Thanks, Ana.
I've got to get a decent scan of this 8x10 inch color transparency, because I don't seem to be able to get the best/right pixels/information/detail into my image. I do think that, overall, this is an improvement over
http://www.weeklyshot.org/theme/natural-abstract/response/128/
but maybe you are right.

What do you other folks think?

For those who haven't see this before:

This was shot for a national ad for a deoderant (the original was an 8x10 inch transparency, shot with a Sinar view camera). My assistant constructed the tile on a piece of 4x8 plywood. The art director "styled" the towel.

The footprints are those of my assistant, reproduced as hi-contrast stencils of diminishing size and painted in using glycerin and water (glycerin helps the liquid maintain its shape and resist evaporation) in order to force a receding perspective.

King, I should have guessed. I havent seen the original, but I think it works well

@stolenlife...thanks for your comments. Actually, only I have seen the original (meaning the original 8x10 inch transparency). I guess you are talking about the version with the red towel. Given the theme, I changed the towel color to keep the emphasis on the tile and the footprints.

I'm still learning about scanning. I haven't asked my lab to scan this one yet and I'm not sure I will because it doesn't have a lot of personal meaning to me and I'm not in the advertising photography business anymore, so there's no need to keep my portfolio current.

Now I know what I'm seeing on the edge of the towel.... given that you say you changed the colour...
What steps did you use to change the colour?

So that explain the towel, now I see the red edge and a slight red reflection off of the floor. How did you convert it King?

@Ana, Tracy...I have *so* much to learn. For me, that's one of the great things about WeeklyShot--an opportunity for honest, critical and perceptive feedback.

I didn't even notice the red fringe, and hardly see it now. I know how to get rid of it and would have if I had noticed it.

I carefully selected the towel, including its shadow, feathered the selection and made a layer mask. To change the color, I first used Hue/Saturation>Colorize, then found a combinagtion of hue, saturation and lightness that suited me.

I used the multiply blending mode on the tile area to build up some tone and contrast in the tile and water splashes.

Also, compared to the first posting of this image, I used Filter>Distort>Lens Correction>Vertical Perspective emphasize the receding perspective because the footsteps are so obviously fake...thank my art director for that one.

Thanks for your comments.

King, I would try using a selective color adjustment layer as well to see how that converts it.

@Tracy...and, of course, I didn't think of that. That's simple. I'll give it a shot and report back to you.

Thanks for the suggestion!

@pete, Dave_Mac, Beamer,

Thanks very much for your comments. I'm still working on this image and wondering if it's even worth paying for a high-quality scan.

Posting it and trying different processing steps, processing, etc., is a good exercise.

@Tracy...the selective color adjustment layer doesn't work as well as the method I employed. I just should have been more careful about the residual fringe color, among other things.

Thanks again for the suggestion--I appreciate it.

It has been interesting reading the comments, quite instructional actually. I didn't notice the red fringing either until it was pointed out in the comments. The part of the photo that I would have cropped out is the bottom third or so because the water doesn't look right to me. Too blurred, perhaps. I like the crop in the red version better. Still, this is a marvelous photo and I am only commenting on what are really minor features.

@Jeff...thanks very much for you comments. I'm tending to think the other crop may be better, too, although part of me hates to crop any part of the original 8x10 transparency--but it served it's purpose.

It is funny that the part that looks blurry is the water I splashed down that wasn't specifically shaped with a high mixture of glycerin. you can see how it helps the define the footprints.

Over time, the give and take discussion about images is what I have liked best about W.S. Too bad that participation has fallen off so much.

This is a very clever shot. The detail on the footprint is so sharp that it almost make it look surreal, or maybe I've never seen a water foot print so closely before.

@Haiete...thanks for your comments!

This is a very clever shot. The detail on the footprint is so sharp that it almost make it look surreal, or maybe I've never seen a water foot print so closely before.

I prefer this portrait version of the shot to your other, but i'm undecided on the blue or red towel colour. There are a few ways to change colours in Photoshop and its a case of finding which one works best (the beauty of it!). I think the way you created the footprints is fantastic - i've been using the old glycerin trick with my bathroom photography ;)

@Jem...please point me to your bathroom photography. That wasn't the first thing that popped up when I paid another visit to your site.

The original color of the rather old towel is reddish orange, and I'll probably go back to that in the end. I made it dark blue this time so as not to detract from the tiles and footprints...you know, obey the laws of Relevance.

Thanks very much for your comments!

King: As they were taken at work, i'm a bit dubious about uploading them online - and only have 1 at home on my PC, but if you'd like me to email it for you to have a peek i'm happy to!

@Jem...cool. King at KingDouglas dot com

Cheers!