Here are some random photos from Stock Xchange that might be fun for us to play with, either individually or combined.

first look...skip

Just playing

Opened the flower and repositioned the yellow area and used a Transform to cover the canvas. Selected the yellow area the inverted and did a heavy radial spin on the purple areas then g/blured the whole thing.

Opened both the "words" and "pretty girl" files, resized both to match the flower file and saved both as Photoshop files.

Used both the pretty girl and words files as texture maps on the flower file.

I didn't like the bright yellow so did a HS adjustment to reduce and shift the yellow from the flower.

Added the bevel and border

An interesting exercise in composition with such diverse subject matter.

Hey Catherine,

I first used GIMP's Retinex filter to enhance the contrast. I then ported the whole thing in Photoshop, and converted the image to 16-bit. I did an Auto level and did some magic to convert the image to Pseudogrey (used a perlscript from Alex Wilson; can find the link here (http://r0k.us/graphics/pseudoGrey.html); way too complicated to tell you all how; yes, I'm a techy). Lost a few levels due to JPEG compression, but I still have over 1200 tones; click here (http://img472.imageshack.us/img472/4092/prettygirlcopy1rb.jpg) for that version. Unfortunately, due to size requirements, the compression further reduced the number of tones to 257; still looks good though (attached). Not by me, but this method has been dubbed Metallic B/W. :)

Interesting, iKroll. The compressed version is pretty intense, but your linked version adds back many of the missing shades of gray.

Here are some random photos from Stock Xchange that might be fun for us to play with, either individually or combined.

Thanks Catherine, great choices!

I tried to come up with something that combined them all but my creativity level is sorta low I guess! Besides, skip and Swampy did outstanding jobs already on combinations!
And lkroll that really did a job on bringing out the goosebumps! Interesting reading on the page you linked to, but I happened to click the gallery link and found the round snakes image, my head is spinning and won't stop! :dizzy:

Anyway here's my play, went for a softer, smoother look.

Nice soft black and white, G.

Yes, the challenge is in finding some way to composition all elements since they are so unique. Girl and flower, girl and type, type and flower, two might be easier, but three is a real challenge. :wavey:

I had so much fun with this one. Thanks Cat for the post.

Janet

Hi folks, this is what I love about these threads, the diversity of artistic vision........ Skip, that's so vibrant and dramatic! Swampy, all I want to do with yours is print it out REALLY large and hang it on my wall. That bit from the flower's center fascinates me, along with the depth and texture.
Ikroll, what do you do for a living, write rocket science manuals? :dizzy: I hardly ever understand what you're saying, but you come up with some good stuph.
You're right, Garazon, Skip and Swampy set the bar very high, but I also like your dreamy version. I've been experimenting with that lately myself.
And Ms. Janet, looks like we've caught her in the shower! :surprise: Very cool and creative.

I thought it was unusual that the yellow portions of the flower aligned so perfectly with the eyes, so that was my point of demarcation using layer Difference mode...skip

Hehheee, Janet. Yours adds new meaning to the term "wet look". Very creative and well done.

1st image (flower) colour
2nd image (script) softlight

Photoshop: did stretch after images

Cat, you picked some great material to work with.

I'm having so much fun.

Janet

Well when I saw the thread "Pretty Woman" I just had to grab muh hat and see what it was all about. :hat:

It turns out I ended up doing two different images with these. The first I used the text and pretty things face to over lay her over the text once I had that I colorized the top layer her face blue. Next I merged visible and did the torn edge and burned the edges at this point all I had left to do was apply the page curl.

The second image I did I applied a sketch effect to it then started smudging the sketch. once I had that looking like I wanted I colorized it light blue. I added a new layer above the sketch and applied a balls & bubbles effect with the blue bubbles I had made up and saved as a preset. Now all I had left to do was add the matte and frame.

TwoLaidBack

I combined 2 images in Photoshop and added some heavy texture.

Cassidy, great filmy atmosphere about this one. And Janet, don't stop now! You're on a roll. This one's my favorite of your two, definite keeper.
Well when I saw the thread "Pretty Woman" I just had to grab muh hat and see what it was all about. I'm glad you did, TLB. :classic: The first one's my favorite, but I love the effects on her hair in the second, too.
Ms. Kiska, that's gorgeous. Interesting idea for the eyes.

TLB... I love your rendering with the text overlay and page curl. Very very well done!

Thanks Catherine for the fun montage photo art project.
wonderful entries, all of them. Love the page curl TLB.
Here is my montage done with edges (PG6), a little texture and Art history brush.
~Nancy~



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www.fixthepixs.com
www.datepixs.com

I distorted the text with polar coordinates (rectangular to polar option), combined it with multiply option with the flower and put it over colorized in three channels girl.

OnAir, I'm not a retouch artist, but that looks like an amazing job of coloring the girl :nod: And I like your composition.

Nancy, that's beautiful. I just recently got PGE6. It's HUGE, and I haven't done much with it yet.

Hi Catherine, thanks for the nice comment. I just recently upgraded from PG4... big difference, and a fun program but slooooooooooooow. Anyway it does have some nice effects if you have the time to play.

On Air...really nice colorization!

~Nancy

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http://www.fixthepixs.com
http://www.datepixs.com

on air,

i agree with cat; excellent colorization!

had to do one of my own as well. just too many possibilities here.

craig

Raniday, Kraellin, Nanls, thank you very much for your appreciation. I had some downtime, so I spent enough time to polish the picture :) Thanks Catherine, it was very interesting job :)

OnAir... let me add my applause. Wonderful job. :bow:

TwoLaidBack... I especially like how you used the text in both interpretations.

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This started out by applying Levels to the base layer to bring out the hair highlights. Below this layer I created a new layer and filled it with white.

Back to the BW layer, Stylize > Emboss was applied and the blend mode changed to Hard Light. 20+ layers later, I got this! Photoshop filters Crosshatch, Colored Pencil, Find Edges, Unsharp Mask, Dry Brush and Virtual Painter's Oil Painting were used along the way.

Thanks, Catherine, for posting this yummy trio of pics to play with.

~Danny~

Great project - could not resist! :classic:

OnAir - Fantastic colorizing! Wow at first glance I thought, "Hey, where'd they get the color image!". :bigthmb:

Great project - could not resist! :classic: Glad you didn't resist. Both of these are terrific, Robin.

Nan, I don't find the program to be so slow as mind boggling for all the edge/brush possibilities. I could take a month off from my other toys and delve into it I guess. :cold:

Craig, cool idea overlaying just her skin w/ the text. RL, that's so nice and textury, good composition. Did you use PhotoGraphic Edges?

Danny, I've saved your workflow, gotta try it. I really like that look.

raniday - I am not familliar with PhotoGraphic Edges. The edge on the photo of the girl is one that I purchased online as a graphic.

Thank you everyone for the nice comments!

Here's my attempt. It got pretty abstract, but I was having a good time with colors, using blending modes, and I used the Watercolor filter and textures, all in Photoshop CS.

Here's a larger version:
http://www.pbase.com/catbounds/image/55595546

thanks cat :)

fun images to play with.

yours is a bit more wild than normal, isnt it? somehow the center of the flower reminds me of a dragonfly. very lovely :)

craig

There is just something enigmatic about the woman's expression. Reminds me of the Mona Lisa smile.

yours is a bit more wild than normal, isnt it? Thanks, Craig. Now that you mention it, :idea: I guess I tend to post my tamer stuff in this forum.

well, wild or not, it's still lovely :)

craig

Not much time anymore for playing. This one involved grayscaling, colorizing, background erasing and VP impasto.

Full size at http://bigbluebird.com/girl.jpg

Amy

Not much time anymore for playing.We miss you and your inspiring creativity (like this one), Amy.

Stop in anytime you get a chance.

~Danny~

thanks cat :)

the flower reminds me of a dragonfly. very lovely :)

craig

Funny it also reminded me of a dragonfly when I saw it.
A little wild but a very cool and unique montage, Catherine... ~Nancy~

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http://www.fixthepixs.com

Thanks, Nan :)
Amy, love the overall effect you've given this one.

An oldie, but goody.

New interp.

Steve

Missed this one first time round.