As the title suggests, the photos that are the subject of this post are ones I took on a recent European trip earlier this year. This is my 3rd instatement of the "Creating in Photoshop" series. You can read the previous ones from 2015 and 2021. As in those previous posts, the sentiment is the same; enjoying being in the moment as I use different techniques to create something new and eye catching. I took a couple thousand photos on my trip not necessarily with the idea of experimenting with them in photoshop. A month after I got back and, once again, there was a desire to create something.

The Arch de Triomphe

This work of The Arch de Triomphe is my most recent foray in Photoshop, completing it just the other day. Even though I had already worked on at least a dozen photos, if not more, from my European excursion, I opened my computer not knowing what I wanted to do, just that I wanted to do something. When I took this photo, there was loads of traffic and pedestrians surrounding the Arc, as well as barricades up around the base as there was construction work being done (A lot Parisian sites were getting facelifts and renovations as they are getting ready for the summer olympics games later this year). I took this shot just to get a wide shot and then proceeded to get closer shots of the reliefs and tops of the structure.

Unprocessed photo of Arc de Triomphe

I almost didn't work on this because it looked like it would take a lot of grunt work to get rid of the cars, etc. (I don't use "Generative fill or the like) Or I can look on the other side of the coin and approach this work like it's a puzzle or a challenge. So that's what I did. I also used bits from two other photos I took that afternoon of the arc to get the photo you see below.

I realize someone well versed in the The Arch de Triomphe can find things in this photo that don't make sense. If I were tasked (paid) by somebody to make this final arc completely accurate I would take a lot more care and I would have to find sources other than my photos to make that happen. While working on this I knew getting to this photo would only be step 2 in this process and the final step would be for the distressed look you see in the top photo. To me it looks like it an old fresco that saw decades of weather. I've used this look a lot lately in other works as well, like the painting of Wallace Simpson.

Wallace Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Gerald Brockhurst

I was mesmerized by this portrait that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London. I think it's my favorite work in the entire gallery. The thing about taking photos of paintings in museums for me is about reinterpreting it. This original painting is her half body and she appears to be sitting with her right arm over her lap. And it can be reinterpreted further in photoshop.

Distressed Wallace Simpson

I used the same graphic element here as I did with the Arc de Triomphe photo. I definitely like this look but then I thought about taking it one step further. If it looks like a fresco or even a poster or billboard on a wall somewhere, why not do that. So I found this photo a took the day before at Camden Lock in Camden Town, London and combined the two.

Wallace Simpson in Camden Town

The following works are more examples of my use of photoshop with photos taken in Europe. I didn't necessarily know what I would do every time I opened one in photoshop. It was like, "let's see how this treatment looks", and if I really liked what I ended up with, I would try it on another photo or an augmented version of it. Sometimes I would have a completed effect on a photo but then forget all the steps in getting that look when I wanted to add it to another photo a few days later. It is utter joy as I spend time to create new versions of photos. It's my second most pleasurable moment, right after actually walking around and taking photos.

Eiffel Tower Swirl

Montmarte

A combination of a photo I took from The Centre Pompidou of Sacré-Cœur and Vincent Van Gogh's "Montmartre: Windmills and Allotments" (1887) from a photo I took at The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.