Here’s an image from our trip (sort of). It wasn’t raining and the lamp wasn’t lit at the time, so I B.S.ed that part with wet plexiglass and a flashlight. I could have done something very similar with Photoshop only, but I wanted each droplet to reflect/refract/distort the image and was curious how ‘real’ light would interact with ‘real’ water. *ting* Why make things easy, right?!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
About this image: digital photograph printed, hole and flashlight used to simulate lit lamp, rephotographed behind plexiglass, highly modified
Refrigerator Magnate 
It was worth the effort, SIG, I think this is really beautiful.
Thank you so much, S.E…
I’m never very sure about these things, but sometimes the experiment is part of the fun (when it doesn’t turn out as a complete failure, anyway)! 🙂
I didn’t realize they had lighthouses in Frankfort (Kentucky)
Hahaha…
I didn’t realize they had so many white fences / horses in Frankfort (Michigan).
🙂
This is very cool… worked well.
Thank you very much, Nigel…
I don’t mind spending a lot of time on a project just as long as I get some sort of result. Honestly I thought there might be a bit more happening with this one, but I wasn’t entirely disappointed, either, I guess!
🙂
wow, that rain looks pretty convincing to me
That is very nice to hear, N.M…
thank you very much! Things seem a bit sunnier in here today.
🙂
It was worth all your effort. I think just doing it by photoshop would not have yielded something like this. Very nice picture!
There are combinations of filters that yield similar textures and white brushes + a bit of lens flare would have produced similar lighting effects, still I wanted to get as much out of this one as I could… and it was a lot of fun to work on.
Thank you very much, sir!
🙂
The photo is excellent and I love the effort you put in to get it. It has great mood.
A.Wally
Thank you very much, Astra – I really appreciate that!
I like experimenting with stuff like this… as long as I wind up with something that isn’t too awful.
🙂
Excellent result! I never would have thought to do that, but it works. Your creativity is awesome. Thanks for sharing.
I’m very happy to hear you liked this one, Cecelia – thank you very much!
Hahaha… I don’t know, there’s a fine line between creativity and a very messy apartment. And if you would have seen me working on this one you might have guessed I crossed it!
🙂
It sure is a fine line, SIG. I’m often on the wrong side of it! 🙂
Hahaha…
It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one, S.E.!
🙂
I appreciate the extra effort you made to ‘change’ the photo. Photoshop is a wonderful tool for art – most certainly. Still, there is something to be said for non-computer generated artwork, too. Excellent, SIG. Never would have known it was not raining and the lighthouse was not working.
Thank you so much, Ms. D – that is very kind of you to say!
I totally agree with you on that. Photoshop is amazing, but I think it tends to get abused quite a bit. Sometimes I worry that I’ve gone beyond enhancing an image into producing something that’s almost dishonest. I think just keeping that in mind helps me out (well, sometimes, anyway)!
🙂
Even in the gloomy rain and weather I still wish I was there. So… when are we moving? ;P
Hmm…
I’m beginning to notice a common theme in your comments, Annabelle…
😉
You are? Really? I can’t imagine why… 😛
Btw I love the photo. Every time I look at it I think of the fun we had out there together.
I think of how windy it was!
If you hadn’t been holding onto me I probably would have fallen into the drink!
🙂
Hey, those comments have a common theme in them…
and there’s one…
and there’s another…
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Well done you deffenendly know what you are doing.
Thank you so much for your kind comments, sir!
I appreciate that very much!
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I love this!!! Great photo! Have a great weekend! 🙂
That is very nice to hear, Mary, thank you!
And I hope you have a great weekend as well!
🙂
I really like the mood in this one.
Have you ever thought about occasionally posting a “before” picture? Sometimes with these highly-modified shots, I get curious about what the original unmodified picture looked like.
Thank you very much, Laura!
That is a very good idea – I’ve had one or two other people ask me about this as well… I might just have to try something along those lines…
🙂
Dude! That’s wicked! I love it!
I’m fairly happy with how this one turned out, I guess…
which is a good thing, because I had about two of pretty much everything I owned laying out on the floor in order to make it happen!
Thank you, sir!
🙂
Atmospheric, looks like the cover to a mystery novel. Well done.
Thank you very much, Mr. J!
The biggest mystery is how I managed to stay out of the lake… it was WINDY out on that pier!
🙂
your efforts are certainly worth it. great image.
I’m very happy to hear you say that, because there’s nothing worse than spending a ton of time on something that doesn’t quite work out…
thank you very much, U.M.!
🙂
Wow, love your thought process here. It paid off, I would have never known you added the light.
Hahaha… my thoughts are usually all over the place, so I’m very happy when they cooperate
Thank you very much, S.D.D.!
:)!
That is really neat! Very atmospheric. And the before and after idea would be interesting to see.
Thanks, Binky!
Hmm… I might just have to see what I can do about that…
🙂
SIG! this is completely on another level, brilliant!!
That is terribly kind of you to say, C.O.R…
thank you very, very much!
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Tinker away, man – this is stunning!!
Thank you very much, Dishy!
Hahaha…. you wouldn’t BELIEVE the mess I made… it took me nearly an hour just to pick-up after this project!
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So what did you use as water huh? One suspicious Loon wants to know!!!
You know what would be cool, a huge wave 🙂
I used a spray bottle to mist some water on a piece of plexiglass, and then shot through that.
That would have been totally tubular, F.L… except that something tells me I might have ‘spilled’ out to sea!
🙂
Beautiful composition. Excellent effort.
Thank you very much!
I always really appreciate your kind comments!
🙂
Oh My…..your extra effort totally paid off!! Love it!
It’s worked very well. I’d never have thought of doing that! 🙂
Thank you very much, Val!
I did have a lot of fun putting this together… and that’s the main thing, right?!
🙂
Damn, this is good. And you are very creative, my friend. I’m going to have to steal your brain… if you don’t mind.
Thank you so much – and you are too kind, my friend!
Hahaha… you clearly need no help in that department… you are a creative force, sir!
🙂
The effect and final product was well worth the extra effort. I love the way the photo turned out.
That is very kind of you to say, Jackie!
Thank you so much for stopping by – and for your kind comment as well!
🙂
Hey the pic is amazing. beautiful.
Keep experimenting and keep posting! 🙂
That is very nice to hear, thank you!
I’ll try… it does help keep me out of trouble… sometimes, anyway!
🙂
love…. love rain shots.
and lighthouses. except when they are bright red, cus eew.
It’s difficult to go wrong with subject matter like that!
Hahaha… I did see at least one of those… for a few minutes, anyway (then my retinas started to shut down)!
🙂
You mean you *lied*! 🙂 Seriously, I wouldn’t have a clue how to produce this effect in PS so I’m interested to see how an ‘old school’ approach worked. I love your reasoning – how will real droplets affect the image etc? That’s an artistic mind at work and we all know that artistic minds can produce the most amazing and innovative results. I think it’s great. Are those two figures in the foreground? Your work and their presence gives a mysterious air to the image.
Hahaha well, uh… maybeeee. Okay, okay, you totally busted me!
There are ways to do just about everything imaginable in Photoshop, but I’ve discovered the more editing I do pre-P.S the better off I tend to be. Which probably doesn’t say too much about my P.S. skills! Anyway, thank you very much, Jayne – that is very kind of you to say! I figure if I keep experimenting for long enough I should get something to work out… some day. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping for, anyway!
Those foreground elements were what looked to be capped metal pipes embedded in the concrete at marked intervals. Sadly I’m not sure what they are, or even what they’re used for… I’m guessing they might be structural, but I’m probably way off on that.
🙂
You did a good job with the rain on the lens effect. Lovely old lighthouse.
Thank you very much, Tony!
It’s a fun thing to do every now and then… and it seemed to work with the cloudy / dramatic sky…
🙂
Woooooooow. Very neat. I love the depth of field, and the flashlight trick was well worth it. Someone should base a whole horror movie off of this shot.
I was very happy to hear you liked this one, U.M!
Quite honestly it was a bit of a pain… after this project my apartment looked like a horror movie had been shot here… what a MESS I made! 🙂
I want to be sitting in a comfy chair in front of that window with a good book and a a cup of tea. Perfection!
That is terribly kind of you, Y.A.W…
thank you so much!
Ah, yes… it’s hard to beat the good ‘ol starin’ chair with a view…
🙂
Really nice photo. It reminds me of stormy weathers with big and powerful waves haha 😉
Thank you so much, Y.P… that is very kind of you!
It does look a bit stormy, doesn’t it?! The weather probably cleared-up right after I took the photograph!
🙂
I think this is one of your best efforts. Fantastic rendering. It’s as if you’re looking through a window in the rain…. very, very nicely done.
Thanks very much, Mr. B – that’s very kind of you to say!
I’m very happy it reads that way… because that is definitely the direction I was trying to take this one
(sometimes I’m not sure how realistic the results are, though)!
Thanks again, sir!
🙂
As a photographer, I know there is no way in the world that the lens could capture that image. That being said, it its still realistic as that is what someone would see if they were there. Nice work, man!
I guess that’s part of the challenge and sometimes the fun (sometimes the frustration).
The biggest downfall to photography for me (besides the cost of much of the analogue stuff I’d like to work with) is setting a scene up. I often have a VERY specific idea in mind, and sometimes putting all the pieces together is just not possible. Of course every now and then I stumble upon something I would have never been able to dream up in the first place, so I guess that helps to balance thins out a bit.
Thank you again, sir!
🙂
good with the RAINDROPS!
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Such a nice piece…