| » Forum Index » The Friday Challenge » Topic: Contest 84: Flood the city |
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Posted on 23/02/06 10:54:45 PM |
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Tom
Texture Technologist Posts: 401 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
For the chosen, it is command.  |
Posted on 24/02/06 00:36:29 AM |
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mr.pbody
*** Posts: 138 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
lol! ^^^^ chosen indeed...more like stuck with. just kidding!  |
Posted on 24/02/06 10:11:23 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6935 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
When I first set this week's Challenge, I showed it to David Asch. He agreed that it was a really tricky one, and I resigned myself to only getting a couple of entries for it - especially after the first few comments. As it turns out, this has been probably the most successful Friday Challenge ever. Not just the volume of entries - and there have been a lot - but the quality of them, in terms of imagination, skill and resourcefulness. For me, it's seeing people stretching themselves in this way that makes the whole forum so worthwhile: hell, I'm proud of you guys. Now let me get on with it before this turns into an Oscar speech. Mguyer was the first to dip his toes in the water, with a convincing piece of work using a sea texture. It wraps around the contours of the buildings - and the trees - in a realistic fashion, and there's even the suggestion of some reflection in the surface (although these reflections don't quite line up with their objects). Great tonal matching: the colour of the sea goes well with the distant hills. Perhaps we need a few shadows on the surface as well? Especially under those trees. Love the second image! The more dramatic sky in Born2Run's entry makes a huge difference, as does his subtle recolouring of the buildings to match it. Great contour wrapping on the sea, too, and i like hte way the sky's reflected in it. The way those couple of items from the parade ground floor have bobbed to the surface is a really nice touch. As the land moves into the distance, however, it seems to become too pale: shouldn't we be getting more orange glow out there? A fantastic, apocalyptic scene from Stefan, with crashing waves that pour down on the buildings. Everything here matches" the waves, the sea, the colour and tone of the buildings - a really classic job. The choice of which buildings to submerge, and which to reveal, has been thoughtfully made: just as in the movie posters, we can see enough of a key landmark - in this case, the Big Ben clock tower - to enable us to fix the location firmly. And the top of the tower's breaking off, too - a great detail! And the second and third entries are beautiful renditions of the film posters. Stunning work, Stefan. The night time effect in DaltonX's entry is magnificent: all those windows lit up, as well as the clockface! Fantastic reflections in the water, as well, and there are even ripples in the surface. There's great extra detail - the lightning fork, the placement of the moon, the whizzing helicopter - but it's the overall consistency of tone that really stands out here. What a beautiful job this is! And perfectly countered by his second entry (for some reason hidden away in the Reader's Gallery) which has turned the landscape to snow with a complexity and thoroughness that's truly astonishing. Look at all the detail here: the snow on the roofs, the ship marooned in the snowdrift in the foreground - a truly dazzling piece of work. Dalton, you've really excelled yourself here. I can find no faults with either of these entries, and I've looked really hard. Truly magnificent. And thanks for the detailed tutorials, they're a great insight! Hilarious second entry! A more tropical theme from yuvalbra, with the buildings placed in an azure ocean. Transparency in the foreground works really well, and I like the waviness of the water in front of the buildings. Is there a scale issue here, though? Those ripples and waves look too large for the scale of the buildings. Main issue here, though, is perspective. In the original photo, the background hills are physically higher than the foreground buildings; your sea horizon, though, needs to be on the same level. A refreshing take on the problem, though! Great to see the water in the distance as well in kenney's entry, and I like the calmness of the water - makes those foreground reflections ripple beautifully. The angle of view of the reflected buildings is exactly right - this must have been difficult to achieve, especially where they wrap around the corners. Perhaps we could have done with some reflections in the distance, as well? Great waves in the second entry, in particular the way they break around the buildings; but is the sea just too calm at the front? Loads of added details from Silver Fox, with an apocalyptic sky and recolouring of the buildings to match. The gunship, the explosions and the smoke all add to the realism of this scene, and the artful reflections tie the whole thing together. The only thing that jars slightly is the outline of the smoke, which looks a little too painted out; more billowing might have helped here. I'm always a sucker for foreground elements, and the coastguard helicopter in Eggbox's entry provides just the focus we need. You can tell he's a photographer from the composition! Plenty of extra features - the boats on the water, the shading and reflections. But you'd need a hell of a fast shutter speed to capture those helicopter blades. I'm worried the thing may be about to drop out of the sky through lack of adequate upwards thrust. There's an incredible sense of drama from Dek_101, with thundering rain, some serious waves crasing through the streets, and a great sense of devastation in the foreground. I particularly like the lone branch close to us, which adds a human scale to the scene. It's a fantastic image, Dek! And one that certainly brings you a much-overdue title. Um, let me think. Apocalyptic Artisan best represents your work this week, I think. Well done! A calmer interpretation from maiden, with some wonderful reflections in the calm waters in the foreground. I particularly like the way we can see the clock tower peeking over the buildings in there: a great sense of perspective! And that brooding sky is a very welcome addition. Excellent! A completely different approach from Tom, whose legendary love of textures has brought us a version of Atlantis that's wholly convincing. The rippling of the buildings gives a great sense of viewing the scene through refracting water, and the added elements - the shark, the skull - are a real bonus. Um - is that the Pyramids I can spot in the background, Tom? I know both Britain and Egypt are a long way from Tucson, Arizona, but we're hardly neighbours! There's a hell of a lightning storm in tank172's entry, with the stuff attacking every building in sight, as well as meteors raining down onto the roofs. I like the fact that the meteors cause steamy splashes where they hit the water, and the searchlight beams from Big Ben give a great focus. But here's a tip: when you're painting splashes, or explosions, use the Smudge tool after you've painted to add swirls and randomness to them. It blends the colours together and softens the edges, and can produce far more realistic results. Love the added rain in the second entry! The day after the night before, eh? The feeling of dawn in Atomicfog's entry is a powerful one. Although I'm not sure why this says "dawn" and not "dusk" to me - anyone have any thoughts on this? The colouring of the water matches the sky perfectly, and there's a great overall sense of warmth here. Take your point about reflections, though; of course, it does all depend on the choppiness of the water. Great reflections, great wrapping of the water around the buildings, and a fine rain effect in Bob's entry, again with that consistency of tone that so many here have managed to achieve. With all that greyness in the sky and buildings, though, is the water perhaps a little too blue? Thanks to Glen for showing that you don't need to be a Photoshop wizard in order to take part here! His simple image has shown us that a sense of humour is the most valuable asset to bring to the Forum. The higher the water level, the more buildings need to be submerged, and Neal has taken the time to conceal all but the tops of the buildings here, right off into the distance. This sense of wholesale flooding is a great accomplishment in itself, but the montage is really made by the detailing: in particular, the waviness of the water as it laps against the sides of the buildings, and the foamy ridge where it crashes into them. Love the whales! This is a great, detailed job. A completely different take from Slim, with a snow globe setting. The curvature of the buildings give a real sense of distortion seen through glass, and the snow itself curves around the interior of the globe perfectly. but why is the globe's outline so ragged? OK, so perhaps the whole crystal ball is copied from a low res image - but a simple select, inverse, delete with the Elliptical Marquee on that ball would have sorted this one out in seconds. And to clean up the pixellation on the base - always a hazard when enlarging a low res file - try the Median filter, which should work better than Gaussian Blur in this case. A great gag in your second entry - but why does the tap cast a flat shadow? There's a wonderfully doomy feel to Chris's entry. Weatherwise, this one's got everything: rain, a tornado, a rainbow, stormy clouds... and there's even a little boat on the water. The surf foam where the water meets the buildings is excellent. Just a couple of things: if the buildings are that dark in the foreground, shouldn't the water be very dark there as well? And while the buildings have a warm glow to them, I see little evidence of a corresponding shade in the sky. Overall a very convincing image, though, and one which really draws you in. After saying several times that this one was too difficult, jimt has plunged in and given us a great piece of work. The way the water wraps in and out of those courtyards is fantastic - even over on the far right, next to Victoria Tower. I think my only issue here is, as you expected with the texture of the water itself: but, as you say, it could have just been a windy day. And why not? Great job, Jim. A beautiful montage from uk2usadaz, who has not only created a stunning Tsunami scene, but has placed the whole thing within a faded photograph from the 1930s. Great texturing, good burning and torn edges on the card: the only thing I'd have changed here would be to add a white border around the edges of the card, which I think might have made it more convincing as an artefact. What a great wave, though! And, of course, this approach neatly sidesteps the colour matching issue. No colour matching issues in Pauline's entry, whose water matches the dull sky well. The floating truck and trailer are great foreground touches, and the water level is consistently high here. You've obviously put a lot of work into this one. A little confused about some of the reflections, though: on the right, for instance, they appear to be shearing to the left. Was there a reason for this? After having sparked off one of the best (and best tempered) debates we've seen for a while, it's great that Paul 2005 has weighed in with an entry. And a great entry it is, too: the buildings are thoroughly convincingly buried in the gravel, and that shark is a really neat touch. once again, it shows that imagination and a sense of humour are of prime importance here! As Pauline says, it's often a question of thinking outside the box. Or in your case, inside the fish tank. Few of you have flooded past the immediate foreground, so it's great to see Whaler adding water in the distance as well. A great texture, and great colouring - and the new sky makes sense of the blueness of the water. The rippling in the reflections is a perfect match for the water texture, as well. Excellent work! If you can't do water, do a giant pink dog. That's the Lexus approach, and i think it will have to be my motto from now on. And yes, there's the top of Big Ben in his mouth! You do have an issue with shadows, though, Alex - particularly under the bowl. We'll need to look at this in a future Challenge, I think. So go on then, tell us - why is teh dog pink? I'm glad I don't live in jwhite's head. Still, better out than in, I suppose. There's so much weird detail here (I'm not even going to talk about Spongebob Squarepants or the flying tortoise) that you tend to overlook the well drawn water level. Not sure transparency is really an adequate substitute for reflections, but frankly as far as this image is concerned, realism is the last of our worries! Incredible work from everyone this week. You've all found resources there that you didn't think you had, and I feel this has been the best Challenge to date. Pats on the back all round, chaps! |
Posted on 24/02/06 11:28:52 AM |
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yuvalbra
* Posts: 24 Reply |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Thanks Steve for your comments wait for the new one. |
Posted on 24/02/06 12:45:24 PM |
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pauline
Centenary Challenger Posts: 213 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Thanks Steve. I should have listened to my 13 year old son when he told me that shadow was wrong!!! 
_________________ Pauline |
Posted on 24/02/06 1:14:49 PM |
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jwhite
Collage Critter Posts: 274 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Yea, me to! That's all I need is another voice in there, too crowed as it is. |
Posted on 24/02/06 2:09:28 PM |
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Slim
* Posts: 29 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Thanks for the tips Steve, especially about using low res images. |
Posted on 24/02/06 3:00:00 PM |
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Whaler
Visual Viking Posts: 330 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
A general comment: In the original picture the light is coming from the right. It's hard to fool the eye and the brain even if you can't pinpoint was is wrong, but if you put the sun in the background you really should have to change all the shadows on the buildings to make the image convincing. A big effort and that's why I didn't put any sun up in the sky when I changed the sky. Another general comment: A rainbow is always, and I mean always, 180 degrees to sun. So, if the sun is to the right the rainbow is to the left. A final comment: You all did a very good job this week and I'm looking forward to see the result of the new challenge. |
Posted on 24/02/06 3:27:47 PM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Thank you as ever Steve for your comments and observations. Fast shutter speed to stop the chopper blades? Didn't give it a thought! As you say, to be convincing it's detail detail detail. Where do you get the challenge ideas from? Do you make them up week by week or do you have a drawer full waiting? Ted |
Posted on 24/02/06 3:39:27 PM |
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Tom
Texture Technologist Posts: 401 Reply |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Thanks for the comments, Steve. |
Posted on 24/02/06 4:25:30 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6935 Reply |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Same place I get all my ideas - by mail order from a little shop in Paris. No, actually I tend to come up with them each week, while I'm writing up the final report for the previous week, the day before if I get time to think about it. I always have a camera with me, of course, so sometimes when I'm out I'll see something that would make a good FC and take a photo of it. My family can be very patient with me! |
Posted on 24/02/06 6:27:05 PM |
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tank172
ThreeDee Thriller Posts: 692 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Thanks Steve for the comments and compliments. I'll be sure to try out the smudge tool. Never used it before! 
Chris |
Posted on 24/02/06 8:31:02 PM |
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chris
Photo Parodist Posts: 138 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Whaler i agree with the comment on my rainbow, however it was an after thought and just a test to see if i could actually construct one from scratch. To place it correctly it would have needed to have placed somewhere front left of image however the tornado was already taking most of that space and would ahve been far to much work to move hence the back left position fo it. Besides it does kind of add a balance to the image even if not technically correct. Point taken on board tho. |
Posted on 24/02/06 10:20:27 PM |
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stefan
Detail Demon Posts: 401 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Thanks Steve for the nice comments.... |
Posted on 25/02/06 00:51:25 AM |
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Whaler
Visual Viking Posts: 330 Reply |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Chris placing things, like rainbows, in the wrong place from a technical standpoint does not necessarily mean that it's wrong in a certain image. Instead that placement can add to a picture, just like it did in yours. My point is that if it looks right, it is right. |
Posted on 25/02/06 10:37:19 AM |
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Lexus
Persistent Pixellator Posts: 623 Reply  |
Re: Contest 84: Flood the city
Steve, Its meant to be clifford the big red dog! lol. It was the first thing that came to my head for an idea! _________________ 3 Radio Visit http://www.3-radio.co.uk and listen! You will love it! |
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