Taken with my Canon R5, 24-70mm lens. Natural light. F/16. .5sec, ISO 100
This is a wine bottle holder I bought a few years ago which has very cleverly been made out of metal odds and ends!! For some reason I thought I would cut it into pieces and then put it all back together!!
In PS I used the marque tool to "cut" a section off, using a mask I erased the background. Then on a separate layer I applied a white stroke at 50 pixels and then a drop shadow. Each piece was put into a titled group. I did this to each section ending up with a lot of groups. For the background I chose a green which I felt suited what I was trying to do.
To finish, using the move tool, I moved all the segments into a rough cycle shape and then with the transform tool to slightly turn/reshape if necessary. Be interesting to hear whether you think it was worth all the work or not!!!
8 comments posted
Bob Wills
Hi Angela, This is sort of the same concept Sylvia used in May using style ideas of David Hockney. I do appreciate both your extra work and the results. I think this is gallery worthy. The background gradient removes any tension created by the groups. The colors, light and shadow are all so well done. The overlapping pieces add another layer for the eye to travel. I can't think of anything I would change. Posted: 07/05/2026 15:42:58
Angela Bonner
Thanks, Bob. I did wonder whether members would think it just messy! Posted: 07/05/2026 17:22:35
Sylvia Williams
Angela,
This is very well done. No notes.
I am curious as to how long this took you.
But however long, the finished image is very good. Posted: 07/07/2026 01:04:58
Angela Bonner
Sylvia, many thanks for your comments.
Did take quite a long time especially as had to restart at one time as couldn't get drop shadow to work only round out of frame and not inside as well. Posted: 07/08/2026 11:32:01
Frans Gunterus
Hi Angela. What a wonderfully creative concept! Transforming a simple wine bottle holder into this playful motorcycle through a photo-collage approach is both imaginative and skillfully executed. Your eye for seeing possibilities in ordinary objects is truly inspiring, and the composition comes together beautifully. Posted: 07/08/2026 08:37:52
Angela Bonner
Fran's, many thanks for your kind comments. Posted: 07/08/2026 11:32:29
Angela Bonner
Fran's, many thanks for your kind comments. Posted: 07/09/2026 08:19:54
Jan Handman
This does sound like a lot of work and very time-consuming Angela. But a great way to experiment and get comfortable with layers and groups. I think the original wine bottle holder is cute as heck. And your final image is a good representation of it in "broken" form. If I didn't have the original image to refer to, I'm not sure I would have been able to figure out what some of the pieces were in the final, especially the wine bottle, since that's not usually part of a bike.I like the green background with the gradient from light to dark; that gives it much more depth and interest. I would say all time spent being creative with photos is totally worth it! Very nice. Posted: 07/12/2026 20:38:02
