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Posts Tagged ‘Surreal’

Interview: Aaron DuRall’s surreal self-isolation photos

04 May

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In an alternate timeline New York-based photographer Aaron DuRall and his partner Whitney DuRall would have been gearing up for their busiest season of the year – wedding season. The couple have been photographing weddings together for eight years and typically make the bulk of their yearly income during Spring and early Summer. Of course, these are not the times we’re living in. Like many independent photographers, as COVID-19 began sweeping through the states, DuRall saw his work drop off quickly.

“We lost about about a third of the year, it’s pretty staggering,” he says.

DuRall, who also specializes in portraiture and documentary work, saw those gigs dry up quickly as well. For the last month DuRall has been isolating at home in his apartment in Ridgewood, Queens, churning out daily photos that are worlds away from the natural documentary style work that he typically creates. We caught up with DuRall over the phone to learn more about the inspiration for the brightly-colored, surreal frames that make up his COVID-19 Self Isolation series.

Tell me how you started your isolation photo project.

We began isolating on Sunday, March 15 and have been at home since. I knew I was going to be cooped up and I needed something to keep me occupied and stretching my brain – keep me busy and creating. I decided I was going to make photos every day, but it’s gone through an evolution.

Initially I thought I would photograph the neighbors when they were outside in their backyard from our back windows, or that I’d photograph from our front windows and capture people on the sidewalks and hanging out on their stoops. I thought I’d use an observational, bird’s eye view and a long lens, then I realized how limiting that would be. I have a view of one backyard and a view of four stoops. How can you photograph the exact same people every single day? Then I decided I’m just going to get weird using the objects that we have at home, and experiment with light, form and the human body.

Aaron DuRall

What is the planning process like for the daily shoots?

I start thinking about what I’m going to do tomorrow as soon as I stop shooting for today. It’s the mindset of ‘I got that idea out there, so what is the next one?’ I’ve been keeping notes in my phone so if an idea comes to me in the middle of the night or while I’m walking around the apartment I put it in my phone. Then I sketch them out in a notepad and figure out how I might enhance the idea through different objects and colors that I have access to in the apartment.

I start thinking about what I’m going to do tomorrow as soon as I stop shooting for today

I’m not going to lie, we lost the bulk of our livelihood for this year with the pandemic—April, May, June and July wiped clean—so I do spend extra time in bed every day. I get out of bed around 11:30, make a coffee and a blueberry waffle with peanut butter, and then come into the space, turn on my music and stare at my backdrop to try and figure out what the idea is going to be and how I’m going to facilitate it.

What’s in your home-studio setup?

Behind the scenes: Aaron’s home studio.

I’ve got a handful of seamless paper, some poster boards, a variety of gels and then just a bunch of silly props. For lights I’ve got two Alienbees B800s and a Canon 430EX speedlight. My camera is a Canon 5D Mark III.

During weddings you and your partner Whit are typically shooting alongside each other, what has her role been in these shoots while the two of you are quarantined at home?

Some days I make a photo 100 percent by myself and I won’t need help, but there are other concepts where I need to have her involved. I would say 70 percent of the time she is involved, sometimes that means being the subject of the picture, other times it’s having her flag lights, or even press the shutter for me. Whit’s usually sitting in the living room reading a book or working on emails while I’m in the office tinkering. The process has typically been when I’m at a point where I need her help with something she will pop in. I try to make it a quick process and not hold her hostage with this stuff.

Early on, day four or five of isolation I decided to light my hand on fire

A big part of what she is doing is sitting in as my subject. She’s very comfortable in front of the camera, awesome at taking direction and is great at helping me give these images that final pop. I’m lucky that Whit is super patient, and will generally participate in any of the ideas I have – there have been some moments that she hasn’t been too thrilled.

I’ve cut it from the series at this point, but early on, day four or five of isolation I decided to light my hand on fire – she wasn’t stoked on that for obvious reasons. You take the best precautions that you can, and there is a process to doing it as safely as possible, but she obviously wasn’t too thrilled about setting me ablaze inside of our apartment – which is very reasonable. She’s been really supportive, whether she is involved in the shoot or not.

Aaron DuRall

What is the post-processing process like for you?

It’s gotten more involved as the project has gone on. I was never big on post-cleanup and retouching, but I’m actually starting to enjoy it. These were skills that I didn’t have the best grip on going into isolation, and when I come out of this situation I feel like I’m going to have a lot more skills that are applicable to my freelance career.

Some of it is simple: removing artifacts from the backdrop and making sure that it has a consistent smooth look. The Invisible Man photo required a lot of compositing. I had to mask myself out of that and then I had to take additional photos of the inside of the collar of my shirt, the inside of my sleeves, the insides of my shoes and my beanie so that when I inevitably erased myself from this photo those things would be filled in and it would look authentic.

It’s been more post-processing than I’m used to, but I’m not mad about it. These projects are taking up a good amount of my day. I wake up, I spend a couple of hours tinkering, I spend about an hour shooting it and then I’ll spend about two hours retouching and editing.

I’ve felt like I’ve broken out of a shell and have started creating work that is so far from the body of work that I generally live within

What have some of your favorites from the series been so far?

I feel like each new day provides a new favorite, honestly. The ones that appeal to me the most are the ones that have some kind of erotic or sexual connotation to them. I’m primarily a portrait and documentary photographer, and so this has been really exciting, creatively speaking. I’ve felt like I’ve broken out of a shell and have started creating work that is so far from the body of work that I generally live within. Lots of color, lots of punch, lots of heavy shadows. These are things that I never really did before. I love them all, but I’m drawn most to the ones that have a subversive and sexual feel to them.

Why was it important for you to take such a different approach with this project?

I could have gone into this and taken a documentary approach, I did at first, but I think everyone is acutely aware of how scary this situation is – at least in New York. I would rather create an escape and give people a distraction from this, as opposed to creating something somber that is predicated on the weight of this moment.

I think it’s been great for my mental well-being, has kept me focused and kept me optimistic. Based on the feedback I’ve been getting online, it appears that this work is something that other people enjoy as well, and that’s the cherry on top for me. I make this work to make myself feel better, and if it’s somehow making someone else feel better that’s cool and I am lucky for that.

Aaron DuRall

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Street Light Art: Traffic Signals Emit Surreal Rainbow Streams in Hazy City

10 Jan

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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It’s almost a cliche at this point to highlight the beauty that can be found in everyday items, like that scene in the movie ‘American Beauty’ where Wes Bentley and Thora Birch stare at a plastic bag waving around on a sidewalk like it’s the Mona Lisa. But sometimes, it just can’t be helped. Have you ever gazed at a traffic light and marveled at the accidental art it was producing? You’re about to.

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Being such a humble and unremarkable object, installed at countless intersections in countless cities, the traffic signal is an unlikely subject of the internet’s flighty attentions, but the magic here is really in photographer Lucas Zimmermann’s vision – and in the fog that clings to the town of Weimar, Germany.

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Zimmermann first captured his ‘Traffic Lights’ series on a particularly hazy night, noting that the light streaming from the red, yellow and green lamps was stretching out into rainbows. He wondered how the effect would be enhanced by long-exposure photography, and the results show the streams of light almost seeming to take physical form.

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“I have been waiting for two long years to finally go out again and progress on my traffic lights series,” says Zimmermann. “It was worth the wait.”

The new addition to the series is just as striking as the first, supporting Zimmerman’s belief that photography can show us things we might otherwise overlook, “such as a simple traffic light on the street.”

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[ By SA Rogers in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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Garden of Whispers: Surreal Sand Dunes Fill 13th-Century Gothic Church

31 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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A makeshift wooden walkway winds along a strand-lit and tree-lined path between dunes, creating a surreal environment within the context of this historic church.

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Set in a religious space in Toulouse, this strange journey is punctuated by small vignettes that speak to the history of the place. In addition to physical installations and visuals, the space features a soundscape of whispered voices playing in the background and array of carefully generated aromas.

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Along their way through the sandscape, visitors will find a full campsite nestled in the low hills as well as other small shelters with pots, pans, bedding and fireplaces – temporary and nomadic signals juxtaposed with a sturdy historical structure.

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The materials date from various ages, including modern plastics as well as ancient-looking tents of rough-hewn wood and fabric. The end result fits the artist’s aim of “creating a timeless experience outside known references.”

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Nor is the experience entirely static – live persons add dynamism to the mix. Artist Hans Op De Beeck “has staged a number of serene figures that quietly perform mundane, everyday acts. From time to time, these silent live performers offer tea to visitors.”

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“Overall, the ‘Garden of Whispers’ incorporates a range of historical, religious and mythological references, yet most importantly, aims to offer a profound experience of the present, regardless of explicit references.” The temporary installation will be open to the public through this November.

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Las Pozas: Surreal Concrete Sculpture Garden in the Jungle of Mexico

04 Oct

[ By SA Rogers in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

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Stairs spiral up to the sky in strange configurations, going nowhere, in a tangle of surrealist sculptural structures in a Mexican jungle. Why is this series of concrete wonders hidden within the lush vegetation of Xilitlha, and who put it there? The answer lies within the mind of Edward James, a 20th century art collector described by Salvador Dali as “crazier than all the Surrealists together.” If Dali is calling you crazy, that probably says something, and photos of James’ creations reveal a visionary thinker on par with the artists he so admired.

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James, a poet and well-to-do heir who was once painted by René Magritte, was a passionate and early supporter of Surrealism, sponsoring Salvador Dali in a crucial early period of his career during which he produced some of his most valuable works. A 1978 documentary called “The Secret Life of Edward James” shows off some of his personal art collection, as well as his quirky refurbishment of Monkton House, a small 20th century house plastered with surreal interior designs. He was certainly an interesting character, which explains how Las Pozas came about.

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Built more than 2,000 feet above sea level about seven hours (drive) north of Mexico City, ‘Las Pozas’ was named for the natural pools and waterfalls that characterize the site. James saw it as the ideal romantic spot for his vision of a “Garden of Eden set up.” Between 1949 and 1984, he built dozens of towering concrete structures around the pools, each of them given names like “The House on Three Floors Which Will in Fact Have Five or Four or Six,” and “The House with a Roof Like a Whale.”

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The sculptures were conceived by James and his guide Plutarco Gastélum, who helped him scout the site, after his living orchid garden decades in the making was destroyed by a blizzard. The concrete ‘flowers’ would be everlasting, much hardier than anything organic he could grow. It took a crew of about 150 people to build them all. It cost more than $ 5 million to construct, a sum James raised by selling his collection of Surrealist art at auction.

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After James’ death in 1984, Las Pozas was opened to the public, and it’s know owned by Fondo Xilitlha, a foundation overseeing its preservation and restoration.

Top photo: Wikimedia Commons; all other photos: Victor DeLaqua, Julia Faveri and Herbert Loureiro/ArchDaily

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Twisted History: Archival Photos Augmented with Surreal Animations

30 Aug

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Black-and-white images and footage from the past, plucked from public domain collections, become absurd animations as moving elements are transposed on top of them in this series of images by artist Bill Domonkos. UFOs spin around a a curly-haired woman captured on film in the early 20th century, a running skeleton struggles to keep up with the camera on a blurry set of train tracks and television sets hover in Victorian living rooms. A fancy hairstyle becomes a journey into a forest, human eyes project beams of light and armless statues get prosthetics.

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The fact that the moving additions are so suitably tailored to the original images is what makes the results so magical, not to mention their 3D appearance. Simultaneously funny and dark, the animations – which he presents in both GIF and video form – are each strange and unlikely in their own particular way, yet somehow still believable. Maybe that’s not too surprising, coming from a man who shot his own version of Valley of the Dolls as a child with a Super 8 camera.

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“I view my work as a collision and recombination of ideas,” says Domonkos. “My process unfolds gradually and spontaneously – using found materials such as archive film footage, photographs, and the internet. I experiment by combining, altering, editing and reassembling using digital technology, special effects and animation to create a new kind of experience. I am interested in the poetics of time and space – to renew and transform materials, experiences and ideas. The extraordinary thing about cinema is its ability to suggest the ineffable – it is this elusive, dreamlike quality that informs my work.”

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The filmmaker and computer animator is also the creator of an app called Stereopsis, collection of 40 3D stereo images and GIF animations that combine altered archive stereographs and 3D computer graphics. You can get a contraption called ‘Google Cardboard’ to enhance the effect. See more on his website and tumblr.

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Unfree Wheeling: Amusingly Surreal Vintage Soviet Auto Ads

21 Aug

[ By Steve in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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The Soviet Union not only manufactured cars, they exported them to buyers charmed (or duped) by some amusingly and bemusingly photographed advertisements.

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Putin the pedal to the metal lately? Don’t let the jet-fighter-like rear fender air intakes fool you, the ZAZ-968 “Zaporozhets” wasn’t exactly a muscle car even by Soviet standards. Built at the Zaporizhian Automobile Factory in Melitopol, Ukrainian SSR from 1971 through 1980, the ZAZ-968 was propelled by a 40hp air-cooled V4 engine mounted in the rear. Export versions were upgraded with international-spec headlights, a safety glass windscreen and an anti-theft steering lock which was rarely, if ever, tested.

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Wonder if that guitar-playing model knows “Back In The USSR”. Designed to be a “people’s car” that was sturdy yet affordable, the Zaporozhets is fondly recalled by Russians of a certain age… including some guy named Vladimir Putin. According to the Russian President’s official website, Putin’s mother won a ZAZ-968 in a lottery when young Vlad was a third year university student. His parents then gave the car to Putin – no word if he frequently drove it shirtless.

Whole LADA Love

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Russian car manufacturer AvtoVAZ, based in Tolyatti, Samara Oblast based their boxy Lada Classic on the mid-sixties Fiat 124 sedan. Between 1966 and 2012, over 20 million Classic sedans and station wagons had been sold without the vehicle undergoing a major design change. Dig that groovy vinyl roof on the last ad above; it kinda breaks up the Red Square look.

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About 60% of all Lada Classics were exported to both East Bloc and West Bloc nations – the USA being a notable exception; Americans had to wait for the Yugo to “enjoy” owning a workers-paradise-made copy of a Fiat. Note what appears to be (at first glance) a Soviet laptop computer in the faux photoshoot ad above.

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AvtoVAZ introduced the VAZ-2108 in 1984 with export versions named Samara and domestic market cars labeled Sputnik – hey, Plymouth had a Satellite so why not? The French copy on the ad above translates to “More stylish and less expensive. Hold on! Yeah, hold on to your wallet.

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Unfree Wheeling Amusingly Surreal Vintage Soviet Auto Ads

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Warped Worlds: 30 Surreal Digitally Manipulated Landscapes

02 Aug

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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The plot of the movie ‘Inception’ is almost an afterthought compared to the impact that its distorted, dreamlike manipulations of architecture and landscapes has had on a generation of artists and designers. Inspired by the concept of warping a scene in ways that completely defy the laws of physics yet still remain photo-realistic, the following artists have created new worlds that are strange and yet also familiar.

Erik Johansson

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Nothing is quite as it seems in the images produced by Swedish-born, Berlin-based photo artist Erik Johansson. Grassy land cascades over the edge of the world like a waterfall, the surface of the earth is unzipped, cars appear to hover upside-down on the road. It’s difficult to tell reality from illusion, and that’s the point; the scenes he creates are as playful as they are impossible. Setting up and taking the photos takes about as long as manipulating them in Photoshop, and a single image can consist of over 100 layers.

Cubic Landscape by Petey Ulatan

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Flattened views of landscapes are flipped and folded to create cubes, their edges bent at 90 degree angles, eliminating the very gradual and subtle curves that make up the surface of the Earth. Artist Petey Ulatan takes inspiration from the films ‘Inception’ and ‘Interstellar’ to reshape the world, almost as if a giant hand were making it into origami.

Turkey Turned Upside-Down by Aydin Büyüktas

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Many of the same manipulations are happening in the work of Aydin Büyüktas, except focused on the Turkish city of Istanbul, with all of its landmarks and neighborhoods warped in ways that defy the laws of physics. The artist uses drone photography and 3D software to create these composite images. “We live in places that most of the times don’t draw our attention, places that transform our memories, places that the artist gives another dimension; where the perceptions that generally crosses our minds will be demolished and new ones will arise. These works aims to leave the viewer alone with a surprising visuality ironic as well, multidimensional romantic point of view.”

‘Inception Park’ in Buenos Aires by Black Sheep Films

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What if you could ride a trackless rollercoaster around the city, almost as if you’re on the back of some kind of mystical flying creature? Black Sheep Films gives us an idea of what this would feel like with ‘Inception Park,’ a strange little video set in Buenos Aires. It’s fun to watch the snake of rollercoaster cars meander through the space, interacting with architecture.

Twisted Architecture by Nicholas Kennedy Sitton

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“These photos are a result of how intriguing the concept of distortion translates to architecture,” says artist Nicholas Kennedy Sitton of his ‘Twisted Architecture’ series. “It creates a sense of falling into itself, like capturing a moment of demolition. I can destroy titanous steel structures with the click of a mouse and create new twisted versions of reality. I was also inspired by San Francisco. I had just moved there and being in a new city was disorienting and exciting and I wanted to capture how my whole world had changed.”

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Warped Worlds 30 Surreal Digitally Manipulated Landscapes

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How to Create a Surreal Look in Photoshop Using Hue Adjustment

03 Nov

When you start learning photoshop it is scary to see all those different tools you can choose from. It is often said there are seven ways to achieve the same results, using different tools in photoshop. So, it means you have to find the one that suits you perfect, in order to give to your pictures the look that you want.

In this article I want to show you how you can change colors in your pictures using Photoshop. This is a very easy method that you can use, either you are a beginner or you are a more advanced user.

You could add a surreal twist to your images, or remove colors you do not feel like comfortable working with (I am sure we can all relate to this, because as artists we have our favorite and least favorite colors- the ones we struggle to work with!). You can use this technique for anything from changing the color of a dress or any other prop, to changing the forest tones to enhance the autumn feeling, or creating it if you want to create an autumn picture even though it is still spring.

This is the before and after color change:

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Create a color adjustment with Hue/Saturation

You can get to the Curves dialog in two ways:

  1. Image adjustment: By choosing Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation or Click the Hue/Saturation icon in the Adjustments panel.
  2. As an adjustment layer: Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation, or in your layers panel use the shortcut: New adjustment layer> Hue/Saturation.

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I strongly recommend working with layers. It allows you to come back to the adjustment and to erase it, or modify it, as many times as needed. Especially when you make big changes, you may want to be able to have full control. Layers can be scary at the beginning, but trust me, they will become your best friend once you overcome this fear.

Creating a new layer you will have the following Hue/Saturation dialog box:

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Select the color you want to change.

The more different you want your original color to be, the more important this selection is so that the color change does not affect areas do not want to shift. Removing a general color cast is usually a very light change. But, a total different color requires you to be more careful when selecting, and sometimes require several color adjustments.

When your object has a very clear color – as to say all red, one red tone – it is easy. When your object has different color shades it is tricky but not impossible.

In this case we are changing the color of ivy leaves, with different tones of green, blue, and even yellow.

First step: Make the color selection:

You can choose Master to adjust all colors at once, or one of the other preset color ranges listed for the color you want to adjust (reds, yellows, greens, cyans, etc.).

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Or you can also choose the Targeted Adjustment Tool (the little white hand) – this is the easy way to select color if the area/object you want to change is a mix of several color tones.

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Click on the Targeted Adjustment Tool and put your cursor on your image, the eyedropper tool appears. Drag it on your image, and click on the color tone you want to select.

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Four color values appear in degrees in your properties panel. If you click again, you change the selected colors.

Second step: Refine your selection

To check your selection, grab the saturation slider and move it to the right to increase saturation. The idea here is to see what you have selected, and make sure you have the right colors, therefore helping you adjust the selection. For example, when editing a portrait, you want to make sure it doesn’t affect the skin tones of your subject. If editing a forest you want to make sure you have selected the leaves, but not the tree trunks (or anything in the background).

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As you can see there is still a lot of blue of the leaves, that is not included in the selection. To add those blue tones you will drag the adjustment sliders to expend your selected colors, and change the color value (appearing in degrees in your properties panel).

There are four sliders. The ones in the middle allow you to expend or shorten the selected color ranges. The two sliders on both sides are to adjust the range of color and fall-off. Play with those sliders until you find a good selection. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect, you can still make a second hue/saturation adjustment layer, or mask this layer.

Third step: Change the color

In your properties window, drag the hue slider to the left or right depending on the new color tone you want to give to your selection. Then you can play with adding or removing saturation by dragging that slider either way.

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Learning to use hue/saturation will give you more creative options when editing your images in Photoshop. Share any images that you’ve changed the color on, or any other methods you use for doing this technique.

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The post How to Create a Surreal Look in Photoshop Using Hue Adjustment by Amélie Berton appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Soviet Bus Stops: Surreal Architectural Roadside Wonders

24 Sep

[ By Steph in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

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Standing stark against silent desert backdrops like sculptures made for Burning Man, these leftover Soviet structures are actually bus stops scattered throughout one of the most sparsely populated regions on Earth. Photographer Christopher Herwig followed bus routes from Estonia to Armenia to photograph odd little roadside shelters in former Soviet satellite states for a new book.

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‘SOVIET BUS STOPS’ chronicles dozens of these entirely unique and surprisingly artistic structures in 157 color photographs, exploring the bus pavilion as its own architectural form. “There is a certain amount of [utilitarianism] here,” reads the foreword by Jonathan Meades. “But it is atypical. The norm is wild going on savage. Just as follies were, in the 18th century, often try-outs for new architectural styles, so may some of these wayward roadside punctuation marks have been structural or aesthetic experiments; they certainly don’t lack grandeur and audacity.”

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Herwig first discovered the strange beauty of these huts on a long-distance bike ride from London to St. Petersburg in 2002. Designed by local artists, seemingly without any restrictions from the government providing the money, each one displays a bit of the character of the town in which it stands.

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Throughout his journey, which took him to 13 countries and through territories that are rarely traversed by tourists, Herwig reports that he was occasionally accused of being a spy. The photographer scoured maps, Google Earth and traveler’s blogs for clues to find many of the shelters, which appear to be in exceptionally good shape for their age.

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Twelve years in the making, the photos were originally published in a limited-edition, sold-out version of the book, which is now available in an expanded, smaller-format trade edition. 

 

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[ By Steph in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

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Alien Architecture: Surreal Cities for Future Worlds

25 Aug

[ By Steph in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Will the architecture of the distant future be recognizable to us based on what we have built up to this point in human history, or beyond what we’re able to conceive? Take a look at any retro-futuristic architectural visions and you’ll most likely see structures influenced by the era in which they were created, but one contemporary illustrator is attempting to take such speculative creations into deep reaches of the imagination.

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Graphic designer Mike Winkelman has created a series of digital illustrations that combine hyperrealism with structures that can seem physically impossible, but in a maybe-someday kind of way. Unlike the kind of fantasy architecture that feels totally dreamlike, such as floating houses, these visions often seem to employ technology that hasn’t yet been created.

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Winkelman (known as Beeple) is on his eight consecutive year of drawing something every day, and hasn’t missed a single day in all that time. He uses Cinema 4D, Octane Renderer, X-particles, Zbrush and other tools to build these sci-fi worlds, some of which seem like they could be connected in an overarching narrative.

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It’s the kind of work, presented sans commentary or explanation, that really gets your brain going imagining what the story could be for each piece. Dozens of these drawings can be found on the artist’s Behance, and select prints are available on Society 6.

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