Too Much Moon?

[Blindv]

I was pilfering through the boards and came across a post by Jasz with cornucopia of images. I had noted that some folks and taken this image and placed a night sky above it, and thought that might be something to play around with.

At any rate, my question here is this: Would this be a "Better effect" if there was less of the moon visible in this image? I personally like it as it, but I think there is a "clash of the titans" thing going on here.

Ideas / thoughts?

Again, Thanks Jasz for the RAW images

[Britsdad]

Hi Blindv,
Just a thought, do you think the light on the model is coming from straight above her? It looks to me as tho' it's from the top right, maybe...
I have done a very rough move of the Moon, and I think you could get away with showing more of it, maybe to the edge of the "glow" then add more "glow" to it....
Regards............John.

[Blindv]

I agree that the lighting is coming from the upper right field, and I did initially place the moon in the same area as you have, but I noted that her focus appears to be directly above her. I'm not sure if I can change the apparent angle of the lighting using lighting effects, or not. Also, I think I may have overdone the blue lighting, or missed the mark on the color. I'll have to tinker with it a bit.

But I do agree, that your placement looks more appropriate with the current lighting.

Thanks again!

[lurch]

Hi Blindv,

That's a nice composite. I can see what you might regard as a clash of the titans, but it may just be because the colors don't quite mesh. I don't have John's doubts about the precise light direction (though he could well have a point). To my eye (for all that's worth ) the moon could be a little less vivid, and the lighting on the model could be cooler. She is, after all, basking in a blue moon, not on a sunny beach. The attached is a quick example of what I'm talking about.

There are lots of ways to accomplish this; here's how I did it. Starting with your image, I made a copy of the moon on its own layer and desaturated that copy completely. Then changed the blending mode to screen and lowered opacity until it looked right (about 60% for the posted image). Redid the outer glow layer effect with the new color. Finally isolated the lower half of the image and applied a fairly strong blue photographic filter - can't remember the exact strength, but again just slid the slider until it looked right.

<C>

[chillin]

Maybe it is too much Moon...or maybe not

[Oh_Heck]

Blindv, personally I think the moon is just fine size wise. Since the lighting is coming from the top right, why not slightly move both subjects. I think the composition is still intact, and is still a nice piece. Heck I wouldn't mind having a poster like this hanging in my office.

[Blindv]

I agree, a slight movement to adjust the over all placement of the objects as you have illustrated is just about right. I'll mess around with it a bit more when I get some time. ATM I'm being slaved out correcting old wedding pictures for a 50th Wedding anniversary.

Thanks for taking the time