Diana Magor, MPSA, APSA  

Cathedral impression by Diana Magor, MPSA, APSA

April 2021 - Cathedral impression

About the Image(s)


Cathedral impression
This arose out of a series of pictures I have been playing with using the ‘step and repeat’ action which has since been featured in the Journal. This is using the Transform tool in Ps to do a variety of things. It started out as a shot of one of Liverpool’s cathedrals which you have seen before. It was taken against a beautiful blue sky with white clouds looking up the central crown of thorns. First I reduced the size so it wouldn’t extend beyond the frame when I started playing, and put it against a blue background layer. Then I used the free transform tool to give the first perspective image with the central anchor point at the base of the building. I grouped these together and made it a smart object. Then I went back to the original and used the tool again but this time reducing it by 90% and angling it to 10 degrees with the anchor point at the top of the crown. Hitting the T button produces a spiral of images going down to a central spot, rotating round the anchor. I grouped these and made it a smart object, so now I had 3 layers-the perspective, the spiral and the original. I altered the position of the perspective using the transform tool to put it pointing towards the centre of the spiral. I made the original a smart object and then altered its position to go in the top empty right hand corner but I could see the hard edge of the picture frame across it from the spiral layer so I gave each layer a layer mask and cleaned up the hard line by brushing in and out till it looked good.
Then I converted to mono and adjusted the colour sliders using the blue and cyan mostly to increase the contrast. I like the result and it didn’t take me very long because I’ve done a lot of pictures recently and know what to do now. I hadn’t produced any which weren’t ending up purely as pattern pictures so I wanted to experiment with something which would still be recognisable to Liverpudlians.

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

Stephen Levitas   Stephen Levitas
Diana, I have mixed reactions to this.
First off, your subject is well chosen. What a great idea for the architect of that cathedral to express the crown of thorns concept in the structure of the building--this might be common, but I have never seen that before.
Next, I like very much your repetition of that structure twice on the right side of the image. I would not have minded seeing it more throughout the image.
But I have trouble with the spiral effect on the left--it is fine alone, but I can't relate it to the right side of the image. I can't identify what part are being repeated in the spiral.   Posted: 04/05/2021 22:20:37
Diana Magor   Diana Magor
Basically, it was done because I was doing the step and repeat technique with a spiral finish, and was looking for a subject other than a flower which seems to be what everyone starts with. They were boring. So I looked for something which had a 'long' feel to it so there was an anchor point for the rotation. The 'nautilus' effect can be quite dramatic depending on the amount of rotation and the number of times it is done, but then all the pictures end up looking very similar. I wanted something which would make a pictorial image in the end, so I did the straight perspective changes as well and matched the two techniques up. I thought going mono emphasised the patterns rather than the subject.
I have a lot of boring spirals and some interesting images now from a variety of subjects. Some will make birthday cards, some are just technical exercises and some are surprisingly good!   Posted: 04/06/2021 03:27:15
Tom McCreary   Tom McCreary
A very interesting image that really caught my eye. Thank you for telling us how you create it. My eye goes straight to the center of the spiral. The tower in the lower right also points to the center of the spiral. But, to me, the tower in the upper right corner distracts from the image and almost makes 2 subjects.   Posted: 04/06/2021 13:06:08
Diana Magor   Diana Magor
OK, I will think about what I could do-maybe more clouds like on the left top corner?   Posted: 04/06/2021 17:13:08
Tom McCreary   Tom McCreary
Yes, that would work for me, but don't make the clouds next to the spiral so light that you loose the separation.   Posted: 04/06/2021 17:57:36
 
I agree with Tom that your image has lots of interest but could be two images to avoid some conflicts. I like & prefer the left side. Very creative...   Posted: 04/06/2021 17:41:24
Wes Odell   Wes Odell
Looks a lot like a "Fine Art" rendition; and as such, it keeps the viewer's eye in the frame answering the question: "What is it?" And, then it dawns on what it is.
Nicely constructed with nice tonalities.   Posted: 04/12/2021 09:31:36
 
I really like the dynamic energy in your image. It's interesting to me how many different ways the image affects the group. I might consider pulling the lower right tower down a bit into the corner so the top spikes don't interfere (or pierce) the spiral.   Posted: 04/17/2021 08:56:44
Jennifer Doerrie   Jennifer Doerrie
I like the spiral and clouds in this image. However, I also share the sense of disconnection between the spiral and the buildings on the right. I'm trying to come up with an idea for something else to use that might relate more to your pattern, but am not certain what to suggest. Perhaps stairs, or is that too cliche with the number of spiral staircase photos people do?   Posted: 04/29/2021 23:20:57
Diana Magor   Diana Magor
The problem is that if I produce just a spiral effect , which is easy enough with all sorts of starting points, the end result is not enough by itself. It makes a good pattern but judges require more than pure patterns. II feel that something of the original structure must remain to give a point of understanding. That's why I used the two different effects on top of the original.   Posted: 04/30/2021 04:22:11