Picture 273

So, this snow is just starting to annoy me. :-D
It's pretty to look at, but not to be in...for weeks.
I think we have had the same amount forever.
IT'S NOT MELTING!
Well, if there is icicles than it is melting....from the roof.
But, we aren't getting anymore.
It's just sitting there...
I want it gone.

And more sun.
And warmth... :-P
Anyways, this week's picture explains that.
I'm dead...in the snow.
Which is how I feel.
It's killing me.
I hate Winter.
It's so....cold...and cloudy...and........cold....and snowy.
This idea happened in the moment.
After taking last week's picture, I had this idea.
It fit in with the story.
I just didn't know if I was going to do it.
It seemed simple, but hard.
I wanted snow on my hand and for it to look like I was there for a while.
But that would have been hard to pull off with just a picture of my arm and nothing else.
I would have to put all that detail in...afterwards.
It would have been the most Photoshop detail I have done.
But then, I got the idea to actually bury myself in the snow!!!
Why use Photoshop?!?!! :-P
Real is as good as it gets!
But then my health came into mind.
I don't want to get sick.
So, I stuck with using Photoshop, but with less detail.
This took two days.
Mostly because there was only a certain time I could do it.
At high noon, when the shadows of the trees move off the hill and before the shadow of the building moves on the hill.
The hill is bathed in sun light.
I did want to do in when it was overcast though.
Not at first, but now that I look at it, I wouldn't have needed a shadow for my arm.
Well, not a detailed one.
But I liked it in sunlight too.
The first day, I failed. :-(
I did some tests and took this picture...

I liked it.
The ruler helped with scale and also told me where the shadow went.
But, while putting my arm in...I didn't like it.
I forgot one thing...A hole in the snow where my arm comes out.
Or else it looks like it's just floating there.
So, I had to do it again the next day.
The next day I just took one picture.

That was much better.
And after everything, I took a picture the last thing...my arm. See...

Now that that's all done, I went back into Photoshop and was able to get all worked out.
I didn't like my arm.
I wanted snow and stuff on it.
Now that I look back, I could have just put some snow on it.
But then I would have melted inside faster.
It would have helped though.
However, I tried to find a filter that would look like my arm is frozen or something.
I went through them all and the last one was the plastic warp filter.
It worked nicely.
Then, I moved over to Lightroom and adjusted the colors.
Well, it was black and white to begin with. :-P
I just made it look grainy and dark.
Overall, it turned out nicely.
I think it's creepy though.
It's not the best Photoshop job neither.
I think it's the first time that I'm dead.
I can't remember.
It's still weird though.
I like it...but I don't.
Ok, let's change the subject.
OH!! LET'S COMPARE THINGS!!

Hover your mouse (the computer one :-P) over the original before editing picture and see the after editing one. 

Hover over this one to compare to original again, but to the Photoshopped picture, before the graininess and border.

And this one compares the before graininess and after.

Amazing.
That's fun to do.
I take the code from the posts I do and put them into a code loader.
So I can poof read and check if the codes work right.
I find myself sitting here, playing with the comparisons.
Hovering in, hovering out... over and over.
It's fun!
ANYWAYS!!! Now, it's time for the BTS video.
This video is a long one, 24 minutes.
That's because I do more than just the picture.
I talk about things, and play with the dog.
I like to entertain.
And, I also worked on a little surprise at the end.
It's a failed green screen test.
First off, I don't have a green screen.
That sums it up.
There were many other things wrong.
But, it was just a test. You have to test things first to make sure they work.
And then use what you learned from the test to make it better.
Like the image changer for the comparisons.
It went through two test phases.
And now it's at its perfection point.
There's nothing more I can do to it.
It's perfect now.
Just keep working at things and it'll all work out.
Anyways, you can CLICK HERE to see the video or watch it below. 

Thanks for reading!
COME BACK NEXT WEEK!