Day 26
by Brad

Comment:

Originally posted by Skyarcher: I really like how this turned out Brad. Any chance that you could list what steps you took in PS to work it? Would appreciate it. :)

No problem - took but a few minutes.
Opened, adjusted levels, new layer via copy, burned outsides, erased back insides to give a vignette effect, flattened. New layer via copy, Filter, Blur, Radial Blur, used about 38% and re-aligned the center point on graph to be directly over the center of the large petal, used high quality and hit OK. Then using the eraser tool with a soft-edged brush, erased the main center petal at 100% first run, reset to 50% and work outwards, reset to 25% and worked in effect on the edges of the blur vs. non-blur points, then flattened. Cropped, made a slight contrast adjustment, resized the canvas, stroked to make border lines.
Some scoff at the methods I use, as it's not an adjustment layer on it's own that can be re-edited later if needed (psd), but I rather like using the eraser tool and can see the changes better in my opinion.

Message edited by author 2007-07-26 14:58:44.

Big Pants in France
by Pedro

Comment:
This is magic.
One of your best shots in my opinion P.

Ariana 2
by Makka

Comment:
You should capitalize on this smile - it's magic!
Not a huge fan of the bear, but the pose and candid, relaxed stance here works really well. maybe get her back, have her ham it up a bit, dance a bit, goof around and put that camera on rapid fire - I think both of you will be amazed at at the results.

This would be an outstanding commercial shot for the company that makes the bear. (not to be confused with "the" bear)
;)

Message edited by author 2007-07-26 13:32:38.

Maiden
by grigrigirl

Comment:
Julia!
OMG - just when I thought I'd seen your best slide show, along comes Trash the Dress!

How do you do that? Aside from the technicals, I want to know how you capture the moment - how much do you orchestrate? What resides in you to find the music to accompany it? Where does the creativity and ideas come from? How long have you been doing this? I want to crawl inside your head for a while - not necessarily for weddings, but for how you capture the spirit of the human soul.

I'm amazed.

Maiden
by grigrigirl

Comment:
I cant seem to do anything right...
Right. Uh huh. Sure.
Your wrongs are better than my rights.

This shot needs a story to go with it.
Who - what - where - how thing. It's mystical.
Almost looks like it was shot through glass in the side of a pool, and she's swimming towards the glass.

Cool shot.

Poolside
by SandyP

Comment:
(( Big Sandy Hug )) Meant to do that before Sandy when I heard - I got too busy it seems :(

Can Summer come over here next? I don't have a pool though.
Funny, when I just scrolled down on this, cutting off the top part of the pic where here hair parts in different directions, made a big difference i the crop and how it looks overall, and rather like it tighter cropped. pay me no mind though - I'm odd when it comes to cropping.

I do like the expression you captured here. The colors and pose are just great!

Blue
by Rompy

Comment:
Where's the smile???
A slight tilt and a nice smile would have knocked this out of the ballpark.

Traci
by suiteness

Comment:
Beautiful shot!
I think the only thing that hurt this score-wise was the levels are a touch low (could use a bit more brightness & contrast), but in my opinion, work well to show the skin tones without being over-processed.

Sweet Sixteen
by ace flyman

Comment:
I would have liked to see this finish much higher - it should have.
The angle and general feel-good atmosphere here is just great.
Smiles do so much for a shot, and this is no exception. Well done!

Windows to the Soul
by mocabela

Comment:
Yeah, during the challenge, I went looking for the one I saw like this before, and was disappointed that it wasn't around.
Glad to see you are back Julia!