"Paddling Day"

With spring on the calendar (and the weather sometimes attempting to agree), my thoughts have been wandering to warm weather activities. Kayaking on a placid lake is one of my favorite ways to get some sun. Gliding along, glimpsing turtles and herons, feeling the refreshing coolness of splashing water... it's the most tranquil sport I've ever done.

I've been meaning to do something collage-y with my photos and thought of a particular technique I wanted to try. I'm not sure if it has a specific name...it fits with the definition of a "photomontage," though most examples of this have a different nature. (If anyone knows of a name for this, please comment and let me know!)  Anyway, the idea naturally collided with my thoughts of skimming the water providing me with an enjoyable subject. And here is the result of my effort. I call it "Paddling Day."

It takes more time and effort to properly load and secure a kayak to a roof rack than anyone who's never done it would imagine. Finally getting to that watery destination always finds me full of that "almost there!" excitement and for me this image sings of that joyful anticipation.

From the distance, it simply looks like an SUV parked at a lake waiting for a kayak to be unloaded from the roof. But this picture is actually composed of pieces from numerous other photographs. Can you recognize any of these in the picture? (hover to identify)



Using a photo of a kayak-topped car as a model (though parked in another location), I cut out matching pieces from these and other photos and fit them together like puzzle. Some were edited to alter their color... I either played with the hue slider or desaturated it completely then opened the color editor again to colorize it.

I really enjoyed this project and plan to do more like this in the future. If you like it too, check out the products on which it's available on Zazzle!


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