Aug-Sep 2011 Contest Discussion

[T Paul]

Add your comments, questions or general discussion about the Contest entries here. This is also a great place to share your techniques or ask others about theirs.

Most members are eager to hear comments/suggestions about their entries, so please take the time to help each other out.

[Veralisa]

Thanks for the info, TPaul, about the Aug-Sept contest. As challenges go, this will prove to be a humdinger. I've already started planning.

[Veralisa]

Hi,
"share your techniques"...well, I can safely say that there are not too many things in my toolbox worthy of sharing, but I did discover that square brushes work great in this re-creation.

[CaptainObvious]

there's SO much to be done on this.

a few late nights are in order, methinks.

[lrmeulman]

I've recently rediscovered Photoshop and really want to get better at retouching - would love to make a career change to do this professionally. I'm going to have a go at this over the next few weeks - There's a lot to be done in this particular photo - research on technological advances since 1901 and taking them out of the picture (did drain pipes exist ??). Great to have a project like this to work. Looking forward to seeing other people's takes on this. Have planned out what to do and am excited about doing this !

[CaptainObvious]

Well, so far I think I've clocked up about 5 hours on this.

it's turning out to be a bit of a "History Lesson" for this Brit too, since I have little or no idea about American architecture.

All said, I'm really enjoying this challenge, as it's something I've never done before. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to post my take on this. I'll also include some blow by blow pictures of the processes I used if anyone's interested.

[Kraellin]

i'm loving the additions. the trolley lines were a brilliant addition

[dkcoats]

It's tempting to add a lot of stuff but we need to keep in mind that this is a small town in turn-of-the-century rural Alabama, not Chicago, say. Or even Peoria.

[CaptainObvious]

Originally Posted by dkcoats

It's tempting to add a lot of stuff but we need to keep in mind that this is a small town in turn-of-the-century rural Alabama, not Chicago, say. Or even Peoria.

I actually googled the town and found out quite a lot of information regarding the location and population, etc, which gave me a good base for my interpretation of the image.

[Veralisa]

I couldn't begin to tell you WHERE on the Library of Congress site I found this, several actually, but I think it must certainly be accurate, at least to time & geographical location. Things were more advanced than I gave them credit for.

[T Paul]

I'm very impressed with the entries so far and kudos for all the research everyone is doing to make their entries more accurate!

[Veralisa]

Have we started voting yet?

[T Paul]

Voting is now open. Sorry for the delay. Due to the delay, voting will now run to 3 Oct until 7pm (Central).

[Veralisa]

well guys, after seeing the calm, stark rest of the entries, I knew the busyness of mine would be a hard sell. Actually, two of the models I used are included here, another one in a previous message above, all from a town in Alabama in 1901. The 'ol South was a pretty lively place by the looks of it. The facades were as ornamented as anything else and the streets seemed strangled by electric wires. I wouldn't have thought so myself if I hadn't studied the old photographs.
I imagined the times down South did get tough, money dried up, big box stores & malls replaced individual shops, etc and the result was a deconstruction of the cities.
The one MAJOR flaw in my version was the complete absence of shadows. Duh...I feel so dumb.
I'm also wondering why, on the center white painted brick building, it's facade which is NOW chipped and peeling, wasn't made to look like something JUST painted, lo those many years ago.

This was a wonderful test of endurance...patience...and craftsmanship, no? Great work everyone! And many thanks to TPaul for her ingenious concept.

[dkcoats]

I worried about the peeling white building, too, for a while, but I rationalized my decision not to do anything about it (which would have been a lot of work) by telling myself that those buildings were something like 65 years old in 1901 (built mid-1830s according to my research) so could very well have looked a little the worse for wear.