Hi All!

I haven't posted anything new in quite a while due to some lingering illness, but lately I've been getting back into things photographically (and some wacky Post processing creative editing also!). I just wanted to share with our UHH crew 4 of my favorite recently "Morphed" images. And I'm pretty sure that many of you may say, after seeing these, something like "Holy crap! What kind of whack-job nutcase IS this guy, anyways??!" Not sure if it's my Agent Orange-diminished mind, or only just being a pre-demetia 72yr old guy, but my imagination can really seem to run a little too wild these days! I even bought me a DJI Mavic Air Drone to explore new and different aerial ways to get myself into "photographic trouble"! (so, please stay tuned for details at 6, film at 11, eh?)

The "morphs" below I've entitled 1. "Amish InterstellarTerrafarming", 2. "Crocodilicus", 3. "The Elken Full Moon" and 4. "On the Rise of Humanity". All were shot with a Nikon D810, and creatively reconstructed using Corel PhotoPaint X7 for building of structure, and Adobe LightRoom for color, tone etc.

General build info of how I put together these "Morphs":

1. The Amish always being kind of camera shy, I had to snap this Amish team of horses with a 300mm lens from nearly 1/4 mile away, edited it for 3D, color etc., and superimposed it over a stock far-away planet image (and NO, I'm not FROM that planet!)

2. Only just used a closeup of a gnarly old log, and built in stock photos of an eye along with some fierce teeth, and blended them into a kind of monstrous Crocodilicus superimposed over a stock jungle background image.

3. Using a full moon shot and silhouetted elk herd shot with 300mm lens, I blended them over a stock 'grunge' background.

4. A Lake Erie sunset, an ape I shot at the Pittsburgh Zoo and a stock skull image were blended and morphed into this thought- provoking final!

Finally, please do feel free to recommend some psychotherapy consultation for me if you'd like to!!! But otherwise, I sure do hope y'all get a kick out of these "Morphs"..ENJOY!!

Amish InterstellarTerrafarming

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Crocodilicus

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The Elken Full Moon

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On the Rise of Humanity

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Hey again everyone!

I had posted some of these a couple weeks back. I got my initial idea from a suggestion on the Digital Photography School website to try using a glass ball to create some refraction images. This was a lot of fun, for sure. I used some of my usual photographic PC software tricks with Corel PhotoPaint in creating the 'image structures', and Adobe Lightroom 6 to add tone & other enhancements. I created all of these shots using a 3" glass ball ordered online, and came up with these final images. I shot with a Nikon D750 & 12-24mm Sigma lens. I held the ball in my fingers and shot the basic ball closeup, and then I took the background image normally, superimposing the ball over it in interesting ways. The final results turned out to be visually eye-catching (I decided to nickname my finals "iBALL" images!) Sorry about some repeats here, but I thought I'd put out all of my latest shots here in one inclusive grouping. Hope other Hoggers give this technique a try.. it's a blast to play around with, and you never can tell what you might come up with on your own!

iBALL Deep Woods Cabin

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iBALL Farm Scene

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iBALL Forest UFO

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iBALL Houseboat Sunset

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iBALL Nature Center

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iBALL North Pier Lighthouse

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iBALL Old Barn

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iBALL Rainy Pittsburgh

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Just decided to do a quick post here of yet another one of my attempts at using a solid glass "gazing ball" to put together an ethereal construct taken at the Latonami Nature Center in North Park, Allegheny County PA. when this mild winter gave me a brief scene that looked more like Fall! My other initial efforts were posted at this link:

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-438880-1.html

I'm having a "ball" playing around with this cheap & easy technique!

Fall in a Ball!

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A reply to John F about the ball:
I initially hold up the glass ball using only thumb & index finger, which I then remove via computer editing. My problem in being able to do a "one shot capture", is that the reflected image in the ball is initially upside down, and really has to be rotated 180° in order to make the final sphere image orient itself properly to my base background image. I kinda need to take some Dramamine while doing all of this to keep from falling off my chair! ;))

Thanks for all your kind comments, Hoggers! And yes, shooting & creating these "Ballistics" sure was a lotta fun..the sky's the limit with possibilities!

Hi all! Haven't been on the Hog for a while, but thought I'd share some interesting results from my latest "photo morphing" efforts with everyone here. I recently received my initial 'inspiration' from a suggestion on the DPS website to try using a glass ball to create some unusual images. I had a 'ball' with shooting some, and by using some of my usual photographic computer terpsichore, I eventually created these images. I ordered a 3" glass ball from Amazon, and went out to see what might happen. Using my Nikon D750 with a 12-24mm Sigma lens, I held the ball in my fingers to shoot the initial basic closeup, and then I shot the background image which it was later superimposed on. My final results were pretty whimsical, for sure! From zany "raindrops over Pittsburgh", to a spooky hovering ball in the woods, the finals turned out to be entertaining to view, to say the least. What think you Hogs about these "BALListic" images?

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Thanks everyone, for your vey kind compliments on my Primordial Simians image construct! It sure is a fun project whenever I can be able to put the 'right' images together to create a totally new visage. 😁

Here's my simplicity offering of a frozen bench along Lake Ontario!

This one is my latest "morphography" creation that I constructed using an image of four indifferent gorillas shot at the Pittsburgh Zoo, and then superimposed over a 'primordial sunset' pic I had taken over Lake Erie. I hope y'all like it!

Primordial Simians

Thanks for your very kind comments Rich1! I've always been fascinated with the full moon, but never able to get the kinds of shots of it that the SX50 gets for me. I thought a bit of foreground might add to the MoodMoon shot, so actually zoomed out a lot to get it. (The SX50 at 1200mm actually more than fills the viewfinder, as in the MoonCopter pic) And no, the spider and fly weren't two separate shots..I was lucky enough to be able to catch them both during the fly's last minutes!

Hi candle57! I bought a Canon SX50 as soon as it came out, and have never been happier with a camera! I bought it mostly for the 50X (1200mm equivalent) zoom, but have also been very pleased with its super versatility. Its ability to 'sense' a scene, and then launch into the appropriate shooting mode, is almost scary. From super-zoom to macros, this little powerhouse really does the job!! I've attached some zoom shots of this May's Flower full moon, and a neat macro of a spider & a fly just to give you some idea of what this great bridge camera can do..Enjoy!

Ergoedbo

MoonMood


Copter Ride to the Moon!


Said the Spider to the Fly

Hi Al!
I really liked your approach to all things that make a good shot work! As a retired amateur, I like to grab shots that are often just plain & simply pleasing to look at, and then again, others that might make folks "think" a little bit more when they view 'em. Having a graphics background, I very often like to use post processing in order to really manipulate images into "artistic pieces" or ones that might evoke emotions! I've got a lot of my favorite work on my PhotoPhorum website at : http://www.angelfire.com/ejlphotos/index.html
Stop by my site for a fun visit, and please do let me know what you think..new ideas are always appreciated!!

ergoedbo

Great shots, ggttc!! When I saw them, I thought that I remembered shooting a very similar situation a while back. Then, I found it..hard to shoot a bad pic when Nature hands one to us, eh? :))

High Cumulus Clouds at Sunset

Hi Jenn! I'm one of the folks on this site who really likes to do post processing. I use Corel Photo Paint X5 for the "construction work" & Adobe Lightroom 4 for "quality enhancements". I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of working, about 15 minutes, with your photo of the girls. Since you didn't include a 'downloaded version' of higher resolution, my results weren't as refined as they could have been.
First off, when shooting groups, too many folks do the full-bodies shot, when we're really more interested in their faces & expressions, so I cropped your pic as I would have shot it. Second, it's never good to shoot pretty faces in direct, harsh sunlight.. It makes them look like porcelain dolls! I did a lot of contrast reduction, and exposure/clarity adjustments to lessen the overall harshness, after I removed the hair over the face. Finally, I'm big on using vignettes to reduce background distractions and focus interest on the subject's faces. So, at least in your pic here, I used a rather heavy vignette treatment to give your shot some punch. I do hope that you liked the final product (I have included the full resolution final as a download here) Happy shooting!!

Danis Ladies Edited!

Thanks, TK, for your kind comments! I really like vibrant colors & unusual subject matter.. and that new macro lens is a pretty 'cool tool' to do the job for me!