Creative Intrepretations: Grand Hotel, Taiwan

[jch71566]

Another picture from my el-cheapo camera. This time, the Grand Hotel. This hotel is a landmark in Taipei. For many years, it was the tallest structure on the island. I can remember seeing this hotel when visiting Taiwan about 34 years ago!

I took the picture while travelling on Highway 1 on an overcast day. The image isn't that great, but it has possibility.

Enjoy!

-Jeff

[jch71566]

Here's my take.

I cropped and rotated the image, boosted saturation, and then used a watercolor wash variant from MS Impressionist.

As a bonus, I added my seal.

Unfortunately, I had the JPEG compression turned up -WAY- too high.

-Jeff

[Duv]

Hi Jeff

Sweet! After straightening and cropping I applied a 200/4.3 Unsharp Mask and then ran a Mike Finn Watercolor action.

Cheers
Duv

[DannyRaphael]

Rotated, cropped and spliced in some sky and foreground. Resized larger to for a little more to work with.

Applied some Smart Blur (normal), then Virtual Painter Gouache. Duplicated Gouache layer and applied Impressionist Charcoalefault. This layer was blended blended with the layer below with a layer mask. Copied cropped/spliced BG to the top of the layer stack and changed blend mode to color; lowered opacity to about 80%. This toned down the wild colors rendered by Virtual Painter.

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I like what you did to yours, Duv. Mike WC action is one of my favorites.

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Jeff: Another good challenge to test our skills!

~Danny~

[jch71566]

Duv, you've really captured the spirit of the place!

Danny, WOW! I can't believe what I'm seeing. You've perfectly balanced the detail with the large areas. Gonna make me go back and see what I can do....

-Jeff

[Duv]

The word I was looking for is Exquisite. Very nicely done Danny. The foreground foliage and the blue rising above the hotel really makes this work. I really like working with this pic. Maybe it's the roofline but I've already cranked out 12 renditions.
Here's one where I used a curves adjustment to add some snap then ran Amphisoft Simplier with a strong black adjustment.

Cheers
Duv

[Duv]

Hey. How come I've got a 90 kb pic that ends up tiny and Danny has a 35 kb pic that ends up large? Is it my lifestyle? The way I look?

Duv

[rondon]

I thought the highway had to go so i tried finding an appropriate substitute.

here is my humble offering !

I was in Teipei in 1966 and saw this Hotel ... at least I think I did... with just 96 hours of R&R there sleep was avoidable..

anyhow I hope you like it.

[DannyRaphael]

Excellent! Great road substitution.

[Duv]

I love it! You've left the angle of the building like a well worn and comfortable cowboy hat. Good Stuff!

Cheers
Duv

[jch71566]

Originally Posted by rondon

I thought the highway had to go so i tried finding an appropriate substitute.

here is my humble offering !

I was in Teipei in 1966 and saw this Hotel ... at least I think I did... with just 96 hours of R&R there sleep was avoidable..

anyhow I hope you like it.

Awesome job, Rondon! Where did you get the new foreground?

-Jeff

[rondon]

well thank you all...

Where did you get the new foreground?

whenever I am surfing and like a photo I save it and have lots of them...

I like this sort of work best.. usually I am putting someone in a photo often after combining backgrounds.

not professionally.. I just do things for the family or humor etc.