Dream Lake

Gallery: Photo ArtPosted July 5, 20071,477 views10 comments

I hope you are wondering why this is in photo art, because that would be a good thing. This is a fictional lake by Mt. Baker in Washington State. I have included the original base image for reference. The sky, trees and lake edge came from other photographs. The color and lighting on the mountain was all created with layer adjustments. The reflection in the lake was fabricated. You can't see it on this post, but there is some blurring and distortion to mimic a near reflection in water. The fog is also rendered and was actually the hardest part to figure it out.

I just wondered if I could create something photorealistic from multiple images and major adjustments. Let me know what you think and if I pulled it off. Thanks for looking.

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Steve Bunn on July 5, 2007 at 2:01 AM

Here is the original photo.

Registered on February 5, 2007, 34 Posts, 320 Comments

Comment posted by Alan Bryant on July 5, 2007 at 12:43 PM

That is a awesome.

You could of easy'ly got away with saying this was the original its that good.The added land in the middle aswell as the mist is fantastic.Plus what you have done to the mountain and the sky to give the sense of a sunrise/sunset is also fantastic.

I applaud you for creating a image like this.

Registered on March 31, 2006, 473 Posts, 1081 Comments

Comment posted by Chuck Beatty on July 5, 2007 at 2:51 PM

Steve, you've created a beautiful new national park! I was all ready to go camping when I saw your image. Wonderful job creating a perfect world. If you could just add a fresh pine scent, the illusion would be complete.

Registered on July 12, 2006, 82 Posts, 453 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Bunn on July 5, 2007 at 8:48 PM

Thanks for the feedback. I'm please I pulled it off. The best part is that it was a great way to learn CS3 as it used, or at least tried, many of the features.

Registered on February 5, 2007, 34 Posts, 320 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Monk on July 7, 2007 at 11:39 AM

Steve -
Well done! If realism was your goal, you've accomplished it admirably!

Registered on June 22, 2006, 109 Posts, 452 Comments

Comment posted by Danny on July 8, 2007 at 7:31 AM

Pretty darn good Steve. Looks like great lighting for sure. A few added ripples would work as well. With a shore line like you have here, you could try a plugin called "Flood" by a company "Flaming pear". Its the most realistic and most versatile of all water effects IMO.

As it is, it looks great Steve.

Danny.

Registered on November 25, 2003, 165 Posts, 1345 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on July 9, 2007 at 10:22 AM

Hi Steve,

When I first glanced at this image my first thought was "oh...a film image shot with Velvia." So...from my perspective you pulled it off. You did a very good job of image creation here.

I have nothing at all against this type of digital manipulation, unless someone tries to pass it off as an accurate representation of something they actually witnessed and "captured". So thanks for entering it in the photo art gallery and not Earth, Sea, and Sky.

Well done...cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on July 9, 2007 at 1:12 PM

Steve: Mission accomplished. Congrats on the EP. >=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Bunn on July 9, 2007 at 9:42 PM

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm honored to be picked.

Since posting this, I became aware of some accusations leveled against Marc Adamus about faking a reflection image on a completely different photography forum. I thought the accusations were offensive, even to me. They are clearly unfounded.

I know that I clearly labeled this photo art, but I probably won't ever do this again. My motivations were simplistic and pure, but it's not worth having anything out there that lends a sense of impropriety to my photographs. I know I've not been accused of anything on this forum, which I appreciate, but its not worth the potential problems down the road. Cheers!

Registered on February 5, 2007, 34 Posts, 320 Comments

Comment posted by Pete D on July 30, 2007 at 5:38 PM

I like what you're showing me. I wish I were there.

How about a nice rock or other silhouetted shape in the foreground as another cue that what we're supposed to think we're looking at is a reflection in an alpine lake?

Thanks for explaining how the image was created. It seems like most of the Photo Art we see here is not intended to be photorealistic (an oxymoron in my opinion, but you know what I mean).

This starts the wheels turning in my head because I just shot of bunch of less-than-awesome photographs in Glacier NP, but I'm thinking they could be great raw material for stuff like this. Then again, it's taken me forever to achieve the very modest level of Photoshop skill that I have.

This was an excellent and thought-provoking addition to the forum.

Pete D.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 590 Posts, 1794 Comments