First Montage

[mckenna]

After readling a lot of how you guys put these images together, I decided to see if I have learned anything and post the results of my attempt to do the same. Ready for any pointers that you might want to give. I am running Photoshop Elements for a photo editor and couldn't find a way to add some shadow to the image. I 'm sure there's a way.
Greg

[tmickley]

I think you are off to a great start. Some shadows would help a little but it's not a deal breaker..
Coop showed some pic's awhile ago of the same knife he did two ways, one for the engraver and the other for the knife maker. I'd say you made that one for 'the engraver'.

[SharpByCoop]

Hi Greg,

I only wish my first attempts had so much going on. First off, your lighting is top-notch. Not easy on such a large piece.

Well, you picked one of the harder subjects to initiate, but looks like you aint skeered of anything..

OK, let's talk...

1: I would think Elements has the ability to add in a 'dropped shadow' on your insets, and I agree, a touch would add realism. Go easy. ( an additional method is to duplicate the layer again, color it completely black, then blur the layer and reduce the opacity to about 20% while moving it under the image as a shadow. )

It's not imperative at all, though. If you can try it.

2: Preplan your layout. Nicely, you showed us 'new information' in displaying the other side of the hatchet face. But... whenever you are showing engraving with a character (human, animal, whatnot...) try to position it so the orientation is upright. In this case, having the secondary side shown in the lower LH corner, blade edge pointing towards the butt end of the core image, would have shown us this eagle without me trying to spin my head around like an owl....

This would have been a much stronger inset. As it is the cap dominates the shot and is too strong. The cap for the top would have been easily placed on the upper RH corner coming in from the side. Also, then almost all of the insets would have had a diagonal flow. I think it would have been even more pleasing. (This is not a primary rule, but it is nice when it works out this way.)

I want a touch more contrast, but everyone's monitor is different. I just calibrated mine to optimize my own images.

All in all, I like what you have done, and I like that you asked us for honest appraisal. Show us more!

Coop

[mckenna]

Thanks Guys. I see what you mean now Coop as far a flow is concerned. I just took the images I cropped and put 'em in where ever they would fit! Still a bit clumsy with the masks and layers but am gettin' the hang of it. I was afraid of losing the detail in the head if I was to make it any smaller but see now that I could of shrunk it more and put it in the far corner as you suggested. I chose this piece so that I would only have to deal with the metal head for positioning and not worry too much about the wood handle as far as reflections and so forth. A bigger piece but not that much to worry about really. I'll play with this same piece and rearrange things a bit and see how it goes. I greatly appreciate the influence and patience that you guys display in this forum. Don't hesitate to critique anything I put in here. Always open for suggestions.
Greg

[mckenna]

I took the advice offered here and mixed it with my abilities to come up with this new layout. Still not quite right but it would seem that it is noticeably better than the first attempt. I didn't take any new photos but just used the original ones and rearranged them a bit. I found a great tutorial in this forum while searching for general info. It was a step by step procedure for pasting and manipulating the images in a very easy to understand and thorough manner. Good stuff and greatly appreciated as well.
http://www.sagebrushcountry.com/tutorials.htm
Greg

[Buddy Thomason]

Greg - The new version of your image is much improved! It's really very nice. The tutorial you referenced is also a great resource. The fellow who put that together obviously sunk a lot of effort into it and anyone wanting to learn how to do this kind of thing should check it out.

Thanks for sharing your efforts here and being open to feedback. That's what makes this forum such a great place to learn!

(Coop's observations and comments were excellent, as usual.)

[mckenna]

Thanks Buddy. There isn't any better way to learn than "Criticism with Support". Now, if I could just get the lighting right. I'm working on it.
Greg

[willhunt]

I see a lot of improvement also, mckenna. Great job.