My 1st and 2nd work in GIMP

[EoKlaus]

Heyyyy, GIMPERSS !!

Soo, I've created my 2nd photo, and now I want to know your opinion.

My first photo is a "harry potter" (the elder wand and the sword of gryffindor) and "lord of the rings" (quote) combination

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And my 2nd photo is... a little "war".. I think

Spoiler: show

I know that are not so "big", but I want to know your opinion, and maybe some advice .

Thank you

[Maffe811]

Don't link FB images, as you can se they get messed up.

I currently suggest imgur.com

[RomaGrafix]

I think those are really good for your 1st and 2nd work.

Some tips:
#1:
-The lighting doesn' t make sense. The moon is really the only lightsource here, but the shadow from the front person goes to the left while the second person doesn' t have a shadow at all, which makes him almost appear like he' s floating.
-I' d darken everything and lower the saturation of the grass or give it more of a blue-ish color. Right now it looks like the grass is in daylight, while the sky is night.
-Leave out the text for now. Text is really hard to get right, better focus on other things right now.

#2
Like this one alot better than the first, probably because it has alot more atmosphere. Your facial expression is just perfect here.
-Watch the render quality, it has some very choppy and white edges. I like using the paths tool there.
-I'm not really sure if I like the rain, after all I can' t really see any clouds It does look good though.


Keep it up man, like it alot so far

[Arzoroc]

yeah pretty much everything that Roma said. There's some things to add maybe:
- The first one is all about the perspective. The "you" in the back has no shadow and is standing on a spot way in the back of the image and yet he is almost as big as the front "you". Then, as Roma said, the person in the back has no shadow while the person in the front has one which is cast into the wrong direction (moon light source).
- The general color schemes should match. Right now the sky is deep dark blue while you are more red-ish and the grass has a green tone. those small changes give the final WOW-effect.
- I really like the second one. The orange tone of your camera perfectly fits the atmosphere here and the lighting is correct (even on the weapon). Did you follow a tutorial for that one? Anyway, the only thing I could criticise for you is the rendering quality and maybe the brightness of yourself. you're a bit too bright for the dark atmosphere imo.
Keep the images coming

[EoKlaus]

Hiii. Well, some edits :

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some light, shadow, clouds (fail).

Did you follow a tutorial for that one?

Well, to be honest, I used the idea from this tutorial .

Thank you , Arzoroc and RomaGrafix for your time !

[virtualTune]

Nr.1:
It looks a lot more like it is at night now with the grass colour change.
Some tips to optimize it based on the images you have:
The shadow of the sword guy crouching is good and adds depth, but you should adjust it because right now it looks like he is holding the sword up. So simply raise the shadow of the arm holding it. The other thing is, since the moon is so big and brigfht, the shadow wouldn't be so burred. So instead of a blur value of 8 try 2 or 3.
Secondly, get familiar with the dodge and burn tools. they will help you make the person's back look like there is light shining on them.
Now about the guy upfront (you?):
I have no idea what he is jolding but it looks like a wand with glowing swirls around it. If it is indeed your intention to make it look like it is glowing, then you should treat it like a second light source. Having more than 1 light source can be incrdibly hard to deal with especially for beginners. But for now lets see how we can adjust things (@Roma and @Arzoroc, pls add to it if there is an easier way ) I suggest you duplicate the swirl layer, blurr it by 5 pixels, change the layer mode to Add and lower the opcity to your liking. Then you could also, make a new layer above everything abd create a big radial Gradients (orange to Transparent). Now move it so the cented of the gradient is in the center of the wand. Finally, right click on the person's layer and click "Alpha to selection". Now simply invert the selection, press delete (on the orange gradient layer) and lower its opacity to 10-20 percent.
Small change:you could also add the shadow of the guy's foot

Nr.2:
Idk about this one to be honest. Like Arz said, the colors are good with the person having taht orange tint like the sky in the bg. However since it si raining, I would assume said light wouldn't be reflected on you as much. So to make the light a bit more dramatic like in the background, i suggest you try the Burn tool again. On teh ised of your face and the left side of your arm especially. be careful not to overdo it though.
Also, maybe create a Layer Mask on the rain Layer (Right click the layer -> Create/Add Layer Mask). Now select the Brush tool (colour a dark grey, i used 4e4e4e) and use a "circle Fuzzy Brush (19) at 100% opacity and a Scale of 10. Click the little plus sign next to "Brush Dynamics". Here, uncheck all boxes at first, then under Random, check Opacity and Size. Below that check "Apply jitter" (Amount between 1.00 and 3.00). Now simply Brish all over the image. This will lower the opacity of the rain at random spots and make it look more realistic, i hope. Again, don't do it too much or else you wioll be left with no rain at all
At Last, create a new layer above the road layer, but below all other layers and use a hard round, orange/yellow brush (remember to uncheck all boxes) and colour over the road. Apply a Gaussian blur of 2 pixels and change the layer mode to overlay. Then lower the opacity to 20% or so.

Let's see how that will change things!

Hope this helped

-vT

[EoKlaus]

Morning to all of you:).

First, I want say "thank you" virtualTune for your long post and for detallies. And a sorry that I was inactive (I have examans ).

So, first image:

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-I don't have "add" in layer mode list...

Second image:

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(new car, fire, and airplane )

What I can say about your steps, is that I don't know how to use the burn tool.. I've watched some tutorials, but I don't know how to draw it look how you said.

Some ffriends of mine told me that there's nothing realistic in the second photo (they told me that the first one is better ). I want to ask you, is that true? I mean... I'm not pro, but I want it to look more realistic...

Nr.1:

Now about the guy upfront (you?):

Ohh... I am my "model" and my editor (like a boss )


Thank you again !

[RomaGrafix]

hey there, good to see you didn' t just disappear:d Good luck with your exams. With add he probably means the layer addition.
umm yeah, first one is definitely better now:)
second one...ehh dont really like the car there, it' s just too much if you know what i mean there. I' d maybe blur the airplane some, lower saturation and make it smaller, and the fire on the left doesn' t really seem too realistic, the one on the right is dope though

[Arzoroc]

Here are some thoughts, it may sound a little harsh but I'm kinda in a hurry, so spare with the direct-ness I just downloaded the image and circled some parts that I noticed at a first glance. Next to the circles are my comments to the respective parts.

image2.png

(Click for full view)

My tips: Look at details, look at lighting and coloring. These small things make the difference between a "meh" looking photo manip and a realistic-looking photo manip. If you manage to make every part of your image have the same properties regarding lighting (color, direction, intensity) and coloring (hue, saturation, brightness, contrast) your image just becomes a lot more awesome. Right now it's more of a collage if you know what I'm saying. The parts look okay, but they don't fit well with each other.

For coloring, I greatly suggest looking up tutorials about "gradient mapping". It's the easiest way of leveling colors in your image

[virtualTune]

you forgot to mention the perspective and thus the relative size between the objects

[EoKlaus]

hey there, good to see you didn' t just disappear:d Good luck with your exams. With add he probably means the layer addition.
umm yeah, first one is definitely better now:)
second one...ehh dont really like the car there, it' s just too much if you know what i mean there. I' d maybe blur the airplane some, lower saturation and make it smaller, and the fire on the left doesn' t really seem too realistic, the one on the right is dope though

Hii, RomaGrafix! I am still here, and I will be (when I want to learn something, I must learn it ) And thanks for telling me what "add" means .


@Arzoroc, here are some edits:

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I will edit my head when I will take a new photo

@virtualTune

now the car is smaller .

P.S. @RomaGrafix I know thatthe car is "too much", but... I wanted to look better... I mean... I must have a car : ) )
P.S2. Thx again guys !!!

[virtualTune]

the car should have been bigger though imo. It looks like a hot wheels car now. Maybe try and put the car in front and then you behind its front left wheel.

[EoKlaus]

Hii again!

I've made some color correction (with gradient map):

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the car should have been bigger though imo. It looks like a hot wheels car now. Maybe try and put the car in front and then you behind its front left wheel.

Well, I will delete tha car...

[RomaGrafix]

Can' t see them, it just says "Image"

[EoKlaus]

I hope now it's ok...