Would you read this same book on microstock  20 times?

That's the title of this thread. the reason is to drive home a point I have been advocating for some time.
Well, the truth is I would not read the same book, or watch the same movie for that matter more than once.

BUT!...what if every time you read the book, or watched the movie, and I told you it
would change every time. Would you do it? ...maybe?

Maybe some of the story lines would sound or look familiar, but it was definitely different every time.
So follow me with this thought it mind. What if, I told you could upload the same image to any stock site,
5 times or more and every time you uploaded the image it was different...but still familiar.

Well, this is a concept I first put into practice about 2 years ago on Shutterstock. What I'm about to show
you are  8 basic  images that have managed to turn into 63, thats Sixty Three images, all different
but all VERY, very familiar.

So here they are all 63 that were conceived only by 8 images. Judge for yourself.

http://www.microstockpix.com/

Now don't be perplexed, confused, or start saying "but I can't do that"....because YOU CAN! it's not
difficult, and if you need any help at all in getting started, I would be more than happy to help you
on your way to get started. Since I am retired, I would welcome anyone at all seeking advice or help
in your attempt to follow along.

The biggest hurdle is maybe the first 2 or 3 images, but after that you start to get the hang of it and
the image ideas just start coming naturally.

Be well and live well.
The MIZ

90's?
hmmm.....
even if they did, which they don't, most look like long lasting stock to me, that isn't the point of the post.
A photoshop pro was offering you help. If you don't want the help move along instead of trying to pass judgement and insult.

A photoshop pro was offering you help. If you don't want the help move along instead of trying to pass judgement and insult.

Is that what it was?  I'm not sure what his posts are trying to do sometimes.  See, this seemed like a duplicate of this post:
http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php?topic=3210.0

So I thought we were looking for critiques again.

Anyka, Here are the answers to the questions you ask. Please do not hesitate to ask again
if I do not fully explain the process to the point you understand. It is most important that I
make clear to you the process so that you too can begin to do the same things I do.

how much is photo, and how much is photoshop?
On rare occasions I will do an entire image in PS. 95% of the time
Its a mixture. Below are examples of 100% photoshop (PS)

http://www.microstockpix.com/pages/hat.htm  http://www.microstockpix.com/pages/feb%2014.htm

And theses below are a mixture

http://www.microstockpix.com/pages/concepts.htm   http://www.microstockpix.com/pages/deal%20in%20a%20box.htm

In the images above with the books; the books are real,  but the titles are photoshoped
the mouse and monitor are real, but the planet, and the graph on the monitor are PS.
The image with hands shaking; The hands are real, the suit sleeves they are wearing were
created by me in PS. Originally the pics of the hands were two friends in my kitchen wearing short sleeves.
The money is real but manipulated in PS, the building in the background was taken of my
bank out of my car window in the parking lot. The plastic case is a case that held a USB hub I recently
purchased at Best Buy.

It's interesting to note that the hands shaking, appear in over 35 images I have created in the last 2 1/2 years.
The plastic case was used over and over for about 20 images submitted in the last 2 weeks.

....but the roses on the red background are a real reflection?
NO! every image you see on that page with reflections are FAKE. PS again.
If you you would like to know the secrets of the reflections I will demonstrate it to privbately
if you ask. The process would be to lenghty to explain here. But I can tell you it's not just a matter
of inverting a copy the image....no no, that would not work for any of those images because all
the images have corners that angle away if just inverted. Another words you must "SKEW" the
reflections in order for them to look natural.

Here is a diagram demonstrating what I mean



If I may be of any further assistance . I'm just an email away. Please don't hesitate to ask for advice or help.
I live to help others, I love doing as much as I do creating the images.

Be well my friend,
The MIZ


 

PLEASE NOTE

My links in this post may not work correctly now as I have updated my images

Sorry but it changes just about everyday...so that would be an annoyance to the readers of this forum.
Besides, their busy working on their images. heheheeh

Always do your best,
The MIZ

Thanks Miz, that was really helpful! 
So it is possible to make reflections that look so real that it makes me think of plexiglass effects ...  I must give the skew transformation a try !   
It also explains why I often see truly perfect reflections, without 1 little dust spot  ... with real reflections I always have this problem with real dust and real scratches on the plexi surface!
I think I will make a special folder on my hard-disk, for photos that may-be useful later on, like hands, and well-isolated objects.
Thanks again Miz, for taking the time for such a long explanation! 

hey miz, i didn't see that tutorial before - thanks.  I learned a few new things there and a new technique

There are SO many ways to do everything in photoshop it is crazy, and i could have thoughts of a number of 'get rid of dust' techniques but i think this is considerably better than what i had thought of.

VERY useful tutorial!  Can you believe I used the healing tool for dust?  This will save me lots of time --- and the time saved will be used to watch all Miz' other tutorials 

One little note that you may find useful is:

In the tutorial I used the History Brush set to darken "Darken".
If you have any dark spots on a light background you would like to remove,
simply set the History Brush to "Lighten". This will eradicate any dark spots on a light surface
like perhaps dust on your sensor.

Enjoy life,
The MIZ