[Gary Richardson]

I promised Lorraine I'd post a couple of photos from my holidays when I got back, so here they are. Look forward to seeing what the artistically talented (I'm certainly not) among you will do with them.

[Peter S]

I hope you enjoyed yourself out there, no broken limbs I hope.
Looks like a great place.

A very quick one here (just to try and be first of course).
Mainly used cutout filter and a little cloning to tidy up.

Second one Lucis and diffuse mainly

Peter

[Kraellin]

nice pictures, gary. thank you.

i'm guessing you had fun

[CJ Swartz]

Gary, I'm sure it's hard to come home from such a lovely place to ski!

Did some color range selections to layers, dry brush/blurs/saturation increase

[Gary Richardson]

Well I'm blown away with everyone's renditions so far, thanks for spending time on them I love them all.

I had a great time thanks. The first couple of days were a bit dreary, the weather was grey and warm, and the snow was a bit thin and patchy with lots of slush. But on Monday night/Tuesday morning there was a 15" snowfall and that transformed everything. A cold snap followed and we had perfect skiing conditions for the rest of the week, fresh powder and clear blue skies.

Didn't take many (if any) pics on the slopes, too busy enjoying myself, these are all in and around Meribel village as are pretty much all my other snaps. In any case I've been to the 3 Vallées before, so I've got as many pics of the mountains and pistes as I'll ever need.

Guess I must have said the right things in my prayers to fall so lucky with the weather (wish I could remember what they were so I could use them again).

[patriciakay]

Lovely photos Gary...soooo glad the snow arrived for you and you had a really good time...


Peter...very nice....aniso worked well with Lucis on your 2nd one and i really like the cut out effect on the first one...I also have to have an eye op...also terrified....we must paint more and i find doing fractals totally takes my mind off it...although i havent got my date yet!!!

Craig...very nice....did you filter forge it???

CJ......Great on lots of nice details...

I used Dens funky chunky oil brush in Painter...changing the brush size as and when....framed in Photoshop with an action...

Patricia....

[Peter S]

Sorry gary but there just was not enough snow!!!!

Peter...very nice....aniso worked well with Lucis on your 2nd one and i really like the cut out effect on the first one...I also have to have an eye op...also terrified....we must paint more and i find doing fractals totally takes my mind off it...although i havent got my date yet!!!

Patricia
Thank you for both comments. I hope you get your date soon, the waiting gives too much time for thoughts.
Fractals eh , like them but my comp takes ages to render them, I have to keep tightening the elastic band up and sometimes add a little more coal before they get finished.
Very nice pic there, I shall really have to get Painter out again and try again.

Peter

[Gary Richardson]

Patricia, Sorry to hear about your eye problems, must be very worrying for you, hope you get your date soon, will be sure to give you a special mention in my prayers.

Peter, where were you at the beginning of last week, could have done with the snow then. Ever thought of hiring yourself out to a ski resort?

Love the latest additions, Patricia you always frame yours so beautifully it really sets your beautiful picture off well. Peter the addition of the extra snow really changes the feel of the whole scene.

[Janet Petty]

I've been playing with HDR a little bit and pushing it to some extremes. First I darkened and generally ruined one shot. Next, I over lightened another shot. Third, I used the original shot. Merged in HDR and fooled the program into thinking each was taken with the incorrect exposure. After the merge, I tweaked with levels, hue/sat, and a mess of other stuff. It still isn't how I originally pictured it; but it is close. Please don't be offended if I ruined the quaint little church.

Janet

[Swampy]

Patricia, hope things go well for you with your eyes. Keep us posted.

Gary, great photos. I've never been snow skiing, but my son loves it. This native Floridian had to put on socks to keep her feet warm while working on this rendering... LOL

A little painter, a little Photoshop.

[Kraellin]

hi patricia and thanks but no; no filter forge on this one. all Paint Shop Pro. used a charcoal filter, some sharpening and blurring and layers and blend modes and followed the whole up with a smudging. was trying to get get a chalk-like effect.

and i agree with gary, you always have the best frames.

and janet, are you using Photoshop for your hdr stuff or something else? i play around with it in filter forge but Paint Shop Pro has no hdr itself.

and dee dee, i kind of like that heavy texture. makes it look like a snow storm or something.

[Swampy]

Thank you, Craig

Peter "I shall really have to get Painter out again and try again." I just got around to updating to Painter IX-5 and the new Auto Painting palette really is fun. Basically it lets you take any brush, set opacity etc. then auto paint as much as you want. Stop, change brushes, auto paint some more.

Fay Sirkis did a video tutorial for the PhotoshopTV guys a couple weeks ago. You can download the QT of this episode at http://www.photoshoptv.com/photoshoptv/011507.html

It will help give you an idea of how the new "Painting Palettes" work. You can view her wonderful portrait work at http://www.faysartstudio.com

[Steve Conway]

Late afternoon at the lodge.

Excellent photos...not easy to shoot snow, especially with shadows.

Steve C.

[Kraellin]

nice, steve. has a sort of lithograph look to it.

[Steve Conway]

Originally Posted by Kraellin

nice, steve. has a sort of lithograph look to it.

Thanks much.

Wish I could hit on the Currier and Ives look. Depending on the image, I keep hitting all around it.

Steve C.