‘The Call of the Wild’

5D Mark IV – Multiple Photos and Exposures

Here we have what might qualify as Surreal Art – ‘The Call of the Wild’. I said it might be controversial, and I guess that is in the eye of the beholder. This started out as a concept a few weeks ago when I was playing around. Watching Yellowstone with the wolves eyeing the cows got me to thinking. It got more and more pronounced as time went on – I am taking a Photoshop class so my mind started thinking of possibilities.

You might remember the pigs and the Cicada from Project 365; both of them made multiple appearances. Smoke (not this one) also made an appearance. When I started this PotW, the pigs and Cicada were to scale. This means they were the same size (see secondary photo below). I knew I had to get it a lot bigger. I also wanted to get the pigs to look like they were running and scared. So I adjusted their legs to appear they were moving fast (maybe I should have added motion blur?), and their mouths to look scared.

This PotW was completed almost exclusively in Photoshop – I did also use Zerene, Lightroom, Adobe Bridge, Canon EOS Utility, and Digital Photo Professional – but 95% of my time was spent in Photoshop. It’s not perfect, but I like it, and my skills are improving. The Cicada was a separate photoshoot (focus stack). The pigs were a separate shoot (focus stack). The smoke was a separate pic from Project 365. Also, there were four other adjustment layers added. The challenge was blending all these together.

About the smoke. I don’t know what propelled me to add it but when I did, I thought ‘Let’s keep it’. Maybe it represents the soul of the pig leaving its body?

Enjoy!