Black and White Composite Images

This is another really good looking and imaginative image. The perspective is good and the reflection in the water is so important to the overall composition and success of the picture.

My only criticism is that the steam coming from the engine has hard delineated edges and lacks a little realism. There is however no such thing as a perfect composite which is why I always flatten the layers in mine when i think them finished so that I am not tempted to dabble endlessly in pursuit of absolute perfection.

A fine image and very worthy of a top ten spot.

A simple composite with just the background replaced but a most striking “in your face” image.

The dichotomy between the angry young woman shouting and the young girl clutching her teddy bear is most effective and the perspective of the added background really does emphasize her prescence. The conversion to black and white is superb and the young lady fair leaps from the screen.

A great image and a deserved top ten placing.

Damn but this is so good. Such a simple composite but also very effective. A great idea and well put together to look so convincing.

No the moon is not a rocky satellite orbiting the earth at a distance of 250,000 miles and neither is it a lump of blue cheese.

As this image clearly shows, the moon is indeed a balloon .....

My second placed image is quite simply beautiful and I would be pleased to have it hanging in any room in my house. Reading the photographer's description the base picture was ordinary even drab but it has been brought to life with texture overlays and additional brushwork.

The resulting image has a great tonal range and is a most artistic piece of work.

Very well done on your top ten placing.

This is a wonderfully imaginative image. At first sight just a very ordinary street scene but then you realise that the people are actually mannequin dummies going about their day.

What I especially like is that the photographer hasn’t just slapped any old head onto the shoulders but has taken the time to get the viewing angle and inclination of each head spot on for realism. It really is very well done.

For composite geeks such as me there are two flaws which spoil the absolute realism but to notice these you need to really study the picture carefully. I won’t tell you what the flaws are but will leave you to discover them yourselves!

All in all though an innovative idea, well executed and great fun to view.

Yet another great idea executed with skill such that the scene looks most believable. The smoke trail from the motorbike is convincing and the bike really does look like it's up there flying with the jet.

The birds could do with a little attention as some of them have a distinct white halo which gives them away as composites. Alternatively this may be a sharpening artifact but either way I'm sure that it's very easily fixed.

Well done on your top ten placing.

Wow, what a zany eye-catching image this is.

I love the high contrast hyper-real look and the compositing of the various figures has been well executed. So much to look at and hold the attention.

One minor niggle is the white fringe around the main character’s fluffy hat but selecting that and then placing it against a dark background would always be difficult to achieve seamlessly.

Good fun though, well put together and in my opinion a well deserved top ten placing.

Haha what a great idea and you just have to love that rabbit being pulled out of the tower. I’m not sure that the image needs the other two rabbits but if they are included then more attention needs to be given to shadows, light direction and tonality to match that of the base image.

This is such a good looking image and very cleanly presented against that plain white background.

Great imagination and compositing skills are on display here but could I just say that the cup and saucer are a little lost against the background?

Niggles apart this is a fine image and well deserving of a top ten placing.

Thanks to all who entered my competition and for the wide variety of different images submitted. To be honest though I had to discount quite a large number of entries as, fine monochrome’s as they were, they were simply not composite images.

Of the many true composites entered I was impressed with the imagination, creativity and compositing skills on display and I genuinely had difficulty in selecting a top ten. I have commended a lot of images and this is indicative of the overall high quality of entries.

This my first placed entry is a most striking image and very hard to fault. It displays great imagination and creativity and not only is the addition of the hand and dome expertly executed but the base image and especially the conversion to black and white are superb. I think that the sky has been added or at least a texture layer applied but all of the individual elements come together seamlessly and believably.

A fine image indeed and so worthy of first place.

Love the picture of the car, great viewing angle and conversion to black and white. I also love the idea of this, very imaginative and a lot of fun. However the guy does have a “pasted on” look rather than fitting seamlessly into the scene. Think convincing shadows, reflections where necessary, light direction and tonality to match that of the base image.

Had this been executed a little more carefully then it would surely have deserved a top ten placing.