From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Bemidji Minnesota

Hi all,

Big pumpkins are like ice sculptures, in that their life span is limited. All we have to remember them by are photos and seeds.

Right now I am playing around with photoshop, and need some images to practice on.

Did you have a really good looking pumpkin or squash, and you have a few photos of it that show really good color, then a few weeks later you took more photos and found the pumpkin went through changes?

Changes such as getting scuffs, fading color from frost, and so on, then this is for you. Or maybe in the picture there is just a fly you want removed.

If you have a few images like that; I can make the fruit looked like the day it was cut from the vine, or at least my best attempt to.

Note: this is NOT to change a photo of a light color pumpkin to make it look unrealistically orange, or green in the case of a squash. I do not want to do that as those images could float around on the internet and misrepresent what a certain seed can do color wise. Same with changing the shape of a pumpkin.

This is only to make a picture of a pumpkin/squash better represent what it looked like when harvested, if it took abuse later.

Again, this Not to enhance it in the picture beyond what it’s genetics actually did make. Scuffs, gouges, and freeze damage are obviously not genetic traits.

4/16/2010 3:07:43 PM

Bemidji Minnesota

All I need is:

1. Post a link to an image of what the fruit looked like Pre Damage, to use as reference for color.

2. Post a link to the image of the same pumpkin after it got hit with harsh conditions, and I will do my best to match what it would look like in the picture, had those things not happened to it.

3. Written description of the fruit and what changes you would like to see made to the photo. “Remove fly, fix this scuff,” etc…

If it’s just a picture of a fruit with a climbing gouge at a contest, but it otherwise looks like you want it to, I can just remove the gouge too, without a reference picture. I only want a reference picture if I am going to be correcting the color.

If you want, you can just e-mail me the image(s) as an attachment to [email protected]

4/16/2010 3:07:52 PM

you must have lots of free time

4/16/2010 3:22:15 PM

Bemidji Minnesota

My hours got cut back at work ;C.

As I get more things going on, and we get into May I won't be able to get to such projects as fast.

Not that cleaning up pictures in photoshop takes that long to do anyway. Gives me something to do while I listen to the radio at night. Almost never watch TV.

4/16/2010 9:22:53 PM

New York

Editing pictures doesn't really take a lot of time. It's a bit tricky, but it can be done pretty efficiently with GIMP or Photoshop.

4/16/2010 10:09:50 PM

Long Island,New York

I don't suggest "cleaning up" pictures that may in anyway represent the fruit or the seeds from it. Its a fine line between masking defects, making things look better than they are, and misrepresentation. People have oiled fruit altering the colors and not declaring it to sell the seed as a good orange producer when it really isn't. This is WRONG. Just saying....
ps...would you buy a car from a guy who used bondo and didn't declare it? What else did he do that you don't know? Now....was the Gieger fruit really that color?

4/17/2010 9:23:53 AM

Bemidji Minnesota

@Lipumpkin “Now....was the Gieger fruit really that color?”

I'm just offering to do something nice for anyone in my free time! FOR FREE. Not charging people. Not trying to make money getting a cut of seeds. What the hell would be in it for me?

NOT to help someone SELL seeds.

IF you read my whole post, BEFORE QUESTIONG MY INTEGRITY, you would see that I clearly sated that if I am to fix the color in a photo, I would want one showing what it looked like BEFORE damage, so as to EXACTLY NOT misrepresent the color.

If you read my post entirely I clearly stated it is only to restore something to what it looked like, if it got weathered say a month later.

FYI Don't question my integrity if you do not know me. Fixing a GOUGE that is caused by kids stepping on it is in NO WAY. Snow bleaching of color is not Genetic either. I absolutely understand the concern of not wanting to change an image beyond what it originally had. Hence why I would only do it if I had a photo showing what the original color was.

Then you want to insult me by asking a question my integrity about photos I posted of Travis’ pumpkin!?

That is what that question was, and accusation, and an INSULT.

Go ask Bill Foss, or ANY of the people who saw it in person at the contest.

Since I'm former Military Police who one day just decided to check my integrity at the door and help turn a fugly pumpkin into a Dill Award Winner to help a guy hock seeds…

4/17/2010 1:42:24 PM

Bemidji Minnesota

Here is the pumpkin on October 30th, after sitting under a foot of snow in October, with a fresh scuff from when we turned her upright, and scars from the kids climbing on it at the contest a month earlier:

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/displayphoto.asp?pid=6430&gid=-43894

Here is a photo of it from the weigh off day. No color changes at ALL, nothing other than rotating the picture so the pumpkin was not upside down and sideways, and added the black background around the image.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/displayphoto.asp?pid=6604&gid=-43894

Here is the first image, after being cleaned up, and I did my best to match it to the one ones on sept 29th.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/displayphoto.asp?pid=6603&gid=-43894

It is the ONLY ONE that I edited, and I CLEARLY STATED in the description I had done so. AND the original is up in the Gallery as well for all to see.

4/17/2010 1:42:29 PM

Bemidji Minnesota

SORRY FOLKS.

The offer for doing free photo restorations no longer stands.

I will not be offering enhancing of photos for anyones pumpkin. Even if that is only to fix a scuff, or just enhance a grainy picture.

After thinking about LIPumpkins’ point, (after I let my quick temper calm down a bit) it is best left alone.

Things like simply rotating an image people can learn to do on their own.

I did not realize that this would turn into such an issue so easily.

4/17/2010 2:49:12 PM

New York

I think it depends on the situation. If someone wants an image cropped, or the entire thing brightness/contrast adjusted, it's fine.

4/18/2010 12:29:59 AM

Ham Lake, Minnesota

Mike, I like the path you're on. I've done many photoshop images myself. I made an image last year where I pulled pieces from many photos into one photo as a tribute.

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/DisplayPhoto.asp?pid=6111

I added the state, the words, the photo of the pumpkin on the pallet next to the truck and the image on the truck panel capturing the moment in history. It was alot of fun.

I look forward to seeing your work Mike.

4/19/2010 12:01:51 AM

Bemidji Minnesota

That one looks very nice Alex. I like how you matched the lighting too.

The image on the truck panel looks like an airbrushed photo. Very nice.

4/19/2010 9:17:54 AM