Make-over winner!

This week a texture contest came to an end over at our friends site; Elizabeth Halford.com. We'd like to thank all who entered and add that picking a winner was very difficult.
I think, finally it was the mist we liked in this winning farm scene by Christopher Miller featuring his own farmhouse/barn in the US.
Simply mouse-over to view his raw entry.

Processing blown-out skies is always a problem, what do you do?
This image is also very bottom heavy, so we tried to bring some balance, pulling it together with heavy texturing.

Normally texturing isn't as complicated as we're showing here, and also, we don't usually use as many textures, perhaps up to three is normal?
But I wasn't happy with my first attempt (see below) So I tried again, the result is the second yellow image below.
Finally, we decided we liked the atmosphere of the first, but loved the yellow glow of the second, so I simply merged to two images together!
The final result is the mouse-over image at the header.

I always process using Photoshop CS4, though any previous Photoshop would work just as well as the Elements edition.

First stage
Here is the recipe for the first base image:
Background copy 2 - Luminosity @ 28%
Background copy 3 (grass brushed away) - Color @ 100%
Apple Blush (center only) - Darker Color @ 30%
Dangerous Liaisons - Overlay @ 66%
Orient Express (blurred) - Soft Light @ 100%
Ming (desaturated) - Overlay @ 100%
Background copy 5 (grass brushed away) - Hue @ 100%
Background copy 4 (grass brushed away) - Color @ 45%
Labyrinth (hedge brushed away) Linear Burn @ 82%
Labyrinth (Desaturated, blurred, all darker base part of picture brushed away) Color @ 81%

first layers

The result, a washed out dark version

It needed more light so I did another version...

Here is the recipe for the second lighter version.
Background copy - Normal @ 100%
Background copy 2 - Luminosity @ 28%
Apple Blush (desaturated) - Multiply @ 33%
Dangerous Liaisons (full blur) - Hard Light @ 58%
Muscatel - Soft Light @ 31%
Labyrinth (Blurred, edges pulled away from the picture, using the pale inside part only) - Vivid Light @ 40%

2nd set

This is the result, a pale yellow version.

In this third, final stage I simply merged to two previous versions together as shown..
First base image - Normal @ 100%
2nd lighter version - Overlay @ 31 %

3rd set

Combo Pack Offer

Only $65 for Both texture Packs!