[Swampy]

Twedes Cafe got me in a cowboy mood. I shot this photo last summer on a working ranch about 20 miles from my home. I was the guest of a local caterer who specializes in feeding the working cowboys. He set up a great lunch (ham, fried chicken, pole beans, yellow rice, potato salad, biscuits and guava jelly, sweet tea, and lemon pound cake).

The cowboys shown here had finished lunch and were getting ready to head out to round up more cows. There were two cow dogs that I didn't get in the shot, but they are an integral part of the whole process. These guys typically start the day at 3:30 or 4:00 AM, may drive a hundred miles to the "next" job, work until about 1:00, take about an hour and a half lunch break, then back on the job until after sundown. They will work one ranch for a day or so, then float on to the next ranch and repeat the process. For many it's a full time job drifting from ranch to ranch culling cows (separating the keeps from the ones that will go to market) round-ups for medications and new "cuts" for breeding purposes.

BTW... Lunch is traditionally provided by the ranch owner and the cowboys have favorite ranches where the food is exceptinally good. :-)

I'd love to see what you can do with this shot. There is so much detail to work with. Have fun and use your imagination

[Kraellin]

somehow i dont think of cowboys and palm trees in the same image, but ok.

i'm posting 5 images here. basically, these are all the same rendering but with different blend modes as the last stage.

craig

[Swampy]

Craig.. I like #1. Good light/dark contrast.

Re the palm trees.. Very typical around south central Florida. Wide open range for miles dotted by "bay heads" and groups of trees along canals and around ponds and low areas.

[Steve Conway]

Wonderful Florida scrub....and not a condo in sight! Love it!.

Steve

[Swampy]

Steve... I really like what you've done. How'd you do it? Almost has a smudge paint feel.

The Florida scrub does have it's own kind of beauty, doesn't it?

[Kraellin]

thanks dee dee.

and in steves, i think i see gertrudis in here. very nice.

craig

[Steve Conway]

Thanks much Swampy. It's a mixture of styles in Gertrudis Pro. I then layered and worked on blends for the final result.

I live near where Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, ("The Yearling"), lived. And she wrote lovingly of the Florida scrub and it's inhabitants.

Steve

Originally Posted by Swampy

Steve... I really like what you've done. How'd you do it? Almost has a smudge paint feel.

The Florida scrub does have it's own kind of beauty, doesn't it?

[jch71566]

Wow! I really like yours Steve!

Mine is mostly Buzzed. Enjoy!

[Steve Conway]

My thanks to Craig and JCH.

Steve

[Swampy]

Interesting, JCH. It just amazes me how some of the filters can simplify so much detail, but leave you with something that is still very comprehensible.

Steve, that's pretty country up around Cross Creek, Ocala Forest, etc. I get a kick out of the folks from up north who are amazed at how much the Ocala "horse country" looks like areas of Kentucky.

BTW there is a breed of cattle called "Santa Gertrudis" that has been bred into the South Florida Cracker range cattle. The breed holds up well in the heat and humidity, grazes well on the scrub ranges. Using Gertrudis Pro was very approriate!!! LOL

[lkroll]

Smudging is just too much work. Went back to Impressionist (djroil24 preset) and some selective cleaning and merging with the original. Also, of course, added GIMP's Bumpmapping for relief texture.

[Swampy]

Ikroll...

Very nice. Your technique "artsied" up the vegetation, but really kept detail and focus on the cowboys. Good job!

[lkroll]

That's what layers and the eraser tool's for.

I also decided to invert the bumpmap making the whites stick out.

[kiska]

I simplified and used the wind filter in Photoshop. SA for painting.

http://www.pbase.com/ob/image/56120886

[Cassidy]

Surface Blur and added Grain minus cowboys and their horses