52Frames theme this week is "distorted", with "extra credit" for the Pep Ventosa technique. I hadn't really thought about trying it, I was going to do something with the crystal ball and call it a day. Then as I read about the technique, I had the idea to walk around the ball, as you do in this sort of thing, then adding an undistorted image of the ball on top in PS - but of course, the image in the ball is distorted already. It seemed like an ok idea in my head, but I'm not sure I took enough photos to really make it all work, or that my backyard is really conducive to the technique in the first place. Can't say I'm that pleased with the final result. Maybe I'll try it again if I find a better location in my travels this weekend.
Hobbiest photographer with occasional delusions of grandeur, and several cats. Several years here on 365 project, after a few years on Shuttercal before that. You...
It is interesting in some ways. I'm not familiar with the technique but what I like here is the grasses on the left in contrast to the sharp focus on the ball. Maybe cropping it in portrait mode and coming in a little tighter will make it a little more interesting- but that might not fit with how the technique is supposed to work. good start!
@olivetreeann Thank you, Ann! I did a 16:9 crop on this to cut out some boringness at the bottom. The idea of the technique is to walk around a central object, taking pictures the whole way around, and then combining them with a low opacity in PS. If done well, the result is a sort of impressionist look of your subject - which I wanted sharp, so maybe not the best idea I've had. I found that if you stop there, then the images at the top of your stack are favored - in my case, you wouldn't see the grasses on the left at all. So I abused the technique a bit with some masking on the upper layers to let the lower ones through more.
@rickster549 Thank you! @ludwigsdiana You're kind to say so, it is a first attempt at this sort of thing. I'll try again with a better landscape. Thank you! @wakelys Thank you!
@swchappell That is interesting- so maybe a background with less objects in it- like putting this ball in a garden so that the only thing that ends up in the background are some blurry leaves (or grasses like this shot) and pops of color a la Monet or Renoir. Just my thoughts!
@ludwigsdiana You're kind to say so, it is a first attempt at this sort of thing. I'll try again with a better landscape. Thank you!
@wakelys Thank you!
@bkbinthecity Thank you!
@k9photo Thank you!
@jgpittenger It was fun, but I need a more conducive location I think. Thank you!
@olivetreeann Yes, exactly like that!
@pdulis Thank you!