magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

The ship is supposed to be breaking through the sea fog. It's really a detail from a bigger composite that I lost my way with. I find I'm doing this too much whilst learning Ps - losing my way, that is. Do others have this problem and is it simply due to lack of foresight? Probably. I have a sort of 'half-image' in my mind and should spend more time constructing something in my mind's eye before jumping in. Does anyone have any thoughts on the process?

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minniev Loc: MIssissippi

What a wonderful concept! The colors are just wonderful. Not exactly realistic but they work beautifully together to make a rich, deep look that is kind of cinematic ("Life of Pi"). Exquisite details in the water and the beautiful, delicate riggings. Nice subtle use of texture. Here's what bothers my eyes in this: the leftward/downward tilt mixed with the skewed somewhat distorted look of the boat and its contents. Of course you may have chosen that on purpose but it still feels off kilter in my brain.

I'd love to see the bigger composite but would understand that it may have gone somewhere you didn't mean it to. Many of mine do that too. When I attempt a larger composite, I usually drag all my elements into one folder where I can get to them, and on a copy of the background layer put marks as to what is going where. With simpler ones, I tend to ramble through blindly, but I probably should do markups of anything that's gonna go more than 8-10 layers. I got the idea of markups from a book by Vincent Versace that wasn't about composites at all, but simply about precision processing on multiple layers. Some of the folk who do complex composites like Donalea ought to be able to provide some more helpful advice.

Thanks for sharing an imaginative creation. Want to see more!

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

My foresight doesn't have to much farsight, so for me usually after one process is completed I'm hoping the next one comes to me. From what I can see this is one fine image magnetoman...makes me wonder what the composite looks like.

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

I like the mood of it very much. And the subject matter also. I like how it is tossed about by that wave - you need sails somehow to go with the sense of motion, perhaps just the jib and or topsail for control. I like the backlighting idea with the glowing light on the ship - it seems surreal. The lean of the ship (to me) isn't working without the sails. But I love what you are doing here. Find your way back, it is very cool with the soft blue water, yellow sky, perhaps a touch of green in the haze.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Forget the fog - it's an excellent portrayal of a ship rolling in heavy seas. The problem I have is that the masts look like they're leaning forward when compared to the body of the ship. And if it was mine I'd soften the sky somewhat.

I think I understand what you're trying to achieve, and I think it's something I witnessed myself once - a small fishing boat emerging from a sharply defined mist bank. The edge of the mist bank was so clearly defined that within the length of the boat it went from being thick mist to being clear air. And to add to the contrast it was a bright sunny day and the edge of the mist bank was glowing. Unfortunately I didn't have any kind of camera with me at the time, but the memory has stayed with me.

My advice would be to not worry too much about the mist bank effect, but if you want to bring that out, have the front of the ship and the area in front of the ship much less misty. As it is there's haze front and back.

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Well Minnie, the bigger image on one hand had not got far, and on the other had gone too far too soon. The background idea was in my head as soon as I took the original shot and, being a learner, I wanted to see if I could achieve in Ps what was in my mind's eye. Below you can see both the original and the result in Ps. Apart from any shortcomings in terms of pp, the big problem is I've taken it far to far at an early stage. Your tip about markers highlights the problem - a complete lack of planning. I should have introduced other elements before adding filters and making other detail changes.

I did in fact rescue it in some part prior to giving-up on it and cropping to the small detail. Thanks for helping though, I shall have to adopt the markers approach and reign back my enthusiasm for seeing an early result!

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magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

My problem exactly Frank, as I've explained to Min. Got to get a plan!

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Yes, the sails, or lack of, is a problem (although in the original overall scheme, a small one!). The trouble is, I have been quite determined to use only my own images when compositing, and I only have a couple of shots of tall ships with sail on - and they didn't seem to fit. Beginning to wonder if I should forget about using only my shots - using 'stock' must be easier. Thanks for commenting Piet, and for your encouragement, it's appreciated.

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Expect you realise RG that I used Free Transform on the ship, which was originally far more upright and square-on. The masts do look as you say, but I accepted that as it seemed to give some animation to the ship? Got well tangled-up with the mist whilst fumbling my way through the composite, and then went too far too soon, as explained in response to Minnie. All the result of learning and over enthusiasm - and possibly inability, but we won't dwell on that! Many thanks for contributing, it's much appreciated.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

What a nice island you've built!

Figuring out a workflow is part of the journey, and you'll find what works for you. Advance prep is helpful, as is labeling your layers as you go. Like you, I prefer to use my own images as much as possible, but have resorted to other resources when I need something I can't easily produce. Save as much toning work and texture work till the end as possible, and don't flatten or merge anything you can't undo. I usually save cloning and healing till the end too. Some filters you may want to do on single layers and others on blended layers. I know how easy it is to get lost in one, as it happens to me a plenty. You're doing very intriguing and original work. Keep it up!

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

I like your second light house image too. Cool stuff. I never got good at post-processing/photoshop, you have a very nice command of mood and color!

About the sails.. another thought other than stock. Before I got into photography, I used to mess with 3D objects and computer rendering. You can position the model and control light. For your needs you should also consider rendering a ship in the desired position, angle, etc, and then (particularly if using similar lighting) doing a composite. I used Terragen to render this entire image for example. Not very good, but you can see the potential with your skills!

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Really like that ship Piet! But not sure quite where you're coming from - do you mean you had a model of the ship and photographed it, or it was a 3D computerised model - in which case, how the blazes do you do that?? By the way, the ship in my post is dropped into the 'island' (or lighthouse) composite, then heavily cropped back.

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

LOL - Yes, a 3D computerized model. I rendered it into an environment where I used presets for clouds and the town behind is a model and the water is just parameters. I could have rendered just the ship in isolation so that it could be dropped into an image as a layer (background transparent).

You are right, it is not without a learning curve. But I wanted to make the point that you are in full control of lighting and positioning of the thing. Depending on your age (we only live so long after all), you may want to consider learning that stuff, I see it meshing nicely with painting / photoshop skills!

Photographing a model ship (against a green screen) sounds like a plan too for resources. Much easier to do. In both cases, you are limited to the models that you have available - or can create

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

At my ancient age, getting Ps under my belt is a challenge so think I might have to give the 3D stuff a miss (although I was once Autocad Light proficient - and I have two offspring with modelmaking degrees). It is however a very interesting thought as I know people that can use such programmes - perhaps I could get them to knock me up a 3D image or two! Had not thought of using it in this way.