Diana Magor, MPSA, APSA  


Looking every which way by Diana Magor, MPSA, APSA

January 2021 - Looking every which way

January 2021 - Diana Magor, MPSA, APSA

Original

January 2021 - Diana Magor, MPSA, APSA

Original 2

January 2021 - Diana Magor, MPSA, APSA

Original 3

About the Image(s)

This is actually a photo a did a couple of years ago but since our central heating is bust, I don’t want to spend too long in my cold study. I started with a photo of meerkats I took through glass at Chester Zoo, which is only about half an hour away from us. I extracted them from their background which wasn’t too hard, though I ended up doing the fur with fine lines drawn out from the outline. I used one of the pictures I took at the disused steel works, which we visited when we went to the PSA conference in Pittsburgh. It amused me that we had to sign a form saying we went at our own risk and would not sue them if we died! I improved both while they were still colour versions and then merged the two, masking to remove extraneous bits. I decided the meerkats looked better if they were flipped horizontally to show them looking into the frame mostly. Then I created a flood at the bottom, with reflections and a vignette on the corners slightly, so the brightest area was in the centre. Finally I converted to mono, but looking at the two again, I think the colour version is the better.
I enjoy this sort of creative image but quite often it’s the production which is the fun part as the results don’t always work or else people ask me why I bothered! I hope you enjoy the picture as much as I do.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
9 comments posted




 
For me, I think you have created a very nice composite. Flipping the Meerkats is a good choice. Even though the color version is pleasing, I prefer the BnW as it focuses more on the subject Meerkats.   Posted: 01/07/2021 23:34:35



Stephen Levitas   Stephen Levitas
"What are these strange little creatures doing in this location, and how did Diana every capture this image?"

This is a very convincing composite. I really like the peeling paint and the threaded bolts.   Posted: 01/08/2021 23:35:43
Diana Magor   Diana Magor
Glad you liked it! Is the colour or the mono better?   Posted: 01/09/2021 04:48:17
Stephen Levitas   Stephen Levitas
I much prefer the mono: as Russ said, it gives attention to the meerkats, and also seems clearer. Also, the color version does not speak to the beauty or delicate variations of color--just not that sort of image--so there is no loss setting aside the color version.   Posted: 01/09/2021 16:09:55



Tom McCreary   Tom McCreary
What a great composite. Very well done, it looks like you took it all at once. The meerkats image itself is very nice with good detail an lighting. Reversing the meerkats was a good idea. The final color image seems a bit dark on my monitor, or I would like it almost as much as the mono. The meerkats look better to me in the first original. That said, the orange wall in the color image is to bright and draws interest from the meerkats, making the mono image my choice.   Posted: 01/10/2021 13:39:38
Diana Magor   Diana Magor
That is interesting as personally I think I like the colour one better as it has got such vibrant colours. Just goes to show we are all different in our likes and dislikes.   Posted: 01/11/2021 05:55:44



Jennifer Doerrie   Jennifer Doerrie
You have an interesting idea to combine the meerkats and the steelworks. I believe I would prefer to see the coiled cables darkened in both the color and monochrome images. They are so bright that I find I am constantly looking more at them than the meerkats. Like you, I believe I prefer the richness of the tones and the subtleties in lighting in the color image over the monochrome version. You also discovered the U.S. affinity for liability waivers, I see. Yes, much of the rest of the world thinks things like that are very silly, but then they think some of the things people file lawsuits for here are very silly, too.   Posted: 01/11/2021 22:38:00
Diana Magor   Diana Magor
Yes, i think you are right. The coils do need darkening down. Thanks   Posted: 01/12/2021 05:20:09



 
Nice composite and as said, looks as if it's one image. I'm leaning toward the color image as a preference. Although the monochrome provides great texture, the color image shows a rich array of colored rust and has a lot interest. Rust and it's colors are plentiful up in Pittsburgh! The meerkats' faces you've captured are more pronounced in the color version as well. They look so innocent and sweet, while in reality that's not the case at all...   Posted: 01/21/2021 06:49:41