December - and artificial light

[SpiderBob]

Walking one early morning I came across this, finding the right place to take was a challange. Please, your comments welcome.

[Rob Douglas]

I think this is a great image! IMO I would hit CS5 with this and fill in the blank space in the middle of the water stream.

[Rob Douglas]

Looks a bit un-natural. If you like you can shoot me the original and I'll fix it up.

[SpiderBob]

Rob, here is another try. I filled with the paint brush, copied to another layer then tried removing the copy line. Am I headed in the right direction?

[jjbacoomba]

Great job Bob!

[Rob Douglas]

Yes, you are on the right path for sure. Just need to blend the seams a bit more and take care of the dark area behind the water being sprayed on the angle at the bottom.

[Rob Douglas]

As for what's going on with the magnifying glass I'm not sure.

[SpiderBob]

Here is the latest edit:

[Rob Douglas]

Your getting much closer now Bob. The fill behind the water shooting off to the left is good as in the main fill. The left side is blended pretty well. The right side edge of the fill is still a bit sharp and could use a bit further blending. Doing great though. Keep up the good work. This is the exact type of experimentation that helps grow and develop your skills.

[SpiderBob]

Rob, what do you think this time. I did some more work on the hard line I had left and then added some to make is dissimilar to the one on the left where I originally copied from.

[Steve S]

Looks alot better bob, have you considered cropping the whole top off. It would look like a colored wall and bring the focus to the smaller jets. (just a thought)

[SpiderBob]

Interesting Steve, I'll take a look at that.

[Rob Douglas]

Very close now Bob. Just this one last area that I see circled in red.

[SpiderBob]

That's funny, I kept looking at that thinking I should change it, now that you circle it, it sure stands out more than anything else OK - lightened it up with a bit of fountain stream in it.

[SpiderBob]

Looks alot better bob, have you considered cropping the whole top off. It would look like a colored wall and bring the focus to the smaller jets. (just a thought)

As in:

[Rob Douglas]

You nailed it Bob! Great work! Now having challenged yourself on a project like this it should help you in future editing work on other images. It's one thing to be able to clone or edit out a spot or flare and quite another to actually fill a void. Hopefully this will give you an even better understanding of the tools and capabilities of the editing program you are using. Which in the long run will make your work flow come easier & more natural to you along with giving you the confidence to keep an image and try to save it where you might have deleted it in the past.

I like the cropped version too. It has a totally different feel/look but for me the first one showing the impressive power of the fountain wins out. Plus the fact you came suck a long way to perfect the total image

[SpiderBob]

thank you Rob, I had a lot of fun with this challenge, as you offered to do this for me, I then thought more about trying it on my own in hopes that you would do just as you did, guide me along the way. I thank you for that. It was by far one of the most difficult PP challenges I've ever done, I have learned a lot, I still have a long way to go, but if the rest is as fun as this one, I'm ready .

Again,
Thank you

As for the second cropped photo, I like it and it is a different feel to it as well. But I do like the first (probably because of the time I spent on it ) no, really, you used the right word, it shows the "power" of the fountain.

[Rob Douglas]

Glad to help Bob, any time. I believe in paying it forward. As I learn and develop my skills (both shooting & Editing) I believe in showing what I've learned to someone else in the hope that what I have showed them will be passes along to the next guy that might be struggling. I also think that guidance is more helpful than just doing an edit for someone. Helping someone along in steps with a combination of editing and explanation helps the person develop there skill as apposed to just doing it for them where they really aren't taught anything. The beautiful thing about CinC is that most everyone here is of the same nature. That is why this site is of such a high standard.