Dreaming #11

Title courtesy of Joe Satriani. Photographic and technique inspiration courtesy of Jesse Speer (and William Neill).

Comments encouraged...

Well... this kicks a**! I remember Jesse posting this style a while back. If I recall it is a blend of still and blurred images... or something like that, I'm no post processing expert. I love the balance of the trunks throughout, and how they are pretty sharp through the middle horizontally then the blur is more dramatic on the top and bottom edges. That helps keep my focus in the image. The colors and all the other post processing seems to be done perfectly. Some excellent work Todd!

Wow, I really like how you've done this, with the full sharpness in the middle of the aspens. It makes it pop really well.

I wonder if you could improve it even more by really blurring out the very top and bottom edges, almost to the point of solid color blur... just an idea.

I can't add anything to Jeff's thorough review, except to say that the static tree trunks add so much originality and beauty to this image. Truly excellent work!

P.S.
Didn't Coldplay do 'Dreaming #11'?

I like this Todd! I like the effect and the colors are great. Quite unique. I like Jack's suggestion too.

Todd, very cool, creative and unique - awesome!

Just stunning, Todd. Wonderful use of this technique.

WOW! Perfect title for this.......tips (for the sharp trunks), please!

Trippy and different -- a great idea on a common theme... this is the stuff that gets peoples attention too

Satriani flying in a Blue Dream right??

Pretty sweet Todd. The 3D effect is really strong here. The splashes of green really make this image for me.

The strong effect on the top/bottom edges is unavoidable. Easy enough to get rid of with some blurring or cropping. That's my only nit. This is beautiful. Love the name too ... my own series is called "Dreams".

Crap, I didn't realize you named your series that, Jesse. Sorry, man.

One of the cool things about this technique and the Orton technique is how incredibly simple and customizable they are. All I did here was duplicate the background layer (the image), hit it with a motion blur (season to taste), then add a layer mask to the blurred layer and mask out the trunks. I masked out the trunks all the way, then lowered the brush opacity and dabbed/slid over the top and bottom ends of the trunks til they were satisfactorily blended into the clearer portions of trunk. I found that not showing any blur effects on the trunks was a little too stark, so I just lowered the brush opacity waaaay down and painted over the trunks to make them a little bit on the dreamy side.

For those of you who do not understand all this talk of masks and brushes and opacity levels and such, it is something you need to learn. (My A-HA! moment came after buying John Shaw's excellent Photoshop Field Guide e-book.) Once it clicks, it's like somebody just gave you a golden ticket to the amusement park roller coaster ride of your life! It also makes a lot of other PS things make more sense.

No worries on the name Todd! It's perfect. Just throwing out the "great minds" theory.

And yeah, this technique is incredibly simple - and can be customized to no end. I like to throw in a duplicate gaussian blur layer and play around with blending modes - to soften up the "sharp" features.

Again, this is mesmerizing. I've been back to this post several times already.

This is EXCELLENT, Todd! Quite a powerful visual effect you've achieved here.

This is stunningly beautiful and refreshingly different.

Terrific, Todd.

This is amazing Todd. I remember Jesse's series too, the technique and effect is unique and beautiful. This is very well done!.

Whoa! Nice job on this one. Beautiful.

Wonderful image Todd! Adding a +1 to all that's been said.

Pretty incredible! I could stare at this for hours.

Todd, you need to post this on ESS and blow some minds over there too. Or possibly photo art.

Love the look! You have mastered the process.
You took a great shot to a higher level of art.
Great work.
Dave

Very nice. When I saw this I immediately thought of some of William Neil's work. Thanks for sharing.

This is pretty cool...

Todd! WOW! This is fantastic... it looks like a great image to begin with and your new trick really did a great job turning that image in to an art work!! regards, Rajeev

After reading Jesse's post, I thought I'd add that you might try adding a couple layers, one with a motion blur at about 97 degrees and one with a motion blur at about 83 degrees. You can use the same masks on these as you did with the first motion blur, then adjust the opacity down on these layers so all 3 blurs show up. I found this can help get rid of some of the sharp vertical lines.

The more defined vertical lines don't bother me on this particular image. To me they almost feel like a frame for the more dynamic portions. But I do appreciate the suggestions.

I really like this Todd. It's a great mix of abstract and realism. It strikes my fancy more than having an image purely one way or the other. Nice work!

Very mind-blowing cool ! I like how you merged the realistic with the not-so-realistic gumby look trees..

That's very Dreamy! I love it. I should have titled my post "Ice Nine" i guess i could change it....nah.

Very cool, Todd! Makes me want to play with this technique both in camera and in PS. Great job.

Todd this is really amazing! Can you tell us what you did to achieve this look?

Scroll upwards about 20 posts, Erik. (no one would expect someone to have read all the posts, so no worries!)

Ooops! I apologize!!