"The Boys" by Mandy Elliott

I was comissioned to do a series of photo's for a friend.

This particular picture I was struck by the moment I took it. I had an idea what I wanted to do and here it is. I have to say, I'm very proud of my work. I'd like to consider this a painting moreso than a photo edit because it truly is a work of art.

Release notes: The photo of the boys was taken by me of my friend Amanda's children in her living room. She is the legal gardian and gave me permission to manipulate and post the photo. The photo of the lillypads and background was taken by my eldest sister Jinger and she gave me permission to use it and post it as a manipulation.

Construction Notes: I first erased the backround of the photo to leave the kids alone before transfering them to a backround I edited to fit.  Easier said than done. The water reflected some people and the railing that prevented people from getting into the water. So I had to erase that too and add a cloudy sky reflection. I also copied one half of the picture and flipped it around to fill in more lilly pads on the right side. With that done, I started to work on the kids. I did all this in PhotoImpact Pro 10 which is somewhat like Photoshop except it doesn't have all the same features. Anyway, it allowed me to get the lighting more acurate though alot of it had to be done manually with dodge and burn. It took a total of six hours to complete.