Comments on: Create A Beautiful Samurai Photo Manipulation

By: Martha

Martha — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:03:19 +0000

Great article but it didn’t have evryehtnig-I didn’t find the kitchen sink!

By: jay

jay — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 05:08:27 +0000

aMs, you’re being a hater.
Eric is sharing knowledge, and it’s free.
I’ve been using photoshop for years now, and still its nice to see techniques like this, cliche or not, shared amongst enthusiasts and professionals alike.
Why go through the article in its entirety, then feel its necessary to nitpick at the petals and dof? The only thing you reveal is the fact that you are missing the point, and you are arrogant.

without a hint of sarcasm, i’d like to see your user name hyperlinked, like Eric’s, so I can possibly see your expertise and techniques in action. Through all the undertones of dislike in your posts, I can see that you have some knowledge and idea.

By: Webdesign Eindhoven

Webdesign Eindhoven — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:55:18 +0000

Cool tutorial, thanks for sharing.

By: aMs

aMs — Thu, 12 May 2011 02:07:23 +0000

Eric you’re not bad and I don’t mean to be a hater. My point is that you should spend more time on (for instance) shading those petals, not on blurring them. This doesn’t lead anywhere. Obviosuly DOF is ok to use, even the greatest do it, but honestly in most cases this is something that ppl overuse when they have no idea how to finish thier illustrations.

Also I think you should be teaching something that you are more familiar with. I’m gonna give you several reasons why your DOF doesnt work here:
1. You can’t expect this to work with an abstract background, I mean what kind of DOF is this when your background has texture, mountains and geometric shape(?). This needs a better solution.
2. All those petals have no additional shading. They simply don’t work with the person (not to mention background). She is receiving light on her face from the top and from right side. Those petals should at least have a touch of that light.
3. DOF catches a certain _part_ of image, not selected spots (in your case only petals).

By: Eric Vasquez

Eric Vasquez — Wed, 11 May 2011 13:26:34 +0000

Let me start by just quickly apologizing for my sarcastic remark. I have nothing but the utmost respect and appreciation for PSDFan, Tom, and all of the readers. What I was trying to do with this piece was create a realistic depth of field which is where the blurred flower petals come in. Although to some this piece may look cliche, the purpose is to teach the techniques to some of those who might not yet know how to achieve this type of style in their design work. I will be the first to admit, not all of these techniques are brand new and cutting edge, but I hope that in some way they will come in handy for the readers. I appreciate the feedback, whether positive or negative, as it will only help me to improve, and to continue to try and deliver something that people can enjoy and learn from.

By: Eric Vasquez

Eric Vasquez — Wed, 11 May 2011 00:50:49 +0000

Great feedback. Thanks for your contribution to this conversation.

By: aMs

aMs — Tue, 10 May 2011 22:22:05 +0000

I don’t know what are you guys high about. First of all, the piece looks totally cliche. What I see here is a bad texture usage and blur overuse. The woman has a bad cut out and the only thing looking good is glow on her sword. The overall rating – unimpressed.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 10 May 2011 18:22:16 +0000

Thanks for commenting Constantin! It’s great to know that you’re a PSDFAN reader, I’ve loved your work for ages .

By: Eric Vasquez

Eric Vasquez — Tue, 10 May 2011 01:25:02 +0000

I appreciate your feedback and I agree with what you are saying about the sword – the sharp part of the blade was like this in the original photo but if the sword were in front of the samurai, this would actually be correct as the sharp part would be facing the inside of the body and not outside.

As for the photo manipulation, there were some techniques I had in mind to try out with the piece, but as I gain more experience I have learned that sometimes less is more, and you don’t always have to use every trick in every piece. With this particular image I wanted to try and just strike a balance between creating a realistic sort of atmosphere and something that is still visually interesting without going too far.

By: Eric Vasquez

Eric Vasquez — Tue, 10 May 2011 01:17:47 +0000

Thanks for your comments! I see what you are saying about the flower petals – I wanted to vary them as much as possible and see where I have repeated the same one twice. The image used had probably 10-12 different petals, but some of them just looked flat so I favored the petals that have a bit of a fold to them.

The blue lighting was created by using a series of blue gradients set to different Blending Modes and wasn’t actually a photo filter. Although it created a similar effect, I felt that by using this lighting technique it would unify the whole scene and have a more unique look.