Study Group 5
Nancy Conley

January

”Breakout”

How I did it- Thought I’d try a creative altered reality type this month.  Took a shell photo and surfer photo.  Transformed the surfer photo size so that the surfer and splash fit well in the shell opening.  Did some blending, masking, and curves.  Using Nik silver effects pro converted to a black and white with border.  Using black and white helped blend the two images even more.   I used many layers and did this over a few sittings but these are the basics of what I did.

COMMENTS:
 

Barbara Miller	Well done Nancy! A great idea, a lot of work and your brought it off very well; I think the composition is excellent  but there is something about the splash coming out of the shell isn't quite right.  I honestly don't know if it needs to be blurred more or sharpened but I think the former.
David Cooke	Very clever idea, Nancy which works very well indeed. It’s a very attractive image and holds my interest well. I’m not sure about the overall technical quality. There doesn't seem to be the detail in the surfer and waves as there might be but it’s very difficult to tell what it would look like in a full scale print so I’m not sure how valid this observation is.
Mike Lillis	Great creative idea by using the shell and the surfer.  Having the surfer in the lower right corner really helps the composition.  I do wish the shell was not so soft along its edge, and over all sharper.  I would recommend feathering the edge of the surfer image into the shell image more.
T W Woodruff
John Yurchak	The lighting on the shell capture a good mood to this photo. Your placement of the surfer is well done on the composition. You have blended all parts very well. I  really feel the B/W give a better mood to this photo.
Nick Muskovac	Very nice to try something different;  The water spray in the opening of the shell does not look right to me, My eye sees it as weeds;  I would like to see the shell a little sharper and at an angle;  border is nice.

Nancy's rebuttal: this is her space for replies to you when asked

Member Bio

Nancy Conley- Biography Nancy lives in Ocean Township, New Jersey. She has been taking photos as long as she can remember but did not get serious about photography until 2006 when she graduated from her point and shoot to a digital SLR. Although relatively new to SLR, Nancy is not new to digital image manipulations. The inexpensive point and shoot digial images gave her plenty of digital image processing experience. She has over 10 years experience with PS and is currently using PS CS5 extended. Nancy joined PSA in 2010 and is also a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, the Monmouth County Camera Club, and the Belmar Arts Council. She also paints in oils as well as digitally with Painter X.

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