Trying to be artistic

MWHCVT

MWHCVT

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Matthew
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The other day I did this one for my POTD, I was shooting with a fully manual lens set up and missed focus by a tiny bit but I did really like the image that I captured so decided to try and rescue it with with a artistic filter and futher processing to make it look like a water colour painting (y)


106/366 (471) by mwhcvt, on Flickr

Overall I'm quite pleased with the effect but I don't know if it's been truly effective without some feedback so that's what I'm after please

C&C really needed and appreciated (y)

Matt
MWHCVT
 
Hmmmm . . . not quite sure that it qualifies as a photograph any more, rather a piece of digital art. But that said, who cares? I think the processing is really very effective.
Absolutely 100% looks like a watercolour painting. Whatever you've done has worked brilliantly for the effect and is miles better than just bunging on one of the standard PS painting filters and leaving it at that.

The composition could do with a little work for me though. I'd like to see the canvas extended out to the left and above to give him some more space. I'm not convinced by the white areas in the grass either. Although I'm sure that it would be a real pain to unpick that filter and make them darker, they distract too much for me and I'm starting to lose his wings in them. I do love that bit of movement and blur you've got in those wings though (y)
 
SarahLee said:
Hmmmm . . . not quite sure that it qualifies as a photograph any more, rather a piece of digital art. But that said, who cares? I think the processing is really very effective.
Absolutely 100% looks like a watercolour painting. Whatever you've done has worked brilliantly for the effect and is miles better than just bunging on one of the standard PS painting filters and leaving it at that.

The composition could do with a little work for me though. I'd like to see the canvas extended out to the left and above to give him some more space. I'm not convinced by the white areas in the grass either. Although I'm sure that it would be a real pain to unpick that filter and make them darker, they distract too much for me and I'm starting to lose his wings in them. I do love that bit of movement and blur you've got in those wings though (y)
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Well it was still my Photo of the Day :LOL: but I do tend to agree with you that this is digital art now as opposed to to a photo but if I'm honest the photo wasn't all that it was noisy as ISO1600 in the 450D is shall we say crap :LOL:

This was actually done with first taking the RAW and doing a usual processing, with the addition of making the colours a little more vivid/unrealistic, then I too it into my free software that I like to use (PhotoScape) and applied a watercolour mask, adjusting it to the level that I wanted for realism, then I just drop the saturation back a little, I could have maybe taking it a little further, and then finally the more contentious was the white vignette, my thinking be to make it look like it had been painted onto a sheet of paper and maybe wasn't completely finished as the corners are still plain paper :thinking:

I'm pleased that overall you like it (y) nice to see you online as I've not seen you about much recently (y)

Matt
 
Hi Matt,

No problem at all with the white vignette from me. As you said it adds to the watercolour feel.

:LOL: To use your phrase, IME the 450D's pretty crap at any ISO above 400, but still a very capable camera in good light. Now I'm using the 7D it's like chalk and cheese for low light photography but TBH in good conditions you're hard pressed to tell the difference. Still keeping the 450D as a spare and my walkabout camera.

Not been around much lately. I've been stupidly busy with work the last 4/5 weeks, so not much free time. I've been doing the odd bit behind the scenes, but combined with some recent computer problems my posting time's been very limited :(. Hopefully back to some semblance of sanity again now (if mods and sanity can go together :p)
 
SarahLee said:
No problem at all with the white vignette from me. As you said it adds to the watercolour feel.

:LOL: To use your phrase, IME the 450D's pretty crap at any ISO above 400, but still a very capable camera in good light. Now I'm using the 7D it's like chalk and cheese for low light photography but TBH in good conditions you're hard pressed to tell the difference. Still keeping the 450D as a spare and my walkabout camera.

Not been around much lately. I've been stupidly busy with work the last 4/5 weeks, so not much free time. I've been doing the odd bit behind the scenes, but combined with some recent computer problems my posting time's been very limited :(. Hopefully back to some semblance of sanity again now (if mods and sanity can go together :p)
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It's good to know (y) your right about the 450D under good conditions it's fantastic, but when things get hard it packs up and goes home, which is why as of the end of today courier permitting my 450D will become my back up body also (y)

Glad to have you back (y)

Matt
 
I tend to look at the photos before reading the post and my first thought was "that looks like a watercolour", so you certainly achieved that.

Only thing I can think of changing is to pull back the white clipping a bit. Just thinking if I were to paint it, i wouldn't be using quite so much white paint. But then, I'm not a painter. :LOL:
 
bass_junkie83 said:
I tend to look at the photos before reading the post and my first thought was "that looks like a watercolour", so you certainly achieved that.

Only thing I can think of changing is to pull back the white clipping a bit. Just thinking if I were to paint it, i wouldn't be using quite so much white paint. But then, I'm not a painter. :LOL:
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Thanks Dave, that's the kind of reaction I wanted, as I'm not always convinced by effect filters but thought that it had overall come out well but as you'll appreciate when you do something new you can be a little blinkered with you appreciation so you need to know if others see what your seeing (y)

I do agree on toning the white clipping (y)

I do the same in looking a the photo's before the text (y) as to me any art should speak for itself (y) and I do see photography as an art medium too (y)

Matt
 
SarahLee said:
:clap: Exciting times !!!

Has it arrived yet?
(and what is it?)
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It arrived at 1pm this afternoon, and I had a battery charged by about 2pm :LOL: and out for a play as soon as I could :naughty:

I've treated myself to a Canon 5D3 (y) and while I feel like a newbie again, I think that it will take a bit of getting used to because of the shallower DoF that you get of full frame I've posted my first photo from it on my 366 today, I think however I got caught out by that shallower DoF :bonk:

Matt
 
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