Lighthouse Silhouette

Don't know if this is the proper way to add the image. This is my first Blend. PSP9 Image Mask (the lighthouse) copied over to another image (the fireworks.) Kat

Very Interesting Kathy. I like the way the lights look like a holgraphic refracted light. One suggestion, I would get rid of the black bottom and let the light have some more room.

Just my take on Robin's suggested crop Kath, leave about as much black as there is space between the top of the flag and the top of the pic ....

C

Robin and Cathie - that brings me to a long unasked question. I kept this at the 1.33 ratio, and that explains the large black area at the bottom. Now... the question(s)s:
Should I redo this one - and reduce the size of the mask (so it can be positioned lower),
or should I just slice off the bottom changing the ratio.
Or..... should I crop off the same amount from one or both sides to equal the bottom crop (to maintain 1.33)

Kat

Don't sweat about keeping at a given ratio - take three of the most common print sizes for photographs - 6X4, 5X7 or 8X10 - they're all different ratios... for the right image, a square layout adds incredible impact to the shot - panorama's, by their very nature, are long and thin... having the image make a comfortable statement within it's own space is WAY more important... and for this image, that means you need hardly ANY black space at the bottom or it starts looking unbalanced... a simple scroll of this screen allows you to preview where to slice - I think the size of the silhoutte is great, just bottom heavy...

Cheers,
Stuart

Thanks again, Stuart. When I'm able to take a quick breath, I'll upload my favorite square (definitely artsy-phartsy.) I'm going to assume that it's the printing and framing that is more crucial to the chosen size. Online displaying is "Whatever will work best for THIS image at THIS moment"????

Framing comes down, in a big part, to if you can cut your own mattes, or if you want to stick with store bought - if so, you need to conform to the size matte you're going to use... For everyday shots, I might keep to a 6X4 constraint, but with anything I print, I'll print it as whatever works best... a friend swears by cropping all his work to 16:9 so it'll look good on a widescreen TV when he's famous... :-)

I did buy my own matte cutter, so I do have some flexibilty. That's good to know. Thanks again. k

That's great - you can easily cut standard size mattes to fit frames, with non standard size cut outs to suit your images then... I recommend drawing on paper, first, so you can work out where and how you want to cut - but you can usually put a non standard size into an 8X10 frame, for instance, simply by leaving equal space on the sides, some space at the top, and extra 'weight' as it's called, at the bottom... this helps show that you thought about placing the image, rather than just leaving an even amount of space on each side, and comforts the viewer when they look - especially with abstracts, where the 'weight' can prove that it's the way it's meant to be displayed... when you do cut a matte, try putting it on the image the wrong way up - it just doesn't look comfortable with extra space at the top - and it's a trick used in the professional framing industry to make the difference between their work and store bought products, which are usually just straight central holes...

Cheers,
Stuart

Cool. You just answered a few questions I haven't asked here. One thing I'm planning on is buying a piece of wood that will extend my cutter to give me additional working room. I'll drill holes along measured lines, and then use nails in them to act as stoppers. I'm afraid of not being able to control my cutters where the corners are in the open cut area. Does that make sense?

It sort of makes sense, simply because I don't cut my own mattes, but I have a friend who does it for me - and he scorned the commercial cutters for their guides and made himself a jig, which has worked faultlessly every time I need something - I give him dimensions, and money every now and again, and get mattes to suit those dimensions...

It's not, mind you, a one sided arrangement - he picks my brain for photographic and computer related queries at inconvenient moments - it's a little like having a handy shoe mending gnome in your cupboard, who just hops out now and then to ask obscure questions like "What's the price of gammon in Northumbria today??" when you least expect it... (Well, ok, it's not A LOT like that... but it is a little bit like that... just a teeny bit...) :)

Cheers,
Stuart