"The Mind's Eye." Been working on this for a few days now and I'm so close to being finished that it hurts heh. I've added and taken away but no matter what I do I cant seem to mesh the background with the foreground better than it presently is. Also cant seem to make the lighting look unified. Any thoughts for improvement?

At last count there were 11 images here. Maybe a bit too many??

This is fascinating Maygen, one you need to look at for ages & see more & more. I can't offer photoshop advice but I think the way the colour of the seagull draws the eye to the background & makes sense of it works really well. Maybe you could add just a hint of that colour to the light on the edges of the bear to tie it in even more? For me the figure doesn't work yet, it looks a bit flat & stuck on... don't know how to fix that sorry! I think you are doing a great job here : )

Ahhh you were soo right about the bear and I didnt even think of that. Funny thing is that was one of the few objects that was actually in the photo to begin with lol. I guess I changed the dynamics around it too much to not pay it any attention. This is just a quick fix on the bear but you're right its already starting to tie in a little better.

That really works, the colour tie in with the shadow below the bear really works to pull it together now too.

As an experiment I increased the brightness and contrast a bit on the child and then used unsharp masking in order to darken and crispen her up. That seemed to help fit her into the scene better. It was just a quick test, so you might find that playing with the saturation, etc. might work even better. I think also the mushrooms in the upper left of the image need to re-placed because they seem to be lit from a different angle than their adjacent objects. Other than that I think it's a very good surreal, dreamlike image.

I wish I wasn't on night shift, I may be able to think a bit clearer! The bear's looking better! In situations where i'm trying to get a unified lighting direction, I sometimes use render>lighting effects in the filters menu...sometimes works for me, sometimes not! Cute image though! :-)>

I've never been a fan of those hard cut-out lines, so maybe (and that's not critisism, but just a personal opinion :) a little softer lines by fading the images into eachother would make it a little more special ? Just don't get stuck in thoughts that people/objects should have be on there completely, cut out very precisely. I never use anything else than cloning one image into another (seperate layer) with a soft, large brush. It helps working on the images first (changing backgrounds, etc) before putting them into your final work. Also, more of an idea, try to bring back copies of layers you already used to let part run over front layers. Like for instance taking your bridge photo, and make certain objects (that logically should be at the front) fall behind certain elements of the bridge (which is the object that is far away). Or like letting one of the bridge's pillars run in front of the table, instead of behind it. But cloning instead of wasting hours on cutting stuff out would be an improvement generally to people's work without any doubt.

Thanks for the tips. I'll post again when I've done some updates.

Well, just some humble ideas....forgot to say I really like the photo, well, I do....lol =)

Try using the filter Render Lighting Effect and try altering the appearance of the light direction on the bear. That and the mushrooms stand out the most as not fitting in properly into the lighting scheme. The mushrooms are so far off you might want to scrap them and replace them. Also the bird could use some key light. The childs feet should be more in shadows. The wings works well, but try to shadow them lower where the child's body would be blocking more of the light. Fun image!

I cant believe I actually had the time to mess around and have some fun w/ this image and a few others today -- rare treat :).

Heres how its coming along. I think I'm through w/ it for the night my eyes are starting to cross lol :) Maybe a few more tips, another day of working and this will be finished. Hope I dont burn myself out on it by then :D.

It's worth all the effort Maygen, you are doing great! I would say though (imho) don't over do the overall lighting effect so that nothing stands out & you lose that surreal look. Don't want to make life too easy for you ; D

Oh yeah it's much better. The lighting is all comming from the same direction and you daughter does not look quite so drugged. I also like the face on the floor. Nice touch! This is actually kinda fun. I love turning the printer into a Star Trek Seat of Power! Thanks for sharing. Bsteph