Cowboy Sculpture

[Snarkbyte]

For C&C



This image really lost a lot because I had to reduce the jpg quality considerably to squeeze in under the max file size. The tree is definitely oversharpened in the jpg (I still need to learn a LOT about sharpening!), and I think the eyes may be over-dodged a bit. Feedback definitely appreciated.

[Geoff F]

As you said, the tree is perhaps a little bit on the strong side and the eyes do appear a little strange; although that does tend to give him something of a 'mean' facial expression.

But all in all, I like it.

Just one tip that I sometimes use when sharpening an image like this. Draw a freehand selection around the area requiring most sharpening, ie the sculpture (you don't have to be exact so long as you are slightly outside of the area) then feather the selection, say somewhere between 5 and 10 pixels. Sharpen by whatever method you prefer but don't overdo it. That sharpness is only applied to the selected area.

Then remove the selection and sharpen the whole image, if required, to suit the background. The selected area will always appear sharper than the background. Not exactly the correct method but I find it usually works OK and is easier than working with layers and masks if you aren't familiar with them.

[Snarkbyte]

Thanks for the comments, Geoff.

This character is clearly a mean ol' cuss, so I wanted a steely glint (pardon the pun) in his eyes. Seems to me I probably overdid it a tad, but the highlights do draw attention to the facial expression. This sculpture is an interesting piece of work, and I'm torn between compositions that feature the mean facial expression and the shotgun (which is what I would certainly be looking at if this guy were confronting me in real life, lol). This shot was an attempt to capture both the threat (the shotgun) and the attitude of the man behind it.

I am working my way through some CS5 books, but I haven't gotten to the sharpening chapter yet, so my skills there are poor, to say the least. More importantly, I need to develop an eye for what needs sharpening, and to what degree, in order for the shot to be effective.