Final Composite Image

We spent a few days hiking in Arches National Park and I will use 2 images from our hike to Dark Angel. I wanted to create a natural bridge (Rainbow Arch) over the ‘voodoos’ (sandstone men). Arches National Park looks a lot like Bryce Canyon National Park—very prehistoric looking. These formations are one of my favorite places to visit. I also used the picture of the Skagit Valley tulip fields.

First I downsized all three images and then started to adjust the colors. With the voodoos image I increased the Saturation with Hue/Saturation and also gave more contrast with Auto Contrast. I liked this simple color adjustment, because it just brightened up the already beautiful colors. It was a very clear day. I had used a polarizing filter on the camera. This formations are one of my favorites places to visit.

I then took the Rainbow Arch image to match the colors with the voodoos image, giving it more red and yellow in Color Balance. I Smart Sharpened the Arch also because the middle of Arch was blurry and it worked well. The Arch is too dark on the left side (the sun highlights the left side of the voodoos which I needed to match), so I selected the left half of the Arch with Lasso and filled it with an orange color with the Paint Bucket. With the Smudge Tool I smeared the transition in the middle of the Arch. I used the Extract command to get the mask of the Arch and cleaned up the edges with the Edge and Cleanup tool and gave the Layer the new name “Arch”.

Back to the voodoo image…. I filled the empty space on the left side with using the Vanishing Point/Filter and the Marquee tool and named it New Wall. I cleaned up a few spikes in the Background with the Stamp tool and finally Merged Down the New Wall Layer to the Background Layer. Now I have one Layer with the voodoos. I moved Rainbow Arch on this image and clicked Edit/Free Transform to position and scale the Arch so it fits.

I dragged the tulip fields into the destination image and scaled it under Free Transform, so that it fits over the full length. I changed the Mode to Screen in the Layers palette. I added Layer mask and drew the Gradient mask in the tulip field at an angle. With clicking on “f” in the Layers palette I got the Layers Style box and I adjusted the Gradient Overlay setting, Blend mode to Light and I changed the values in This Layer and added some Fuzziness.

Next, I added the text with the Type tool, then filled the text with orange color and Warped it on the sky! I created a cast shadow after I duplicated the Text Layer with pressing Ctlr+Alt+T and I scaled and positioned the new Layer. I named it Shadow (pretty smart, or!?), reduced the Opacity and applied the Gaussian Blur Filter with a Radius of 2.4.

There still was a hard edge between the tulips and the Background image. I took the Eraser tool with a blurred Brush number 13, set the Opacity to 50 and softened the edge.

The spider I found in Flickr.com. It is a Ballus Chalybeius (in case you did not know and always wanted to know it!) I selected her with the Wand tool and dragged her to a new canvas and used the Eraser and Brush tool to clean the shadowy area around her. Then I dragged her into the canyon and with Free Transform I scaled and positioned her. To hide her in the bush I chose Satin and Pin Light Blend Mode in Layers Style and in Contour I chose Rounded Steps. Then I duplicated the spider layer, selected Free Transform and dragged the “new” spider on the right side on the wall. Clicked on the Warp mode in the Option Bar and warped her around! I gave the second spider a Threshold Level of 110 in Image/Adjustment, and now she is a Black Widow. The third (fat) spider I also got in Flickr.com and used again the Wand tool, Free Transform and Warp and with Hue/Saturation command I gave her a greenish appearance.

With the Custom Shape tool I drew a Butterfly and used Free Transform and Warp mode to modify the butterfly. Then I chose Filter Artistic/Neon Glow and gave Texture with the Craquelure Filter and I colored the butterfly with Hue/Saturation and finally I created a Picture Package and I thought that is the end of my Final Exam but the Beginning of the World! …………. Until I showed this to my favorite critic (Doug) and then here I go again….! I changed the Banner color to pink using the eyedropper and also changed the text shape with the Skew under Free Transform. This change was first made in an image copy (#6) to compare, then I cut and pasted it onto the current (#9) image. A final drop shadow was added, with some opacity at 52% using Color Burn blend keeping the shadows to the left/sun to the right as the voodoos. I applied also Inner and Outer Glow and Bevel Emboss to give it more “dark age” appearance.
So….this is better but be careful next time you hike in Arches!!!
I really enjoyed this course and everyone in it. It was a big challenge for me to go back to school in English but I look forward to taking subsequent courses online. Thank you, too, Patti.

Project 4

Project 4

This gorgeous sunset was taken in Favorite Bay from the upper deck of the tugboat Katahdin. I wanted to follow Deke’s DVD lesson and wrote “Koenigin” (it is German for queen) after I selected the Horizontal Type tool. Then I selected the Custom Shape tool, loaded all the Custom Shapes and picked the bird shape (something between an eagle and a dove). I started to paint and drag the bird while pressing the spacebar for position. The selection outline was visible and no new Layer for the bird shape was created in the Layers palette. After starting all over again from the beginning the same problem appeared. Finally I figured out to click on Shape Layer icon in the options bar and here we go and it worked! A New Layer appeared in the Layers palette and I deselected the selection outline with clicking on the Layer. I tweaked the fill and opacity in the Layers palette for the bird and created a second bird with the Shape tool.


With the Auto Color command I brightened the background; the sunset image. I then filled the word “Koenigin” with the green color with clicking on the T Layer in the Layers palette and then I picked the color from the Swatch palette; when the eyedropper appeared I clicked on the green color.

Next I chose Eights Note as a Custom Shape in the options bar and painted it into the image. I pressed A-key for the Path Selection tool, clicked on the note and then pressed Ctlr+ALT+T to duplicate the note. I clicked the “chain” icon in the options bar to scale the note proportionally, then changed the Width and rotated the note with changing the rotate value. Finally I dragged the note. I repeated these steps a few times to duplicate and move the notes. I set HUE in the Layers palette and decreased the Opacity for the notes. Then I changed the Photo Filter in the Layers Palette to Warming Filter and the Density to 60. I liked the bright orange clouds and the shades in the image.

But the bridge of the tugboat almost disappeared in darkness, so I adjusted Brightness/Contrast under Image/Adjustment and also the island in the distance became more visible. With the Shape tool I painted a leaf on Katahdin’s white bridge, picked a red color in the options bar and selected Tie-Dyed Silk under Style for the leaf. Also, I skewed the leaf with the Skew command, Edit/Transform/Skew, to fit it better in the curved pilothouse. The “Koenigin” looked kind of boring so I skewed it with the Warp Icon, then chose the flag and changed bending to -45 and then she was floating with the notes.

The little owl

After I went through Lesson 7 I wanted to create a mask for this little owl. Unfortunately I found her this winter in our woodshed and she was frozen. She starved in the first cold snap we had. We showed her to the National Forest bird expert and he told us that she was a Screech owl and had no meat on her breastbones and that is a sign of malnutrition.

I chose the Extract command under Filter and with the Edge highlighter tool and a brush size 10 I started to select the outline. On the feathery part like her face I increased the brush size to 20. Then I filled the interior of the owl with blue color, using the Fill tool. In the Preview I changed the Display box to a bright green. I pressed C to select the clean up tool and started to erase pixels with Alt-key and click for white and click for black using a small brush size #6. I jumped between Display: MASK and NONE to review my success in cleaning up and kept cleaning! I locked the Layer with / key and saved it.

And finally I put the beautiful little owl on the bridge of the Katahdin where she enjoys the sunset but only after tinting her slightly more red with the Hue/Saturation command.