people. I can’t decide.

    Like this one for example:

    #22469
    swampa
    Participant

    I thought people were allowed in the shots?

    *goes into a panic*

    #22470
    Curious
    Participant

    I thought people were allowed in the shots?

    they may be allowed but bucky_bacon has a point. in his example shot the people distract from the effect. YMMV

    #22471
    U-Man
    Participant

    It is OK to use people as long as they are very small. Like the one in bucky bacon’s shot. 🙂

    /bb – I think the people work in that one. I’d like to compare it to a people-less pic, but the overall effect of a fake mini scene works.

    #22472
    U-Man
    Participant

    can we get two more people to provide conflicting input for bb?

    #22473
    corsec67
    Participant

    My entries have significantly more blur than bb’s entries. Like, 100mm f/2.8 at 1:1 Macro levels of blur.

    The people seem fine to me, though.

    #22474
    Curious
    Participant

    can we get two more people to provide conflicting input for bb?

    🙂

    for me it’s the folks above and to the left of center that i find distracting. the one at the opening in the fence. the bright colored clothing draws my eye up.

    but as i said YMMV

    #22475
    swampa
    Participant

    The people seem fine to me too.

    #22476
    Elsinore
    Keymaster

    There are model people in some miniature sets, so I don’t find people to be a problem. I do find they work better in some photos than others.

    #22477
    bucky_bacon
    Participant

    Thanks to all for the responses. They were helpful in that I think the people are a distraction, but not a dealbreaker. If I choose this one I will likely just increase the blur and hope that makes a difference.

Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 123 total)
  • The topic ‘06-10-09 – Tilt-Shift Faked Miniature Scenes’ is closed to new replies.