My edits overview: Photo Games Week #6 - FixIt Friday

It is time again for some Hive account@photogames fun and this time it is #fixitfriday (More info). I used to skip this part of the #photogames because I have no clue how to edit photos properly! I don't have Lightroom or Photoshop and the people playing this game are clearly pros!

But you know what? I want to learn and this is a perfect way to get some practice. You do your own edit and see other peoples approaches. And you learn by the hour!

Last week I participated for the first time and obviously messed up many of my edits: too dark, forgotten to crop, forgotten to straighten, etc. etc. But I won one! So there was hope 😀.

So now it is time for a rematch. And you will see how I decided halfway to up my game!

And sorry Hive account@jarvie, your photo is amazing. I just didn't know what to do with it...

Hive account@derekkind

https://steemit.com/photogames/@derekkind/fix-it-friday-photo-games-week-6-game-3

My first impulse was to go find a way to get rid of that bright spot. But I had no clue how to do that with just some colour sliders. But by coincidence, I just finished editing my own Yosemite Tunnel View photo the evening before and went for the easy approach. Just not edit but put in my own photo. "They won't notice, right?"

I wasn't able to stick with that decision very long. I love this view just a little too much and was wondering what it could look like if I had used a proper camera when photographing it myself.

Hive account@caseygrimley

https://steemit.com/photogames/@caseygrimley/fix-it-friday-photo-games-week-6-game-3

Next! I love colourful skies. I had trouble not going overboard with the sliders. I forced myself to get back to reality a little more. But it is just too hard if you can create a fire in the sky just on your laptop! I hope I found a middle ground a little.

Hive account@dmytrokorol

https://steemit.com/photogames/@dmytrokorol/fix-it-friday-photo-games-week-6-game-3

First thought? "Cool photo, but what do I do with it?". I dropped it in my tool, clicked some presets... Didn't like it. Started cropping...Didn't like it. Whatever I tried it ruined a different part of the photo. Because whenever I adjusted colours, I would do that for the total photo.

I think I gave up at some point. Just send in what I had. I checked the rest of the available photos and thought this was going to be my last photo of this game...

Since I wasn't happy with this one, I went for a fun version too... He might not notice the difference between the stacked rocks and the snowman... Let's wait and see!

Hive account@sjarbie5

https://steemit.com/photogames/@sjarvie5/fix-it-friday-photo-games-week-6-game-3

I had some time left, "should I do another one?". But this photo just didn't do it for me. The associations with the tall cactus triggered my naughty brain, but I didn't want to go that way. I just missed something in this photo. And then I remembered a photo I took of a lizard on a stone that might just fit in there.

That can't be too hard, right? I opened GIMP, cut out the lizard and put it on the stone. Did some standard sliding and thought it looked okay enough. An animal in this photo was just what I missed. I fixed it 😎.

Hive account@yumyumseth

https://steemit.com/photogames/@yumyumseth/fix-it-friday-photo-games-week-6-game-3

It was time to go to bed when I saw that Hive account@yumyumseth finally added his photo to the game. And it was pretty weird. "What will people do with this one?". All I could think of was that he should be upside down instead. But just flipping the image would be stupid I thought (no offence to the people that did that). The only reason that this guy (Hive account@jrue) would be upside down, is if he secretly was Spiderman. And then it happened... I got an idea! (I love it when that happens)

Before I knew it, I was all over GIMP. More layers, cloning, cutting, pasting... I got tired of cloning the background to get rid of the body. It just didn't look good. And then I had the "genius" idea to just cut out the body and glue the 2 bits of the background together behind the body of Spiderman.

I wish I knew how to make a cleaner selection of the hairs. Tips & tricks are welcome. Despite that, I am pretty happy with the result. It is far from natural, but it is Spiderman....so who cares ☺️.

Hive account@alevaskye

https://steemit.com/photogames/@alevaskye/fix-it-friday-photo-games-week-6-game-3

Thanks to this game I learned that I don't like editing people. Landscapes don't have pimples that need touch-ups. But the background was inviting enough to completely remove and replace by something else. But what?

I imagined this woman wasn't enjoying herself. So maybe I could create a contrast like that. I found a photo of a concert audience and pasted her in front of it. Maybe change her a little into a rock-chick. "How do I do make-up in GIMP?"... And again, I learned. I changed the colours a little and was satisfied.

And so I learned my ways around GIMP. I felt more creative than when I started. Even if I don't win any of the #fixitfriday edits, my takeaway is improved skills. Thank you Hive account@photogames for this fun game. I was sceptical, but might be hooked now!