Maria Mazo, PPSA  

Halloween Parade by Maria Mazo, PPSA

November 2023 - Halloween Parade

November 2023 - Maria Mazo, PPSA

Original

November 2023 - Maria Mazo, PPSA

Original 2

About the Image(s)

This week, my street was fully decorated with a Halloween theme, and I couldn’t resist capturing some shots of the decoration with the idea in mind to use them in composing this month’s image. It was quite a challenge to bring everything together, but in the end, I arrive at this image, which I believe embodies the Halloween spirit. I hope you like it as much I did creating it.

I began with a base layer, an image I had taken in a bushland some time ago, I duplicated it to create a larger canvas, providing more room for the elements. I carefully arranged the different characters until I got the right positions for them. Then, I started to working on the light and colours. I applied a day to night filter to transform the scene into a nightime setting and added warm light to the areas I wanted to illuminate.

After merging all the elements, I applied a foggy filter from Nik software to the lower area of the image and added another cloud layer to enhance the ethereal effect. The subsequent layers were used to fine tune the light and shadows. Finally, I resized the image and added a frame to complete it.

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

Alan Kaplan   Alan Kaplan
Your image certainly embodies the Halloween spirit and communicates the enjoyment you experienced putting this together. Compared to your previous 4 or 5 composites, though, this is a bit too commercial. I've always felt that creating an artistic Halloween image is very difficult because we are inundated with so many such images every year over an extended period of time. I try to stay away from Halloween composites. As a high school English teacher, I always cringed internally whenever a student said he/she really liked the essay he/she was handing in. It almost always meant they were not objective about their writing. This is why we all joined this group--to get an objective opinion rather than relying on our emotionally involved opinion. Revisit your recent entries, compare them to this image, and I feel you'll see the difference.   Posted: 11/06/2023 02:50:33
Maria Mazo   Maria Mazo
Hi Alan, I completely resonate with your perspective. Halloween is not inherently part of my culture either; it has recently made its way to Spain, largely influenced by marketing and global commercialisation during this time of the year. However, having lived in Australia for over ten years, particularly in a neighborhood with many young families, it was inevitable not to be caught up in the halloween spirit this year.
I create this image purely for fun, taking advantage of the festive atmosphere that the decorations offered. I wholeheartedly agree with your point that creators often have emotional attachments to their creations, influencing their perspective.Thanks for your comment and suggestions   Posted: 11/18/2023 05:59:14
Kirsti Näntö-Salonen   Kirsti Näntö-Salonen
Hi Maria, I think that you have composed a delightful potpourri of the collection of man-made Halloween decorations set in the truly ghostly and hauntingly beautiful foggy forest scene. I love the contrast between the blues and the oranges and the eerie glow of the lights. - I think that one can read the image in many ways: either as a fond comment of the community celebrating the holiday; as a critique to the commercial aspect; or just enjoy the parade.   Posted: 11/06/2023 14:04:51
Maria Mazo   Maria Mazo
Hi kirsti, thanks for your comment, I am pleased to hear that you enjoyed the image. As you rightly pointed out, it could be interpreter either as a holiday celebration or as comercial critique. However, my intention was only to create a humorous image incorporating some of the street decorations.   Posted: 11/18/2023 10:30:17
Brad Becker   Brad Becker
Maria, I like the way you've handled the purple and orange tones. Overall the image has a playful holiday theme that works very well. Some of the elements feel better integrated than others (the witch feels nicely connected with the background in how you've painted orange onto the ground and preserved her body contours without unnecessary glowing).   Posted: 11/07/2023 00:18:05
Maria Mazo   Maria Mazo
Hi Brad, thanks for your comment. I'm pleased that you enjoyed the image. Working on it was a good learning curve for me.   Posted: 11/19/2023 04:20:00
Peggy Nugent   Peggy Nugent
This is such a delightful image, Maria! I'd love to have a giant version of it up on my wall during a Halloween party.
I think you have an exquisite balance of so many fun details - the skeleton peeking out as he reaches for the skulls, the Frankenstein's monster coming out of the tree trunk, the ghost in the upper right balancing the skeleton at the lower left, those creepy Nightmare before Christmas grinning faces, all dancing around the witch with her skeletal butler. I love how everything is spooky but not terrifying - although I don't trust that jack-o-lantern; I don't think he's passing out candy that I'd eat.
The bit of orange sky is a great touch, as is the misty fog at the bottom of the image.
In short, I love this image!
  Posted: 11/08/2023 21:05:29
Maria Mazo   Maria Mazo
Hi Peggy, thanks for your lovely comment, I am pleased that you think so highly of it, enought to use it as halloween decoration on the wall. It was a lot of fun to hunting for the images and then recreating them in this image.   Posted: 11/19/2023 04:25:08
Aavo Koort   Aavo Koort
This image is as Halloweeni as you can get. The blue background emphasizes the individual characters. It would make a great Halloween card.   Posted: 11/10/2023 23:08:36
Maria Mazo   Maria Mazo
Hi Aavo, thanks for your comment. I always appreciate it.   Posted: 11/19/2023 04:26:54