DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 
Challenge Entries
Portfolio Images
Daytime Games
Daytime Games
Lydia


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: The Moon II (Expert Editing)
Collection: Portfolio
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM II
Date: Aug 29, 2012
Date Uploaded: Aug 29, 2012

 I am the Moon and my daughter is... my dream.



TheMoon8656LNr5.jpg

Composite of:
Clouds 8656
Fairy 8610
Wings 8648
Skirt Flower 8671
Me Moon 8661


Post: For pgirish007 who asked for a tutorial. There are probably as many ways to accomplish this image as there are photographers. There's no right way or wrong way.

I'm not good at tutorials, but here are my basic steps.

Shoot the girl, the face for the moon, a butterfly for the wings, a flower for her skirt, and the sky. Keep in mind the light source direction for each when shooting, if possible.

Use the magnetic Lasso tool to select each of those out of their backgrounds and drag the whole image (not just the cutout) onto the sky background. Create a mask to clean them each up.

Use the Liquify tool to distort the butterfly wings, the face, and the girl's ears, each still on their separate layers.


Dodge and burn and use Overlay Paint brush to color wings and flower skirt.

Burn for shadows.

Adjust each layer to match the others in brightness/contrast/levels/saturation, etc.


Tweak the images until you're too tired to tweak any more... :D (Such as making the bottom of the moon a bit transparent to look like a cloud in front, when it's really just painting some of it out at reduced strength on the moon mask).

I usually do a bunch of Saving and Snapshotting so when I don't like what I've done, I can go back to where I was without trouble.

MASKing is a MUST for any Photoshopper. Learn masks and the world is your oyster. :D

Statistics
Place: 7 out of 74
Avg (all users): 6.7661
Avg (commenters): 8.1429
Avg (participants): 6.2927
Avg (non-participants): 7.0000
Views since voting: 1599
Views during voting: 341
Votes: 124
Comments: 23
Favorites: 3 (view)

Please log in or register to add your comments!

AuthorThread
 09/13/2012 08:07:46 AM
I'm so late in congrats -- but this is just awesome!!! Didn't know you were such a great expert editor person!!!!!

Way to go, my friend!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/13/2012 01:37:45 AM
HI LYNDA..... I SURE I WROTE A COMMENT BELOW THIS IMAGE RE THIS CHALLENGE BUT IT HAD DISAPPEARED AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHY...

I GAVE YOU MY SHERPET 'YELLOW' AWARD OF EXCELLENCE... I MUST NOT HAVE EDITED IT PROPERLY SOMEHOW AND SO PLEASED I SAW IT IS NOT HERE, AS I AM ADDING IT NOW... LOVE THE FANTASY FEELING THIS ONE HAS AND ALSO THE IDEA AND EXECUTION... WELL DONE... REALLY LOVED IT XOX FROM SHEZ

SHERPET 'YELLOW' STAR AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Daytime Games by LydiaToo

-

CONGRATULATIONS - LOVED IT FROM SHEZ
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/11/2012 01:06:34 PM
this is beautifully awesome! 11 !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 10:10:05 PM
Can I please ask you to write a page on this in "how would they do that" or "tutorial"? :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 08:47:58 PM
This is great Lydia! good job.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 03:59:23 PM
Very creative Lydia, you are a fantastic moon :-) I really like the shape you gave it, and the colors also work well together. Keep up the good work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 11:02:32 AM
Congrats on the top ten.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 08:53:30 AM
I had this picked for the blue by a long shot. Surprised to see it at 7th. Nice finish anyway.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 08:52:55 AM
Cute idea - you look sensational!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 05:20:32 AM
Congrats on the TT. Has a great fairy tale vibe.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 02:10:34 AM
Great job. My favorite in this challenge and my only 10.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 01:47:57 AM
Excellent Work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 01:37:06 AM
Seriously, you shouldn't let your kids walk all over you like this.. ;)

Great image - very clean and cool work here.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 01:14:10 AM
Congrats on top 10, Lydia, beautifully done. This was my equal top pick along with the 19th place getter.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 12:24:36 AM
Delightful and charmingly done, Lydia. Congratulations on the top ten.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/10/2012 12:21:35 AM
You are an awesome moon! Do your kids give you a fun reaction when they see the final product of your shots? This one is so cute.

Congrats on the top ten!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
09/09/2012 08:21:26 PM
Great use of expert editing; nice graphic art.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2012 07:09:55 PM
Fanciful and nicely done. Voted earlier.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/09/2012 12:19:43 PM
Good stuff another for my top ten .
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2012 03:44:26 PM
nice job
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2012 12:13:17 PM
Lovely! And a refreshing change from the straightforward "moon in night sky" shots. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/03/2012 06:32:44 PM
great work, well done 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/03/2012 12:40:12 AM
perfect! Definitely a winner!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 04/25/2025 05:35:36 AM EDT.