Dali & Depp

This competition was called Cinema Pygmalion and the object was to somehow incorporate a famous painting with a scene from a movie. I used a famous painting from Salvidor Dali and put these surreal characters behind Johnny Depp in a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean. I like how the scary long-legged animals in the distance changes the meaning of this image. Originally Cpt. Jack Sparrow was running from the island savages, and now everyone is running away from these crazy monsters on stilts... I suppose you could possibly arrive at a completely different conclusion, but that's how I interpret this image.

Senior Rugby

I actually feel a little embarrassed posting this image because it was such a simple project. All I did was:

• swap heads with an old guy. Period.
  

But I did come in 3rd in the "Geriatric Groove 4" contest at Worth1000.com so I guess that makes it worth mentioning. :)

See the originals

Mini Bean

I did this one just for the fun of it. I wasn't necessarily shooting for 1st place, I just thought it would be fun... I blew through this project pretty quickly and really like how it turned out. It still makes me laugh... :)

This was another Worth1000 competition (Celebrity Mini-Me 2), and I ended up coming in 5th out of 62 entries which I am very happy with considering how little time I spent on this.

Basically all I did was:

• slightly shrink his body
• shorten the arms and legs (to make him look more like a midget)
  
• put the chicken on his head
• modify the title (although Worth1000 made me remove the text for the competition)
  

Robots vs. Apaches

This project was LOTS of fun. I've definitely spent more time in the details on this image than I've spent on any other of my submissions to Worth1000.com. I was trying my hardest to get the gold this time... (I came in 4th). . . This image was definitely influenced by that of Josh Caez (a former coworker of mine).

This contest was called Giant Robots Attack! and the goal was to create a scene of just that -- robots attacking. I created this image from 15 - 20 separate images. There are too many details for me to list them all.

• See the original images

"Car-Toon" Isetta

This was one of the easiest but yet most satisfying projects to date. This was for a contest in which we were to turn a real car into a "car-toon". I'm sure it helps when the car already looks like a cartoon character, and then you steal the overall style and stylized mouth from another very successful "car-toon" character. Oh well. :)

• See the originals

"Car-Toon" Healey

This image was for a contest in which we were to turn a real car into a "car-toon". This was my first attempt at making a "car-toon" and I think it turned out very well. I found a nice background image of a street and put the car in the scene. But because the streets were wet, I had to make a convincing shadow/reflection combo.

• See the original car

Toy Spitfire

Here's another entry that was created with a supplied image. In this competition we were given an image of an old Spitfire. We were to change it in any way we wanted. I decided to turn it into a toy airplane.

• I flipped the plane around
• added the plane to the 2nd image
• added building in the background (from original image)
• added a Japanese Zero
• added a trail of smoke
• made the Spitfire look plastic
• added a toy cockpit to the Spitfire

I think this turned out pretty good.... perhaps too realistic to win the contest, but I at least proud of my work. :)

See the originals

Tricked-out Dune Buggy

This was my first attempt at photo-manipulating an image that was supplied to me by Worth1000.com. Occasionally they will post an unaltered photograph and have you change the photo in any way you so choose. The contest restrictions for these challenges are usually very broad and open-ended, so it's always interesting to see what everyone else comes up with.

This challenge was titled, "Old Machinery". In it we were supplied with an image of old machinery which I dissected & then added to a dune buggy picture. My modifications include:

• adding a giant engine to the buggy
• changing the color from red to green
• changing the wheels
• adding the garbage can
• adding other various belts & pulleys

See the original images here.

Lava Mahal

I created this image of the Taj Mahal along with this other one for the "Bury It" competition at Worth1000.com. The object was to take something and partially bury it with something else. This project is directly inspired by the incredibly beautiful matte paintings of a previous coworker of mine.

In this project I was going for the larger than life epic feel, focusing on realism and the intricate details. Notice the splashing bits and trickles of hot lava, and the smoke plumes. In this project I pretty much just cut the bottom of the Taj Mahal off and constructed the lava field around it from several images, making it look partially buried in lava. Then I scattered little bits of detail here and there from several more images. I think this one turned out very well, IMO.

UPDATE: This image placed 3rd in this competition.

Sweet Revenge

I did this one along with the Lava Mahal for the "Bury It" competition at Worth1000.com. This is the first time I've submitted two entries in the same competition.

This project was pretty straightforward. I chopped off the front of a Ferrari Enzo and put it in front of the dirt pile, and then created dirt on the hood to create the buried effect. I also changed the sky and modified the reflection in the hood to make it correct.

UPDATE: This images placed 4th in this competition.