| » Forum Index » The Friday Challenge » Topic: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky |
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Posted on 26/04/07 5:33:50 PM |
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Whaler
Visual Viking Posts: 330 Reply  |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
And if you flip it over you'll find it stamped with the most expensive stamp in the world! Again; Happy Retirement, Gordon!  _________________ Only in my brightest moments I understand myself |
Posted on 26/04/07 8:58:40 PM |
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Wayne
Printer’s Devil Posts: 312 Reply  |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
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Posted on 26/04/07 9:16:41 PM |
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celosia
Wondrous Woolflower Posts: 58 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Actually did half of this days ago, so I just had to finish it off today 
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Posted on 26/04/07 10:42:36 PM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply  |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Best wishes Gordon ... BigVern  |
Posted on 27/04/07 09:05:20 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6935 Reply  |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Some really inspired entries this week - and a good deal of canny Photoshop techniques, too. First up the control tower was stefan, with a powerful near-disaster image. Many excellent features here: the new windows, with highlights on the frames and convincing reflections of the room inside; a great senes of motion blur in the sky, with the three planes converging; and, of course, the perfectly chosen shot on the screen. Excellent work, Stefan! A most convincing wink from Eggbox - and a neat joke to go with it. I'd have added a little contrast to his mug shot here, though. I do like the second entry - that animated wink is classic, especially the way the eyebrow dips down. I love the self-referential approach taken by Wayne - Gordon hard at work on his Friday Challenge entry there. Well, he has to fit the time in somewhere! And the second entry is a great fit - perfect head blending there. A very accomplished first Challenge entry from tooquilos, with perfect plane-related images filling all the screens - and a neatly placed copy of that book with a coffee mug and the CD spilling out. Gordon's keyboard has been neatly tucked in there, too. Great stuff, Anna! A wonderful take on a Norman Rockwell classic from hi-liter, showing some great subtlety of technique: the three portraits of Gordon match their surrounding textures perfectly, and the hand-drawn one on the easel is a classic. Note, too, the added plane on top, the stylised signature, and the modified wings on the mirror, as well as the preliminary sketches pinned to the easel. This is really classy work, beautifully accomplished and entirely in keeping with the original. You need a title for this one, I'm sure. Hmm... not many personal details filled in... so shall we say Pastiche Painter on the basis of this montage? Great stuff. A very skilled - an very funny - animation from james, with good timing too. What I rally liked here is the way the shadow lifts off the column, and then hovers over the plane: it really adds greatly to the scene. Excellent, James! And a very funny second entry, too. A clever reflection from 2bfree: changing Gordon's clothes to match the reflection is a very neat touch. And such funky thought and speech bubbles! Some neat Gordon clouds from steve hill: a good idea here. I'd have softened the edges a little, particularly the flat base - but it's a great sentiment. Taking Gordon's headset off, and rebuilding his head, hair and ear, must have been quite a challenge for dave.cox. But he fits perfectly into the new scene: tasty work! A seamless job. Dirtdoctor23 has given us a great update of the control tower, with space scenes in all the monitors - and, as he says, those floating monitors are certainly cool. Just what I could do with in my cluttered office! A wonderfully impressive explosion from Neal, with perfect blending that makes this one look totally convincing. And a rather fine new body for Gordon, too - I like the wink! I'd be interested to know how this explosion was constructed, Neal. What were your source files? Relocating Gordon's control tower to the beach in Paul 2007 thru 2010's entry is a clever idea, especially as the lighting direction matches the rest of the scene. But don’t you think Mr and Mrs Gordon could have done with some shadows to match those from the palm trees? Excellent relocation of Gordon to a recording studio from Steve Mac: and adding his reflection was a masterstroke - especially since it involved changing his shirt to match the original. Great. A rather beautiful image from Corey, with fantastic lighting in this scene. The bust of Gordon is really classy, and the shadow it casts on the wall works perfectly. Good to see more of your work, Corey! A good space scene from Deborah Morley: I particularly like the way the original control tower has been built into the satellite, and the reflection on the helmet adds a great sense of realism. A charming montage on the history of flight from Whaler: that sepia effect blends all the planes together nicely. The portrait of Gordon seems a little out of keeping with the rest of the scene, though: perhaps a little softening here would help. I like the flip side of the card in the second entry! A great cinematic story from michael sinclair, who's managed to dig up an impressive number of Superman bodies. Now, if only that S could be changed to a G... A charming sentiment from josephine harvatt, with Spock glaring out of a rather noisy monitor. I like the blue cast on the control room - much more spacey. But shouldn't Gordon's headset be replaced by one of those sonic screwdrivers, or whatever it was that Lt Uhuru had stuck in her ear? Ben Mills' entry is a nice idea - but were you a bit rushed this week, Ben? That sign could certainly do without its black border, and perhaps a touch of shadow on the control tower would have helped. Another stunning entry from katew, who's proving to be a real star here. So much detail! The replaced screens, the artful banner, the transparency on the beer and wine glasses, the balloons and streamers, and the handmade cake: great attention to detail, a really good scene! The amount of blur on Gordon's head in jwhite's entry is just right: he fits perfectly into this scene. I'd have maybe added a little bling to the headphones, but otherwise this is a very neat job. A good joke in celosia's minefield - with the mouse neatly placed under Gordon's hand. And I've never seen a neon caption before! Charming work from Big Vern - a very touching image. You need to watch the noise in your originals when embossing, though: that portrait of Gordon would have benefited greatly from a little Median blur before this process. All in all, this has been a fantastic week - I've really enjoyed this one. Over to you, Gordon! |
Posted on 27/04/07 09:06:03 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3882 Reply  |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Whaler, Perhaps I can answer your question as to why flying aircraft are so often pictured flying right to left. I spent 25 years as an air to air photographer in my spare time shooting all sorts of aircraft from nice, slow Piper Cubs up to military fast jets. One consideration (of many) is that the pilot in charge of the aircraft being photographed is sitting in the left hand seat. As he is usually the one flying during the photo shoot he wants to be able to see the camera plane as he has the job of formating on it. He has to keep his eyes glued on the camera plane as he is the one responsible for avoiding a collision. If he has to look across the cockpit to his right then he has a lot of clutter in his, now, considerably reduced field of view. Another consideration is with the camera aircraft. If you are using, say, a Cessna 172 as the camera ship you would remove one of the doors for the photography to give a clear field of view. The pilot would normally want to occupy the left hand seat as some of the necessary controls are easier to access from there so the right-hand door would be removed. There are, of course, always exceptions to this. I remember an occasion using a Piper Seneca twin-engined aircraft to shoot a B-24 bomber in California. The door on the Seneca is on the left side behind the pilot. Removing the door on a Seneca gives you a massive hole in the fuselage to shoot from with some terrific angles of view. But this meant that the guys flying the B-24 were formating on the left side and so the aircraft was pictured flying from left to right. It took them a couple of minutes to settle down in close (close!!!) formation. Follow this link:- http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s93/GKBphoto/B-24.jpg Flying, say, a Hawk jet trainer you have views out of both sides and then it is down to personal preference and the niceties of composition. I think, also, right-handed people naturally prefer right to left. As for the landing case I think that is just dependant on where the photographer is able to stand in relation to the action. There is much more to air to air photography than this but I hope that has, at least, answered that question. I love the postcard. And to have the world’s most expensive stamp on it is an added bonus although perhaps a little extravagant. Stefan, I do like the way you converted the radar room into a Control Tower. Might be some issues over the rather crowded airspace, though. Lots of explaining in the boss’s office to be done I suspect. Nice reflections in the glass. Liked the use of some zoom blur, it works really well. Eggbox, that first entry just a bit too close to home. I can almost hear Sylvia’s voice there. With the second one I think a bit of Beethoven’s 6th, ‘The Pastorale’, would be a good idea when doing Stansted radar. It needs something soothing. Stansted radar is actually more like Wagner’s ‘Die Valküre’ in real life! Or maybe Mussorgski’s ‘Night on Bare Mountain’! The Rachmaninov 2nd Piano Concerto would be ideally suited when working Gatwick radar. Nicely animated wink. As for the third idea - I’ve been to India – I’ve seen the driving – no thanks! And with Dubya nothing surprises me any more! Wayne, I like the incorporation of the chameleon from last week in the first entry. And hey, I get to have a guest appearance with Biggles! I do love Photoshop. Excellent. Tooquilos, you even got one of my fave films, ‘Airplane’, into this one. I’ve never seen ‘Snakes on a Plane’ – must get the DVD out sometime! Hi-liter, Magnificent, just magnificent. After having a good laugh I looked at it and thought ‘Coo, I wish I had thought of that one’. James, I had been wondering what all those little green guys with the antennae were up to when I turned up for work that day. I always thought they were just some newly arrived trainee controllers. Now I know and I can tell my doctor that it was all real after all and I really HAD been abducted by aliens! Terrific shadow work. Really well done. 2bfree, I like the concept of using one of the shots as a reflection of the other. I did wish that I had worn a different shirt for the photograph. I’m so glad you gave me a nice new pullover to wear. Nicely done Joe. Steve Hill, people always said I had my head in the clouds. You proved them wrong – I’ve got clouds in my head. Come to think of it, some people say that as well! Dave.cox, on balance I think I could handle that beach without too much of a problem. Dirtdoctor23, I’m only going into ‘Space Traffic Control’ if they will let me go into Space to do it. Thanks Neil. Neal, Some days at work can be hell. But, despite an earlier misfortune, this one ended quite nicely for me. Just don’t tell Sylvia. Paul 2007, a tower by the beach? Sounds ok to me. As the saying goes ‘A bad day on the beach is better than a good day at work’. So here you get the best of both worlds. Where do I join? James, all those dragons to be slain. It looks just like a typical day on the Stansted radar position! Luckily you will never, ever, know just how close the resemblance really is! Steve Mac, A recording studio, huh? Ok, I’ll give it a try. Nice reflection. Corey, the piano (and the classical guitar) is an instrument I have always wanted to be able to play and now, thanks to you, I can! Nicely done. Love the bust. Hi Deborah, haven’t seen you for ages. Nice to see that you’ve got me in my longed for environment. You’ve shoe-horned me in to that space suit very nicely indeed. Michael, I didn't realise that my super secret was out! Motion blur has worked really well with this one particularly the last image. Had a really good laugh at this one. Josephine, I had never thought of myself as a ‘Trekkie’. Like the space-age blue glow to the scene. Excellent. Ben, somehow I think they’ll muddle through without me. Katew, not too sure about all that alcohol on duty. I tried it once and there were twice as many aircraft as before – hic! Jwhite, Hmmm. On the road with Madonna, eh? I’m not sure I have the energy and I think Sylvia might have something to say about it. It’s tempting, though! Celosia, nearly right with the Minesweeper game, Helen, but the game of choice is actually PACMAN. All those EasyJets munching up the Ryanairs on final approach. First one to eat up all the aeroplanes wins the game. And, finally, instead of a clock Vern has presented me with an excellent framed gold plaque. When Steve suggested that I submit some photographs for this challenge I did wonder what I had let myself in for. Terrific work from everyone this week. Thank you all for your good wishes and new career ideas. I’ve had a really good laugh at this week’s FC. I hope that you have all enjoyed it too. And thank you Steve. What a terrific forum this is. Gordon |
Posted on 27/04/07 09:42:41 AM |
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stefan
Detail Demon Posts: 401 Reply  |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Thanks Steve and Gordon. Fascinating stuff about the aircraft photography. Now there's a job I'd like to do!! Enjoy your retirement! |
Posted on 27/04/07 09:43:29 AM |
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stefan
Detail Demon Posts: 401 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Steve...I meant Gordon's retirement of course  |
Posted on 27/04/07 10:55:12 AM |
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katew
Virtual Virtuoso Posts: 678 Reply  |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Thanks Steve and Gordon. There were certainly some superb entries this week! _________________ Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up ... |
Posted on 27/04/07 11:53:49 AM |
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katew
Virtual Virtuoso Posts: 678 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Incidentally, my entry had something like 24 layers! I kept merging layers when I could, but they seemed to grow like weeds!  _________________ Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up ... |
Posted on 27/04/07 1:26:18 PM |
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Whaler
Visual Viking Posts: 330 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Thanks, Gordon, for the extensive elucidation regarding the air to air photography. BTW, great shot of the Bees (B-24 and B-17)! _________________ Only in my brightest moments I understand myself |
Posted on 27/04/07 1:27:35 PM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply  |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Have a great time at your retirement bash Gordon. It will not take long for you to discover you are so busy you wouldn't have the time to return to work even if you wanted to. Happy retirement Ted |
Posted on 27/04/07 2:01:35 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3882 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Hi Katew, Try dropping some of your layers into a layer group. It's just exactly the same as having a folder containing various layers that you can expand or close as you wish. That way your layer palette is much more manageable. You'll find the button third from the right at the bottom of the layers palette in CS2. |
Posted on 27/04/07 3:07:25 PM |
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Wayne
Printer’s Devil Posts: 312 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Thanks for the comments, Steve and Gordon. Great photography Gordon. Congrats on the title hi-liter. |
Posted on 27/04/07 4:21:37 PM |
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katew
Virtual Virtuoso Posts: 678 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Thanks Gordon, I'll try that. I use Photoshop 7, but I know you can do layer groups in it - I just never got to grips with them. I'll go and have a play! _________________ Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up ... |
Posted on 27/04/07 5:35:37 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6935 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
They're called Layer Sets in PS7, as I recall. But they behave in the same way. I did an illustration the other day that had 120 layers in it. No need to flatten them, really; maintaining editablity is more important than anything else! |
Posted on 27/04/07 5:53:13 PM |
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katew
Virtual Virtuoso Posts: 678 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
120 layers?? _________________ Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up ... |
Posted on 27/04/07 6:19:20 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6935 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
It was a rather complex montage... actually, this number of layers is not that uncommon for me. These things can quickly multiply! |
Posted on 27/04/07 7:08:35 PM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
120 Layers!! I thought some of mine at 25/30 layers was pushing it. Can we see this 120 layer montage?? Ted |
Posted on 27/04/07 8:00:19 PM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply |
Re: Contest 143: Reach for the Sky
Steve and Gordon, thank you for your comments. Vern |
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