Artful dodging ?

I have said many times, photography or the actual taking of the pictures is quite beyond me. It is an art form that I have been in awe of for sometime. I have tried as the redundant Olympus and Canon SLR outfits of years gone by bear testament to.
Even in the Digital age the Kodak DX3900 lies folorn, forgotten and obsolete in the darkest of rooms in the shoe box we call home.

However, recently I started to have a play around with an old version of Photoshop and got quite interested in the different things one can do.
I know its all fakery and probably frowned on by the purists but it keeps me off the streets.
So much so I had to order a tutorial book from the good old local Library. If it ever gets here it should while away the hours until it stops raining or until the Football season starts again, whichever comes first.

Anyway, I thought the odd member might be interested to see this first crude attempt at layers and stuff. All the Photos used are in the public domain and royalty free. All the brushes used like the fairy wings, clouds and stuff are also free.
The first image was the original background I started out with and the second was my attempt at constructing a quite different scene.
A great deal of image quality has been lost due to having to reduce it all for web use as the final effort is in excess of 15MB.
I would welcome any hints or tips including criticism as long as it is constructive but don't be too hard.

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Woo hoo, good for you George!! What version of photoshop are you using and is it the full Photoshop or Elements? Also have you got a "before" photo as it would be good for comparison.

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Wow, George! I know nothing about photography myself, except to point and shoot but I just had to say I'm very impressed with what you have done there!

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Removed

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Hammer I am not the best photographer in the world so probably not the person to ask but I would say your efforts are pretty impressive

I think you should stick at it who knows what you might a achieve, just remember to show us the results please

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Well done for trying something new Hammer and best of luck with it, but photography is the black art to me,...more of a snap and go and hope for the best kind of man myself....

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I really do thank everyone for their comments but I am very sorry to have to say that although constructive criticism was asked for I find altering someone's effort as poor as it may be seen to be, however well intentioned, is bad form.

I hope this does not upset anyone but that is how I feel and I am sure that other people would feel the same way if their photos were altered in any way.

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Don't know how I missed this. I like your work Hammer and I think you have a real talent for photo enhancement (For want of the true word), it shows a good imagination at work, well done.

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I think you have made a brilliant job, for your first attempt, well done you.
I disagree, that's it's bad form..they are an experiment, you are trying a new hobby and any picture you choose is ok.

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Sorry to bump this bit of rubbish up amongst all the serious stuff but could this be the reason my photos don't turn out too well?

I only left it in the sun for a little while back in March, that day was the warmest this year but ...............

I have cropped out my favourite West Ham mug, that got melted as well but the pain of seeing it in so much distress was just too much to bear. I pinched my grandaughters little gizmo to take this picture, she might not get it back.