Better Days Ahead

[draymorton]

(Yes. The tool guy. Again.)

[stephljones]

nice portrait! Very surreal lighting...I like it.

[OldClicker]

I like the overall effect, but the Smiley looks too straight and too unprocessed to fit in. - TF

[opus]

very very odd for a balloon to be out in that kind of weather.

[draymorton]

Thanks steph.

OldClicker - Totally agree. I couldn't figure out how to make it look more natural - and still don't know what to do. Then again, surreal is what I had in mind - kind of a cross-between a photograph and an illustration/painting. Does it work at all even on that level?

opus - haha, I know. Again, surrealism was the order of the day. Even the lighting doesn't make any sense.

[Frog]

You got the face really good as usual for you.
I wish the bg wasn't quite so dark but that's me.

[OldClicker]

Thanks steph.

OldClicker - Totally agree. I couldn't figure out how to make it look more natural - and still don't know what to do. Then again, surreal is what I had in mind - kind of a cross-between a photograph and an illustration/painting. Does it work at all even on that level?

opus - haha, I know. Again, surrealism was the order of the day. Even the lighting doesn't make any sense.

"Then again, surreal is what I had in mind - kind of a cross-between a photograph and an illustration/painting. Does it work at all even on that level?"

I can't answer that for you. It has an unreal, comic kind of affect for me, not surreal. Being perfectly in the plane of the frame, it is not pinned on his chest. - TF

[draymorton]

Frog - yeah it is kinda dark. I was trying to get a really overcast feeling, but I think I might have overdone it.

OldClicker - Oh no, I definitely agree about the smiley button. Looks totally weird and I'm not sure how to make it look like it's pinned on the shirt. I was just wondering if the overall image worked to create a surreal feeling.

[PRB]

This lightens and brightens my spirits MORE than you know!!!

I needed this one --- the happy face, happy balloon and, rainbow in the midst of our dear tool man's dark surroundings totally speaks to where I'm at right now and, I cannot thank you enough for this.

From a "cheer up" perspective, for me, you've nailed it--:thumbsup:

Thank you for sharing this one.

My Best to You,
Penny

[Frog]

Just for the record, I rather like the happy face and if it didn't look like it was pinned to his shirt what else would it look like?

[opus]

I think what you need to do for that pin is really study where the light source is coming from, then study where the pin might be in shadow (due to the arm, etc), and give it some.

Just off the top of my head, look at the shadow on Tool Guy's nose. Then look at the arm. The shadow from the arm should cast across at least 1/4 of the pin, vertically, from the right side vignetting inward. Maybe not really dark, but at least some.

[draymorton]

Thanks Penny! Very glad that I was able to help brighten your spirits. Yeah, the title is pretty much my mantra right now.

Frog - that's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm thinking it's just the directionality of the light (implied by shadows), like opus is saying.

opus - great advice. I think you're right on the money there. I'm terrible at the whole light directionality/shadows thing, especially when I have to recreate it. (Some people have the 3-D light/shadow modeling deal down; unfortunately, I am not one of those!) The problem I foresee here has to do with the curvature of the shadow, i.e. how "round" do I make it, if that makes any sense.

[opus]

very minimally round, and with feathering you can fudge it even more. The button is fairly flat. Any roundness would come from a combination of A) shape of shadow source, and B) extrusion of button face. Since the button face is fairly flat, and the shadow source is a vertical line (his arm), the edge doesn't have to be very curved at all. Just a little, and feather it.

You might also want to put some shadow on the extreme left side (as I'm facing the picture) of the button's chrome edge. Since the light source is fairly direct from the right side, it's unlikely that much light would spill over onto the underside of the button.

I'm pretty sure in photoshop you can use a directional light source tool (don't ask me where it is, it's been years since I've used it) to cast correctly angled highlights and shadows.

[Hexnut]

Very nice. Love the composition and the image is striking.

[draymorton]

Thanks, opus; that helps a lot. The lighting effects filter - now why didn't I think of that?

Thank you, Hex!

[Didache]

I don't have anything to add (been away for a few days). But I do like your style which I think is unique.

Cheers
Mike

[shootme]

I can only dream of creating something like this, so nothing for me to critique, you've done it again dray, B....y brilliant in my humble opinion. You'll have to spell out how you do this in a short lesson...please...Cheers, S

[draymorton]

Thanks shootme!

There isn't much to spell out. It's basically contrast adjustments via Levels, a sharpening layer, Color Balance adjustments, and comp work (rainbow, balloon, pin, and sun). The subject was lit with a softbox for the main and the real sun was used for a very subtle hair light.

[LeeIs]

Really love it man. but you won't reveal your secret to me. lol love your style when u take these kinda shots ! And this one in particular is very very very well done.

[LeeIs]

btw, I'm ONLY KIDDING. I've read your post above just thought to poke u a little (cause i can ;-) ) . But yeah i understand how good post processing can produce such great work.

It all starts with a great photo! And that sure was one even without any pp.

[shootme]

Cheers, Dray

[gahspidy]

Excellent again, Dray. i like everything about it although i agree if there is a nitpik for me it would be to brighten the bg just a bit more.
Top work in all regards.

[draymorton]

Thanks, Liban! Great to see you around! Yeah, in this case, I have to say that the shot looked great out of camera. I was really considering avoiding the PP, but - you know me - I couldn't resist.

Gary - wow, thanks for the Sticky (and the comment)! What if I just brighten up the highlights on the trees? Or do you think just lightening the whole background would be better?

I'm going to try a revision, taking into account yours and others' suggestions re: the bg and opus' suggestions for the pin.

Thanks again!

[Photo-John]

I'm all for surrealism. But I can't get by the overall darkness of this. It's hard to look at. The content is pretty cool. But it's not working for me with this exposure level. I'd be interested in looking at a lighter version, though.

[BenWA]

This is an amazing photo on so many levels! So much imagination went into this.

I don't think the darkness of the exposure detracts at all...in fact, I think it adds some level of mystery to the image. Looks perfect, at least on my monitor.

Only nitpick is the incongruity of the smiley pin. The first time I looked at the photo, the pin looked a little too pasted on to be convincing, even in a surrealistic way. But it has sort of grown on me after looking at it for a while. I think fixing the shading of it would be worth the effort though.

Just my humble opinion!

One of the best (certainly top 2 or 3) shots I've seen on here.