Surreal Landscape - Worlds of Wonder

I began this project by taking pictures of my friend's very curious cats, one in particular that loves to climb to the top of her Christmas tree to perch.  What better to get a cat's attention than fish, so I used photos of various fish taken at Caesar’s Palace aquarium and placed them in the tree, as if they were leaves.  I used opacity to tone down and blend the fish into the tree background.  I used the effect poster edges to get the desired effect of on the tree and the fish.  I modified the hues, saturation and colors to get the effect of the evening and used ink outline on the tree.  I wanted the picture to illustrate cats waiting for 'fish leaves' to fall from the tree for their evening meal.

My inspiration for the second picture came from the memory of Joe Huber, the genius behind the Huber Orchard and Winery, who passed away not long ago.  Joe was known for his success as a business man, his love of family, community and church.  I started with a picture of his lake, winery and the evening sky.  I added a large puffy cloud and cut and placed a photo of Joe's church into the cloud to give the impression his sprit is still there watching over his home and business.  I also added a cute house to replace the warehouse building for effect. 

In used Lens Flare behind the floating church, lightened the cloud and brightness to gain the eerie green tone to the cloud, then I used paint dauber to blend everything together and give the appearance that it had been painted.