Carried away

[Fotoart Profile Website]

I got carried away when I noticed the options for the composite and what you can do with it. below a "Ghostly" photo. It is just a draft (not perfect with the masking -

[andrewb2012 Profile]

Hi Jon,

It fine to get carried away - that's what creativity is all about. The ghostly feel certainly comes across. Like how the water around the girls legs has a kind of transparency that let her legs shine through. I like the spray in and around the girl and I like the slight halo around the surfboard. An interesting and creative image - well thought out and processed. Well Done!

If the effect is what you set out to achieve - then the masking is perfect (for this job at least). I recently made a tutorial video about 'random' (imperfect, if you wish) masking techniques. I like art with character - sometimes perfection spoils that. Often it is the imperfections that make you look twice at an image. In fact many of my textural effects are quite shabby in nature (again, imperfect, if you wish), but they have character! Rust, Old Paint, Weathered Wood are examples of imperfections within textural overlays, but they can look great - in fact 'Shabby Chic' is still very fashionable and is based on imperfections.

Off my soapbox - but I'm sure you know what I mean!

Keep up the good work.

Regards,

Andrew

[Fotoart Profile Website]

Andrew,
thanks for your input - the other day when I went out to take some pictures, I met a retiree who also was out 'shooting some birds'. I mentioned to look into Smart Photo Editor and I hope he will. My next project will be to some HDR effects and maybe portraits - I think you have a separate package for portraits? I will look into that much later.

As for HDR - how can I load multiple images (under/over exposed) and merge them in SPE? This is a hot topic and I think it would be great to have this feature.

[andrewb2012 Profile]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your reply.

Just a point to note - you say 'I think you have a separate package for portraits?' The company behind Smart Photo Editor, Anthropics Technology, certainly has another wonderful program called PortraitPro 12 (in different editions) - this award winning program can be found at http://www.portraitprofessional.com/ but, I am just an SPE user like you, I am not an employee.

Cheers,

Andrew

[DBenterprises Profile]

Don't know what system you are running but you can get a good HDR merging program (free) from Picturenaut HDR Imaging.

[Fotoart Profile Website]

DBenterprises - thanks - I will check that software out - I am using windows 7

[Fotoart Profile Website]

Andrew - I thought you would be an employee - Once I am 'ready' for portraits, I will contact Anthropics to see if they give a good discount to SPE users

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your reply.

Just a point to note - you say 'I think you have a separate package for portraits?' The company behind Smart Photo Editor, Anthropics Technology, certainly has another wonderful program called PortraitPro 12 (in different editions) - this award winning program can be found at http://www.portraitprofessional.com/ but, I am just an SPE user like you, I am not an employee.

Cheers,

Andrew