02.03.2010, 18:58
Hi redko,
First of all, let me say that your work is fantastic, and I am very excited about the Palau map. My suggestions are purely constructive, because I want this map so bad! I took a stab at map making quite a while ago and ultimately gave up, so I know how tedious it can get.
I've spent some time in Palau recently for work (tough job!). I can say that the colors in those modern pictures are NOT saturated - it's a totally foreign world to those of us from the more drab climates farther north. Go with what looks right! Don't be afraid of the saturation!
A couple of suggestions:
- Lose the rivers. Palau's rivers are very narrow, as are rivers on most Pacific Islands, with the occasional exception of the segment nearest the coastline (estuary). My suggestion is just to paint over it in your map_c as land. If possible, maybe you can experiment with the narrow streams plate shown in one of the threads below? (sorry, can't remember who's right now). Even then, most island rivers cannot be seen from the air, because the forest canopy covers it. My approach was going to be to completely forest the valley bottoms to simulate this, unless you have images showing farmland in a particular valley.
- There seems to be too much "surf", but I am not sure if I am interpreting what I see in your images correctly. All surf will be on the outermost reef. Inside the reef system, the water is relatively calm and there is no surf.
Regardless, it's looking beautiful!
I might humbly ask that you consider a re-paint of the Marianas Islands as a future project - Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan. That's what I was working on when I gave up. I have collected quite a bit of reference images for these islands if you are interested - wartime maps, aerial photos, etc. Plus, I live on Saipan, so I have a very good feel for the colors and landscape patterns.
Thanks for all your hard work!
D(og)leg
First of all, let me say that your work is fantastic, and I am very excited about the Palau map. My suggestions are purely constructive, because I want this map so bad! I took a stab at map making quite a while ago and ultimately gave up, so I know how tedious it can get.
I've spent some time in Palau recently for work (tough job!). I can say that the colors in those modern pictures are NOT saturated - it's a totally foreign world to those of us from the more drab climates farther north. Go with what looks right! Don't be afraid of the saturation!
A couple of suggestions:
- Lose the rivers. Palau's rivers are very narrow, as are rivers on most Pacific Islands, with the occasional exception of the segment nearest the coastline (estuary). My suggestion is just to paint over it in your map_c as land. If possible, maybe you can experiment with the narrow streams plate shown in one of the threads below? (sorry, can't remember who's right now). Even then, most island rivers cannot be seen from the air, because the forest canopy covers it. My approach was going to be to completely forest the valley bottoms to simulate this, unless you have images showing farmland in a particular valley.
- There seems to be too much "surf", but I am not sure if I am interpreting what I see in your images correctly. All surf will be on the outermost reef. Inside the reef system, the water is relatively calm and there is no surf.
Regardless, it's looking beautiful!
I might humbly ask that you consider a re-paint of the Marianas Islands as a future project - Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan. That's what I was working on when I gave up. I have collected quite a bit of reference images for these islands if you are interested - wartime maps, aerial photos, etc. Plus, I live on Saipan, so I have a very good feel for the colors and landscape patterns.
Thanks for all your hard work!
D(og)leg