Hi Folks,

My name is Damien O'Riley.

This is my first post here, but I have been a steady reader for quite some time. When I was contemplating what my first post should contain, my old southern 'schoolin' came into play:

When you arrive at a party, make sure you always bring a gift.

I have noticed lots of you talking about not having high quality images to retouch and play with as a group. So, I thought that my 'gift' could be a, what I believe, nice image for everyone to play with.

This photo was taken a couple of years ago on a D70. I converted the RAW straight to a 16 bit, 400 PPI Tif file and uploaded it to my site. I am including a thumbnail preview of course.

If you want to download the image...its just shy of 4 megs. And please, do extend me the proper copyright etiquette. :D

If you folks enjoy playing with this image...I will gladly upload more of various style and themes (All taken by my fiance or myself) and heck, I even have a few hundred 2000 PPI monster files scanned from a Mamiya Medium Format.

Anyway, here are the links. It's great to have a community like this to come to and learn from.

Warmly,
Damien O'Riley
Http://www.DigitalSistere.com

Tif File Link (http://www.digitalsistere.com/GiftImage.tif)

2000 ppi?...why were they scanned so high, and what kind of scanner was it?

We bought a Nikon Coolscan film scanner a while back. I still love shooting film and I got tired of paying my local photo shop $5-$10 per hi-res scan for Medium format.

As to why I scanned them with such a high DPI? I guess all I can say is that, when they were scanned back then, I didn't know any better...lol Now I scan most everything at 400 DPI unless I am going to print a HUGE print, then I will scan higher.

Oh, and don't ask why I have been using DPI instead of PPI...trying to do to many things at once plus I have been fighting all day with a, what I am coming to believe, is a demoniacally influenced printer profile.

So, please excuse my lapse into 'Duhness'

Damien

i hear ya, i still love a medium format transparency....the convenience of a digital camera is great but a Hasselblad H3D-39 isn't in the budget i'm afraid...

love film. take it over digital anyday.

thnkx for the lovely photo waiting 4 more hhhee

Damien, Welcom aboard! Your southern upbringing serves you well. Thank you for this lovely photo to play with. Hope you like it in watercolor.

Swampy i really like your picture. It's so fare away from what i daily do in photoshop(Beauty/fashion retouch), but still im so impressed. :)

If i had seen it on a wall, i would have tougth it was a watercolor painting. And also the Texture in the paper look good.

Thank you, Keiserjohn!

Turning a lovely photo into a piece of art is fun and rewarding. I wish I had the photographic skills to capture a picture as lovely as Damien's.

Hi Damien,

is your birth name Balthasar, Casper, or Melchior?

Hi Damien,

is your birth name Balthasar, Casper, or Melchior?

That one flew straight above my head :D

That one flew straight above my head :D

Thank God, I am not the only one! lol

So sorry my good man, but I will need a little more input on what exactly you are asking :masked:

Thank you, Keiserjohn!

Turning a lovely photo into a piece of art is fun and rewarding. I wish I had the photographic skills to capture a picture as lovely as Damien's.

Thank you very much, I also liked what you created with your painting style. The texture of the canvas appeared quite real and your blending of colors really enhanced the dreamy feel of the photo.

I'm curious, do you use primarily Photoshop or do you dance with Painter as well?

Damien

Damien, I did the painting entirely in Photoshop using Art History and History brushes. Basically I used the Art History brush to lay the ground colors then over that used the History Brush with a very low opacity to add back details. You'll find that the Art History brush just slings paint around which is wonderful for backgrounding.

I have a water color tutorial on my home page, It's a video (in two parts) that you might find interesting. Just click on the "Tutorial" link in my signature. :-). The tutorial doesn't demo the Art History Brush, but there are some good tutes on that in the RetouchPRO Tutorial Forum.

As far as Painter.. I have it (in fact just got my update Painter X today), but I find it soooooo convoluted. I use it for a few things, but I'm more comfortable in Photoshop.

Thank God, I am not the only one! lol

So sorry my good man, but I will need a little more input on what exactly you are asking :masked:
Damien was the spawn of the Devil in "The Omen." Not sure if the referenced names are various alter egos for "Old Scratch" himself, or demonic comrades.

Metaphysics lecture over.