Interesting buildings

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Originally Posted by toriaj

It's a great shot, Lukas. The edited version is over-the-top for my taste, but I know lots of people enjoy that look so I have respect for it. I prefer the sky in the original, and the green grass is a little radioactive :D but it really is a good shot.

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Thanks Tori. I agree that it's overdone, but sometimes when you take a crappy picture of a great scene you just want to blast it with pp. :D I think I opened it to tweak something and screwed up the color profile. That's why it appears a little over saturated. I still don't really understand that stuff. :confused: I toned the color down some here.

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Originally Posted by TheWengler

Thanks Tori. I agree that it's overdone, but sometimes when you take a crappy picture of a great scene you just want to blast it with pp. :D I think I opened it to tweak something and screwed up the color profile. That's why it appears a little over saturated. I still don't really understand that stuff. :confused: I toned the color down some here.

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Hey, I think it looks awesome! It reminds me of the Wizard of Oz.

I am mostly up to speed with PP work - except for layers which seem to be mostly a mystery.
If I paste something on as a new layer - it covers the old - so what's the point? How are these layers blended - unless it is a cut and paste.
Sorry to sound thick - but it really is something I don't understand - and when people talk about layers and making new ones etc - I don't get it.

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Originally Posted by Geoff Chandler

I am mostly up to speed with PP work - except for layers which seem to be mostly a mystery.
If I paste something on as a new layer - it covers the old - so what's the point? How are these layers blended - unless it is a cut and paste.
Sorry to sound thick - but it really is something I don't understand - and when people talk about layers and making new ones etc - I don't get it.

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Well I'm certainly no expert but I'll see if I can explain better. I'm using Photoshop Elements 5. Other programs may be different.

1) Open image
2) Create a duplicate layer
3) Edit each individual layer separately as needed. For me I did the sky in one layer and the land/castle in the other one. You can hide a layer by clicking the the eye icon next to each layer in the menu on the right. All changes you make only happen to the highlighted layer.
4) Select the top layer in the menu. Hold Ctrl and hit the "create new layer" icon. By holding Ctrl it will place the new layer underneath the top layer. Then select the top layer and hit Ctrl+G. When you do this all you will be able to see is the bottom layer. That doesn't make a ton of sense to me either, but it works.
5) Select the new blank layer and a soft edged paint brush. Paint where you want the changes from your top layer to appear on the bottom layer. For example, if I have my foreground edit on the bottom and my sky edit on top the I'll paint over the over exposed sky and as I do so it will be replaced with the sky edit. It's like painting with a brush where you paint is whatever alterations you made to the top layer.

When you use layers you're not really using all of any of the individual layers. Either you do something like above and only parts of each layer are showing or make the top layer transparent (like I did for the soft focus edit). I hope this makes more sense.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Geoff Chandler

I am mostly up to speed with PP work - except for layers which seem to be mostly a mystery.
If I paste something on as a new layer - it covers the old - so what's the point? How are these layers blended - unless it is a cut and paste.
Sorry to sound thick - but it really is something I don't understand - and when people talk about layers and making new ones etc - I don't get it.

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Geoff, I was in the same place as you a year ago, and now I use layers like a maniac :D One of the best things about layers is that you can vary the opacity. So let's say you just increased the contrast. Then you decide that you went too far. Instead of redoing it over and over until you get it right, you can just reduce the opacity of the layer until you like how it looks.

And as for the rest of the layer advantages ... I think you pretty much just have to get in there and try it to figure it out. But let me tell you it's worth it :)

And Lukas, the Picasa version's grass looks more normal now :) And I still think the original is NOT a crappy shot at all. You did a good job all around.

Esplanade in Singapore

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../DSC_1093b.jpg

I found this site while being bored at work so I figured I would register and contribute...there are some GREAT photo's in this thread and I hope you like mine. Unfortunately, since I'm at work I can only post an older picture that has a large logo on it...oh well:)

This was taken outside the Science Museum in Minneapolis, MN.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...006_003_sm.jpg

great colors there, anhktruong. Welcome to the site :)

St Vincent de Paul church in Los Angeles.
Attachment 34068

Heres a "few" shots from today, all taken in helsinki.

#1.Random old building in b&w.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2259/...04b9685a_b.jpg

#2.Art Museum
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2179/...c2ce39aa_b.jpg

#3.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2011/...945c1dfb_b.jpg

#4.Museum/Movie Theatre
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2018/...07df56e5_b.jpg

#5.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2325/...85f278ed_b.jpg