smolinski

Critiques are always welcome. I needed to get out of the studio and

enjoy some time with my kid.

The response on this image has been overwhelming! Thank you! My goal was to do something creative while I learned Photoshop.

 

 

Still looking for a good way to market this images - I'd love to hear your ideas.

Couldn't decide how to crop this one! Your comments are always appreciated.

Thanks, Leo and Barry, for your inspiring words! Not much to say about the "1". The rating system is confusing to many and there are a bunch of people out there that feel that digital manipulations don't fall into a photography category. Perhaps they don't realize or care about the time and effort it took to plan and execute each photo in this image. No need to fret - the overall response has been wonderful and that's what matters most of all to me. I've added another face to the image - I have to figure out how to load it here.

 

Best regards, Dick

Your comments are well taken, Jani. I believe the key to a successful composite is in the lighting. In my potatoes photo, I photographed each element specifically for that image. In this case, I was learning how to use Photoshop by fooling around with images I had already created. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Love the three dimensional feel to this! Love it! Great all around design.

Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time! Your comments are

appreciated.

Very funny!

Wow, I wish I had taken this! I'm jealous. Great image. The coat is fabulous!

I was fooling around with alternative light sources and tried my slide projector.

This little guy is growing on me. I keep having to come back to look at him.

Been thinking some more. I love the photograph "as is", however, I do believe if you

plan to market it for commercial purposes you can remove the birds behind the three

that are center stage. I'm happy to have seen the unedited version first, knowing that

you captured this magnificent pose.

This photograph surely shows us how animals inspire the best of Disney animators!

Interesting comments on the water, since the whole purpose of this photograph was to experiment with the water spray. I'll have to dig through my film archives and see if I shot it without the water. I suspect I did.

This was one of my first attempts at using Photoshop. Your comments are always

appreciated.

Beautiful colors, interesting crop. I like this one the best in the series.

He'd be awesome glowing in a snowfall. Great character.

What a mess we had in the studio to get this image!

Carl, you are correct. The costume came in these four colors.

Yes, the props were all miniature built on a table-top set. The fog was dry ice. I keep changing the background. It was originally a styrofoam ball built to look like the moon. On my website the background has stars in it. With Photoshop an image is never done! The trees were actually on the set. I love toy train supply stores!

 

Dick

Why did the Sorcerer's broom come alive in Fantasia? I love the way Disney gives inanimate objects human features. I think that's what intrigues us all. You have to go back to being a kid. You have to think like a kid.

 

I have a philosophy that the guy that I use to build my sets, process my film, edit my images, and choose my models all must be of one mind...MINE! In order to pull an image like this off, you can't just take some random faces and drop them on vegetables in Photoshop. In addition to color changes, and edge softening, I actually had my models "pose" with a certain potato in mind. I shot the base shot first, and then had my models pose for each potato.

 

I often feel like a magician. If I share a step-by-step tutorial, wouldn't it take the fun away? I'm not so much worried about someone learning my technique as I am worried about ruining the magic of the photo. You are all so enthused and that's the fun of it all.

 

Your thoughts are much appreciated.

 

Dick

http://www.smolinskistudios.com

 

Sorry, I don't know how to create the link yet. The site is new - I don't have any copy yet, just images at this point. The response to this photo has been just amazing. It's really inspiring me to finish up some of my works in progress!

 

Dick

Laura, I would love to either sell prints of this or to find a market for my potato pals! I'll take suggestions! I produced this for my own amusement and have loved the response so far. I'm trying to decide how to best "explain" my technique.

One of my oldies but goodies. I may be showing my age, but I loved creating magic

before Photoshop was ever born!

Thanks for the great feedback. The shoot itself took me about a day. I probably spent 3 solid days worth of time in Photoshop piecing it all together.

 

Dick