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Post by limegraphix on Sept 26, 2008 20:50:05 GMT -5
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azelah
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Xtreme Yogurt ___ Addict
Posts: 23
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Post by azelah on Sept 27, 2008 0:34:07 GMT -5
1st: Wow, I'm impressed. It's simple, but none the less a very beautiful picture. I especially like the lighting on the horse; it really brings him to life. However, if you are going to light the horse that way, you must also consider the background. I'm supposing the cliffs have the same light source as the horse, thus the edges of the cliffs should also have bright highlights. The water, too, might catch that same light souce, but, then again, you could justify the smoke/fog has a dulling effect. By, the way, I really like that smoke, it's a nice touch. Finally, the text. I see no problem with it. It is well-placed, readable, and suits the image theme. Overall, great job. :]
2nd: Try to find higher-quality background images if possible. (Yes, yes, I know how hard it is, but it really makes your images more cohesive and/or realistic). The dark clouds and water give an awesome contrast to the pale horse, but then detracts from it with their pixilated details. You've really got an eye for color--don't ruin it with poor quality images! If you could not find a better background I would try this little trick that often works for me:
1. Duplicate the pixly image.
2. To whichever is on top, lower the opacity and/or try a nice blending effect. I often like Overlay or Soft Light (depending on the image's contrast) at 75-100% Opacity, but feel free to experiment and pick whatever looks best. (I'm assuming you use PS or a similar program. Sorry if that made no sense! Next time post what image editing program you used).
3. To the image underneath, blur. I like Filter > Adjustments > Gaussian Blur or Radial Blur. Once again, sorry if you don't use PS or Fireworks, but watever program you're using probably has some kind of blur tool.
4. Your image should be looking much less pixley and much more soft/smooth by now. If it looks odd, try messing with the blend settings or image contrasts/curves. Also, if some details are still pixilated, take the mouse-controlled blur tool and smooth those bits over by hand.
I love the clarity of the horse's mane, but, to me, I think the body is oversmudged. It's the pretty much the opposite of the pixly problem! When smuding, reduce the size and strength of the smudge brush tool and remember to ALWAYS smudge in the direction the fur lies. You wouldn't smooth a horse's coat in the wrong direction in real life, and the same applies to image editing. Please keep in mind that even though coat smudging has become a popular technique of many advance photo manip'ers over the years, it does nothing to improve the image if taken too far. Also, when smudging the ends of the mane and tail, pay attention to detail. Use varied brush sizes and strengths to get a more realistic hair texture. For example, I usually start with a tapered size three, smudge the larger chuncks of hair, then switch to size 2 for finer detail, and finally size 1 for the individual hairs. It may take longer, but in the end it is worth it!
The text is very pretty. I like it a lot.
Good picture layout all in all.
I must reiterate how much I love the colors in both of your photo manip's. Really, you have a great eye for color.
Hope that helped! If you have any questions, please ask. <3
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Post by limegraphix on Sept 29, 2008 14:52:59 GMT -5
im actually using PS cs3
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azelah
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Xtreme Yogurt ___ Addict
Posts: 23
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Post by azelah on Oct 1, 2008 21:03:08 GMT -5
Awesome, then hopefully you got what I was saying. I felt sort of stupid babbling on when I didn't know what program you used. ^^;
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Post by jen_to.the.nie! on Oct 12, 2008 14:29:57 GMT -5
i have a question for the layout you made.... what kind of layout would you call that??
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epidemic.
p e r s o n a l i z e r
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Posts: 59
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Post by epidemic. on Oct 12, 2008 14:44:06 GMT -5
Wonderful manips, lime! Here are my thoughts for each:
Uno. Overall, this is a lovely picture. I like simplicity most of the time, and this one is both simple and good. The only thing I would change about it is the text, which seems a little out of place. If you didn't want to change everything, the name of the horse is all right, but the smaller text (the numbers, breed, etc.) may look better in a more simple font such as Perpetua or Book Antiqua (those are my most used fonts for simpler pics).
Due. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! The colors blend amazingly, as well as make the horse just pop (but in a great way!). The ONLY thing I would try to change would be the hooves. I dislike it when people just fade the hooves away. One way to fix this would be to smudge the grass or get brushes to make it look like the grass is actually coming up from under them, or to resize the horse to make it fit a little better on the cliff (and then follow up with the grass smudging/brushes). Otherwise, perfect!
Hope I could help some.  |
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