Maria Mazo, PPSA
October 2026 - The Sentinel
Original
Original 2
About the Image(s)
For this month’s image, I created this surrealistic scene using some of my bird images, a cheetah that I photographed at the zoo, and a house facade that I photographed in Basel.
I made selections of the animals and opened the house door to place the flamingo, using the Transform tool. I placed the sky and blended it using different , and with the Layer Mask and Brush tools, I applied it only to the windows and the interior of the house.
I flipped the image and copy some area to add more space to the left of the door. I also expanded the canvas at the bottom to give the image more room.
After applying the shadows and vignetting, I opened the image in Nik Efex to stylize the colors and added a frame.
3 comments posted
Everyone should have a cheetah outside their apartment. That alone is surrealistic. The flamingo answering the door is right out of Alice in Wonderland and would make Lewis Carroll proud. The idea of the sky being inside the apartment is quite a good surrealistic idea. However, it's a bit too subtle. The vine and the door lights have shadows against the building, but the cheetah does not. Giving him a different shadow would make him more realistic (if realism is what you want in the cheetah). With a few adjustments, your ingredients can contribute to a delightful surrealistic image. Posted: 10/06/2026 21:09:10
Heidi Gruetzemacher
Hi Maria,
I enjoyed looking at your delightful image and took the liberty of experimenting with a few subtle adjustments. I softened the big cat slightly to help him blend into the scene, made a small adjustment to the shadow on his shoulder, and added a touch of light to his eyes. I also tried adding a soft shadow around the pelicans on the door. The natural light on building is super soft/difused and seems to be coming from above (noonish) so the hard shadow on the big cat jumped out. Of course, your original artistic vision is what matters most. I hope you don't mind my experimenting with your image! Please let me know if this was helpful or if I overstepped.I'm happy to be part of the group and look forward to seeing everyone's work. Posted: 10/09/2026 02:07:50
I enjoyed looking at your delightful image and took the liberty of experimenting with a few subtle adjustments. I softened the big cat slightly to help him blend into the scene, made a small adjustment to the shadow on his shoulder, and added a touch of light to his eyes. I also tried adding a soft shadow around the pelicans on the door. The natural light on building is super soft/difused and seems to be coming from above (noonish) so the hard shadow on the big cat jumped out. Of course, your original artistic vision is what matters most. I hope you don't mind my experimenting with your image! Please let me know if this was helpful or if I overstepped.I'm happy to be part of the group and look forward to seeing everyone's work. Posted: 10/09/2026 02:07:50
Heidi Gruetzemacher
Posted: 10/09/2026 02:08:14