Photoshop my Band's Publicity Shot!

Status: Closed
Prize: $30
Entries Received: 119
Winner: mobyartist2

Winner

Contest Brief

Hi, everybody. This is kind of a lark, but I'm hoping one of you Photoshop wizards out there can do something cool with one of the publicity shots for my band. We took over 300 pictures in a variety of poses, and as expected, many were not useable at all; somebody was in the middle of a smile, hair was blowing in weird ways, the outdoor lighting changed in a way that didn't work right, etc.

There were a few pictures that turned out really good, though, where we all look good, were smiling nice, decent lighting, and so forth... but the problem with those is that they are BORING! We are a comedic, creative, high-energy children's music band. And nothing about those particular pictures conveys that, at all, really. Some of the other poses we did were very active and funny and showed us with the personality I wanted to capture... but NONE of those pictures are able to be used for various reasons (see above). In retrospect, we should have just taken 300 pictures of the active, humorous type (we're planning a reshoot soon and will do that next time), but we thought we might also need some basic, standing all together types of shots. And of course, those are the only ones that actually turned out decent. Sigh.

Anyway, here's where you come in... I'm wondering if there might be some way to take these pictures (or at least one of them), remove the background, and put us in some kind of context that actually looks really good or has a clever or funny context. Cartoons, 3D, outer space, funny hats on our heads... I don't know. Use your imagination and sense of humor. I'm skeptical that this can be done in a way that doesn't seem gimmicky or hokey or draw even more attention to the fact that we are just standing there doing nothing. Then again, I don't necessarily mind something being a gimmick, if it's clever enough and looks good in some way.

But being that I'm doubtful this can work as more than a joke, I can't really throw too much money at it, especially after what we already spent on the pictures (and will likely be spending again on more pictures). So unfortunately, I can only offer the minimum $30 for this contest. And for that I'm hoping to get something amusing that I may be able to add to a flyer for a show, or post on our Facebook page, or something like that, mostly as a joke. However, if you are able to come up with something really amazing that I do want to use as our official publicity shot, then I promise I will double that amount and pay you $60 for it. And if I like more than one person's work, and want to use anything else other than what I choose as the winner, I may offer to pay something for it... so even if you don't "win" the contest here, there's a chance your work may not be for nothing.

Again, I'm doubtful that anything really useful can be made out of these pictures, but I hope you take that as a challenge! I'm certainly open-minded to be blown away if someone can be truly clever. I also apologize for the short turn around time for this (5 days), but I'll need to reschedule the reshoot on our pictures soon... I can't wait too long to see whether I may not need to do that, if one of these pictures can be salvaged.

I'm including three different pictures. Pick one, or more, and do your thing! If it helps as far as getting ideas for the tone or style that might work, you may want to check out my music or videos... look up "Eric Herman" on Google or YouTube and you'll find my work. (Note: I am not the huge American football player named "Eric Herman"!) But if you keep in mind the description I mentioned above... comedic, creative, high-energy children's music band... that's what I need to convey. Not sure how you can possibly get "high-energy" from us just standing there, but well, if all of the rest of the qualities are represented, I would take that.

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Winner

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Employer Feedback

“Did a great job on the Photoshop task. Very creative and was excellent about changing things as requested.”

EricHermanMusic, United States.

Public Clarification Board

Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for entering this contest and for your outstanding work and talent! I am really impressed by these entries. The band and I and my agent will be going over everything soon and I should be picking a winner within a week. As I've tried to communicate, the goal was to elicit an impression of a creative, comedic, high-energy children's rock band, so we'll be favoring the entries that best depict that in a creative way. You may have an indication by the ratings about whether your entry is likely to be considered, but please know that I do really appreciate all of the entries and we will be considering more than just the top-rated ones. And as I said in the original brief, I may offer something as payment for a few people other than the winner, to be able to use the shots for miscellaneous things. Also, I will definitely be doing this again with some other pictures.
- 9 years ago
1. mobyartist2
  - 9 years ago
  Hi...
  Thanks 4 the Winner :)
  I will prepare my file into hand over for you.
  
  Best Regards,
  mobyartist
  - 9 years ago
ismathstyle
- 9 years ago
hi
please check #117
- 9 years ago
michallx
- 9 years ago
Thanks for the quick evaluation of work :)
- 9 years ago
1. Contest Holder
  - 9 years ago
  Did you get the comment? For some reason I couldn't add a comment. The color scheme doesn't work for me, and Eric Herman should be more prominent than Thunder Puppies.
  - 9 years ago
thinkingartt
- 9 years ago
pls check my new entry
- 9 years ago
Dnow31
- 9 years ago
Please check #73 . All criticism or suggestions welcome. Thanks for looking.
- 9 years ago
View 2 more messages
1. Dnow31
  - 9 years ago
  #89 and #91 Still have time for more.
  - 9 years ago
2. Contest Holder
  - 9 years ago
  Not sure if you saw my comments on the individual picture pages... I like the color version ( #91 ) much better than #89 , but I feel like this was almost a step backwards from #73 as far as what I'm looking for, thematically. This background is a little dull compared to that.
  - 9 years ago
mobyartist2
- 9 years ago
Hello... CH, please check and ratting my design #86 . Thanks!

Regard
mobyartist
- 9 years ago
monjureelahi
- 9 years ago
Sir,
Can you give feedback for entry no. #79

Thanks
- 9 years ago
1. Contest Holder
  - 9 years ago
  Hi there. It's a bit too "busy" looking.
  - 9 years ago
asish1
- 9 years ago
#81
- 9 years ago
1. Contest Holder
  - 9 years ago
  I really like that, but the lean is too hard on the guys on the right side.
  - 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
AnnMorozova... that looks cool. Can you remove the BAM, though?

ixmarian, I like the pirate concept, but we're too small in the shot.

beschea, the one with licensed characters is not something we could ever use. The other one is good, though
- 9 years ago
View 3 more messages
1. AnnMorozova
  - 9 years ago
  Thanks:) Sure, I'll try to do something!
  - 9 years ago
2. AnnMorozova
  - 9 years ago
  Please look at the number 65, I edited the picture with girls.
  - 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
I've been putting some comments directly on pages for the pictures... I'm not sure if anyone is noticing them or responding, though. I wish there was a better notification system here, because otherwise I'll need to check every picture for added comments, and that would be a big pain. If you write a comment to a picture and I don't respond for a while, add a comment to the main board here. I should definitely see it then.
- 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
A note to everyone about the kind of effect done in #46 and #44 . It will be really tricky to pull that off. The problem with #46 is that it probably isn't enough of an effect, so that you may think that we really do look that way (like "little people," in essence). #44 is better... we're meant to look like little kids and I think it almost captures that in a way that you know isn't real. But still, it's not quite there, I think. So anyway, I'm not saying not to try that kind of thing... sure, give it a shot. But it's not going to be easy to get the right version of that which will work.
- 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
HEADS UP! I can't use anything with licensed artwork, or artwork or photographs that are not in the public domain or free to use (Disney, Futurama, Def Leppard, etc.). I am a huge Futurama fan, and the band and I joked while taking pictures about doing a Sgt. Pepper thing... so maybe if original artwork can be used or created, that idea ( #45 ) could work. But not with Futurama or Disney characters or any other existing license like that.
- 9 years ago
asish1
- 9 years ago
Please do check #43 sir
- 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
rebllien, I like 23 a little better than 24. The background color not being all green like that helps our clothing color to pop out better. But the color tweak that you did looks a little too intense on those pictures, so careful about that. I do think the original shot needs some color emphasis, but that's just a little bit too much.
- 9 years ago
View 1 more message
1. reblien
  - 9 years ago
  please check #30
  - 9 years ago
2. Contest Holder
  - 9 years ago
  See my comment on the picture's page. Color not intense enough now. It was closer before, just a bit too much.
  - 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
ixmarian, you made me laugh out loud, to the point I couldn't breathe well, with that Royal British Guard one. :o) But Def Leppard??
- 9 years ago
1. ixmarian
  - 9 years ago
  that was the point, to put you in a funny context :D. def leppard- i don't know, it's look like a grafitti with a band on the wall :-??
  - 9 years ago
2. ixmarian
  - 9 years ago
  do you like pirates with mustache? or without mustache
  - 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
reblien. Yeah, I really like those graffiti walls along with that picture. That makes that shot work so much better.
Here's a thought, though... On the wall behind us, devil horns over everyone, and a halo over me? (I'm in the middle with the blue shirt.) And/or vice-versa?
- 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
Well wait, beschea. The dancers in the other one all look like adults at a nightclub or something... Can you try it without anything there?
- 9 years ago
echobravo
- 9 years ago
Hi Eric Herman! Might I suggest also, photoshop wizards are able to mix and match photos - If you have an action shot you like where the but the faces are weird post that - we can stick good faces on good bodies - even from several pics - magic!
- 9 years ago
1. Contest Holder
  - 9 years ago
  That is a possibility. Let me see about that.
  - 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
odevries, I do like the idea of the bubbles. Still not quite what I'm hoping for, ultimately, and I'm not sure the kids work in there. But I do think this and the school bus one are more along the lines of what I'm looking for... something different and creative. Definitely heading in the right direction.

The ones with replaced backgrounds; jungle, stars, etc. I do like those, but I'm not sure they achieve the goal... I'd be interested to see some changed background attempts on the other two pictures, though. That one (which most of you seem to be using) seems particularly boring to me to begin with, so maybe you'd have better luck with the other two?
- 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
To go back to that joke one with the rage cartoon faces... I wonder if that kind of thing could work for this, with cartoony heads on our bodies. It would certainly lighten up the feel of the picture, which is what I'm wanting. Or, adding ridiculous hats or props, maybe? I don't know, but it's something to consider.

I'll remind you all of what I said in the description, that I'm not necessarily expecting to be able to use anything from this set of pictures as our official publicity shot... I'm just not sure we'll be able to get there with the useable source material. But I definitely may use some creative and clever ideas for various miscellaneous things, like for a funny poster promoting a show, or whatever. So I would suggest trying some things that are a little more "outside the box," perhaps.

I do really appreciate everyone's entries so far, though. Great job! Keep 'em comin'!
- 9 years ago
odevries
- 9 years ago
#8 ...Just something put together. Not sure it works for the publicity photo, its something I was having some fun with.
Background can be changed as desired. Also other objects can be scaled or eliminated. Let me know what you think.
- 9 years ago
Contest Holder
- 9 years ago
Ranger37. Perhaps I should have clarified that the band name is not "Herman Band." That was just the file label the photographer used. The name is "Eric Herman and the Thunder Puppies."

hammadasifalvi... Very funny! Can't use it, of course, but I appreciated that.

Fiona77... Looking for something different about the background or about the picture in general, not just a filtered background.
- 9 years ago