I went out in search of a scene to shoot for the Calendar Challenge, and after wandering some of the mountain communities in San Diego, I stumbled on this area by accident, as it was a "I wonder where this road goes?" kinda' turn.
The lighting in Impressionistic paintings is such a key issue, I felt the rolling fence line with the side light would work well for the challenge, though I hadn't even shot this for that purpose.
PP: Minor crop, cloned out one small branch hanging in the center of the clearing, gentle S curve for levels, minor contrast, brightness & saturation adjustments, then the Rough Pastels filter applied.
Now, about that luck thing....
In the first Masters Invitational Challenge, my Yellow Ribbon was a one-shot wonder I took while I was out & about looking for shots for the Tourist Guide Challenge.
Now, I go out in search of something for the Calendar Challenge, and ribbon once again with yet another one-shot wonder originally taken for a different challenge, that I didn't even bracket the shots, just hey - Click!
Luck?
You decide.
Statistics
Place: 3 out of 39 Avg (all users): 7.0899 Avg (commenters): 8.0000 Avg (participants): 5.8438 Avg (non-participants): 7.2173 Views since voting: 10142 Views during voting: 767 Votes: 345 Comments: 60 Favorites: 23 (view)
I always love to see your photos place well. I would have never known this site existed if not for you and the BobsterLobster fellow. Congrats and thanks. I had given it a 10 (didn't even realize it was yours.
Congratulations this image is stunning! Already decided as per previous post you have a great TALENT! The ability to see a potentially great shot is not luck, at least not this many times!
Wow, You now qualify for the Master's Challenge lll. It is for only those who have ribboned at least twice in a Master's Challenge. Looks like you will be the only one to enter. Chalk up another ribbon!! Congratulations.
Now this is getting rediculous Brad. You are placing in ever darn one you enter. I think we need to limit the amount of challenges you can enter to give others a chance. :) Sorry I couldn't resist saying that. Congratulations on another well deserved ribbon, Brad.
You have two simultaneous ribbons on the DPC home page.
You have ribboned in each of the Invitational challenges you've been eligible for.
You won with an obvious PS filter in spite of the purists.
You have four ribbons in your last 8 challenges.
...and you CLAIM to be an auto mechanic who just picked up an old camera off eBay? Riiiiiight!
Aren't you due for a LONG vacation someplace desolate? ;-)
Congrats, Brad! Again.
Congrats again Brad excellent job, nice effect and colors...
...you won't get one like this in Julian today with all that snow and all. It is a beautiful place and I still got a bit of that pie in my fridge from last weekend.
Brad you never fail to amaze me and your friends. You are on the cutting edge and indeed a marvel. Congrats on your yellow in this very demmanding challenge. Another feather in your cap and I am very happy for you.
Beautiful- and very believable as impressionism. There is no attempt to disguise an apparent filter effect put to good use. While so many filters look like an afterthought, this is an image that probably looks MUCH better filtered than it did as a straight photo. My only nitpick is that the white sky distracts from the warm colors pervasive in the rest of the image- I'd crop more off the top. Otherwise, well done! 8
The only thing I see might be, the back side of the fence could be a bit darker. Since it is in the shadows. But the more I look at it. I think a ten is in order.
returning for comments:
A very nice effect, although i would have kept the fence on the right dark. regardless, the image does have a strong impressionistic feel. Good work. The lighting and the high contrast makes it ideal for this challenge. Enchanting. Bumping up again.
Looks photoshopped and as such doesn't hold interest to me. I'll come back for a fresh, closer look though. Edit: still think it's photoshop, all the imperfections are just too perfect.
This should be hanging on a museum wall. Very nice. I loved the texture used to achieve the look, but it seemed to get washed away in the highlights and is the only thing that gives the 'picture' away for what it really is.
The warm colors blend together. I think of early landscape artists when I first viewed this photo. The almost darkened trees and bushes give the right amount of contrast.
Normally textures and effects don't go over too well with me, but I really like the effect used in this case. I'll be interested to read about what you did!
I am just not a big fan of using post editing to "make" the picture. I like the idea some others had of using water reflections and shower glass to get the impressionist effect. I am sure that the original picture here was beautiful, but you can't tell because of the post editing.
Like: The colors are vibrant and the shadows and highlights pleasing. The movement of the central shrub implies it is windy. The colors are limited which makes the picture easy to look at.
Concern: the texture is to repetitive especially in the darker parts of the picture.
I am only commenting and using a place holder score during this pass.
Very nice final result no matter how it was achieved. I love the fence,except I would have liked it to lead me more into the picture, as it is it cuts the picture horizontally.
Looks very much like a texture filter from PS, which I really don't care for here. I'm sure your photo didn't need this gimmick, and would have been much better complemented by Gaussian Blur, or similar for this challenge. Besides, this filter looks more like an oil painting than an impressionist watercolour. Do PM me if I'm wrong. 1
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