Monday, March 1, 2010

Interesting effect

A couple of weeks ago, I took this photo of some trees near the Mirage parking lot as the sun was setting and the sky was a lovely blue.



There are some bright security lights in the parking lot, and the way they lit up the trees and gave them extra contrast against the darkening sky was interesting.

A few days ago, I was playing around with this photo in Photoshop, and for some reason -- don't ask me why, as I can't remember -- I did the following:

-- Selected the image (Command-A)
-- Copied the image (Command-C)
-- Pasted the image (Command-V), which created a new layer
-- Chose "Overlay" as the option in the "Layers/Blending Mode" pop-up menu

... and this was the result:



I was immediately struck by the apparent 3D effect that was created. It reminded me of images from those old "Viewmaster" discs for some reason. I don't know why this operation created this effect, but I must say I like it.-- PL

10 comments:

mikeandraph87 said...

It appears to have triggered a contrast option making it turn out like that and your right on about that 3-D effect! Nice trick. Maybe try that combo of options again on another picture and see if it will do it again. That just my 2 cents.

~ tOkKa said...

-->> you are still using that early version of Photoshop ??

Bravopunk said...

It is some kind of a HDR effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging you made there.
Real HDR images are more complex but it's the same approach.

PL said...

"~ tOkKa said...
-->> you are still using that early version of Photoshop ??"

If you are referring to version 3.0.5 of Photoshop, not really -- sadly, the new Mac laptops don't support the older "Classic" applications any longer. So I have a couple of newer versions, including Photoshop CS4 (which is the one I used for this photo experiment).

Fortunately, my desktop Mac (an older G4 tower) still allows me to use Photoshop 3.0.5 and other "Classic" applications, and even though I use my laptop for most of my computing work these days, it's nice to have that option. And I still like the older version of Photoshop more than the new one. -- PL

galebenning said...

Peter,

It's my wish to present this homage to you and the Mirage Group as you all were a source of inspiration for me during my youth and as i continue in my career as an adult.

Mirage Group Illustration

Hope you enjoy it, and thank you for the past 25 years and for many to come!

Cheers

Mr. Gale Benning
Executive Producer / Director/ Production Designer
Philosophia Studios

galebenning@gmail.com
philosophiastudios.webs.com
ageofmayhem.webs.com
facebook.com/gale.benning

~ tOkKa said...

-->> Pete, isn't there like adaptive software ; freeware capable of emulating older settings for dated software like Photoshop 3 -. I mean f there is adaptive software for MAC to emulate WINDOWS type things on a MAC OS desktop, i'd imagine there just must be something out there to allow you to run the old school programs you are wanting to use. An ' EMULATOR ' as it were.

Hmm-- maybe i can find sumin' .. or someone.
//


-->> That's pretty memorable and thoughtful , Gale .

TMNTboy said...

That is really cool at first I didn't understand why it was interesting but after I read that you said it was like a view master and I have to say it does but. Also i would like to say i am inspired by your work and my drawing style is based off of Ninja Turtle comics so thanks for being Awesome.

PL said...

"galebenning said...

Peter,

It's my wish to present this homage to you and the Mirage Group as you all were a source of inspiration for me during my youth and as i continue in my career as an adult.

Mirage Group Illustration

Hope you enjoy it, and thank you for the past 25 years and for many to come!

Cheers

Mr. Gale Benning
Executive Producer / Director/ Production Designer
Philosophia Studios"

Gale, that's pretty cool! Do you mind if I put it up on this blog? -- PL

galebenning said...

Peter,

Please do share it, I want to recognize the talents of the Mirage Group with everyone.
I would have sent it to you direct, though i have not been able to track down an email for you. So, my apologies for just slapping it on to a post, though it was totally unrelated.

Cheers

Mr. Gale Benning

galebenning said...

Pete,

Oh, and there's the original mega-large sized version of the Mirage Illustration on my flickr along with other interesting tidbits

www.flickr.com/pixelutionstudios

Gale