Digital Fantasy Photos

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Throwback Tuesday Post (TBTP): Every Tuesday, I re-post a past post that I think is relevant and that you’ll enjoy.

This post was originally published on January 6, 2016 and updated on December 17, 2019.

This post isn’t exactly about food or travel. It’s more about several photo shoot excursions I took recently and combining the results into fantasy photo compilations.
A talented, professional photographer and personal friend of mine, Paula Showen, invited me to take an online video course in digital manipulations. Her specialty is children and newborn portraits. However, she wanted to step out of her comfort zone and try something new. I’m so glad she invited me along!
After we watched six or so sessions of video courses – not the easiest thing at times – we ventured out for photo shoots. Paula acquired some beautiful prom dresses from a consignment shop for cheap, and, along with willing volunteers as models, we did our thing.
Here is the result of our first shoot at Anderson Park in Tarpon Springs, Florida:
Paula discovered this amazing banyan tree and we immediately set about positioning our model, Sara, next to it. Of course, photographers always take lots and lots of pictures then edit the results. You’ll never see the ugly ones!
The above finished product is a combination of the following shots:
I also added a vignette to it. Lots of tweaking in Photoshop. Although Sara is a bodybuilder, she wasn’t actually lifting herself up by her arms, though I believe she could!
I wanted this image to look like fantasy (i. e., Photoshopped) yet natural as far as lighting and so on. How did I do?
Next, Paula and I took out our next model, a ballerina, and set her up in John Chesnut Park near Palm Harbor, Florida. There is a great boardwalk through the forest there. Here’s the result of my shoot:
Do you see the squirrel?
This end-product is the result of these photos:
Plus I cropped it and added a vignette as well. I even drew in the shadow. What do you think?
As you might guess, I am enjoying my immersion into digital manipulations. Paula and I have many more shoots and projects planned. We inspire each other and have so much fun on our shoots. In fact, we have our next shoot next week. I’ll keep you posted with the results!
Photo for No Apparent Reason: