A tree

[masque]

Demonstrating my ability to make a brilliantly sunny winters day gloomy

[wizard509]

Demonstrating my ability to make a brilliantly sunny winters day gloomy

Hmmmmmmm, you did a good job of it. Me I like to try and do the opposite and look on the bright side.
Are you related to Darth Vader, and work for the "dark side"?

[angelize]

I really like that Derek, I'd love to know more about how you did it. Please

[wizard509]

Don't get me wrong Derek. I really like your work. Sometimes I just like to poke fun.

[masque]

Larry
Nothing wrong with Darth Vader that an inhaler wouldn't cure, I like the dark side. The things I churn out most likely show that.

Frances
I use PS Elements9 currently, as its cheaper than the full version and less anoying.
Its all about the blending modes to overlay texture and little montaged details. Threre no step by step tutorial I could do as its made up as I go along. Somertimes it ends up with something ok and other times it just goes to far and becomes a dark nasty mess.
One step done differently resulted in this alternative



and here is the original photo straight from the camera, taken while out walking the dogs along the local canal in the centre of the city. You have to find your landscapes and wide open spaces where you can.

[spondoolix]

Gloom pictures are your trademark; and this one is especially .. ahem.. brilliant. It gave me a sombre mood immediately and was much to my liking.
But what about the artist himself? Are your photographs just the way you like to portray things, or a reflection of the way you view life itself?

[masque]

I think that if they reflected me I would have to be an introvert on the brink of suicide or self harming.
I just like the gloomy and opressive to some extent. Perhaps its easier to do or simply purgative. Its certainly not how I am.
Derek

[angelize]

Thanks for explaining a bit about your technique Derek, I guess it takes a lot of experimentation. Have you ever tried to see if you can do something similar in Xara? I find some of these images rather interesting and my first thought when I see something that piques my interest is usually "can I do this in Xara"

[masque]

Thanks for explaining a bit about your technique Derek, I guess it takes a lot of experimentation. Have you ever tried to see if you can do something similar in Xara? I find some of these images rather interesting and my first thought when I see something that piques my interest is usually "can I do this in Xara"

It's possible, perhaps even easier, to do most of it in Designer, any sort of cutting and montage work etc. Altering the colour saturation and applying perhaps a grainy texture would be no problem either. Its when you come to apply colour/texture overlays to affect the image beneath by applying the blending modes such as Multiply, Overlay, Softlight etc which don't have any direct correlation in Designer. Its these that produce the muted colouration effects in these images. Also its easier to erase in Adobe where you don't want the effect.
So the answer is, some of it is possible, but if the transparency options can do what the blending modes in Elements can do then I've not discovered the right combination as yet.
Believe me if they did I would use Xara. Adobe PS Elements is a rubbish product in many ways. Up until six months ago I used and got along with version 7 no problem. I foolishly decided to upgrade to version 9 as there were supposed to be significant improvements with adjustment layers etc. However it turns out there's a bug with the lasso tool, which is fairly important, to me at any rate. Basically it's difficult to select anything without the screen jumping and the selection disappearing. There's no patch. They then released version 10. It turns out there is the same bug in that as no doubt it was sitting awaiting release soon after the release of version 9. No patch for that either.
So when you see anyone criticise Xara for bad customer service just tell them of Adobe who rip off their customers without even a blush.
I still couldn't do these images without if though.