It's a merry Christmas indeed at Cruxton Abbey. Sir Bob Inder is visiting his old friend, Lord Wragg, and taking part in the traditional St. Stephen's Day cracking of the whip in one of the bedrooms. Lady Barbara Moorehead was enticed to join him by the prospect of a sumptuous 4-poster bed (and the fact that she misunderstood the cracking to be something to do with Christmas Crackers - this may explain her less than enthusiastic expression). Katty seems to be having fun, although Wragg may feel a bit left out. We'll have to go see what's kept him (probably doing something traditional and festive in the dungeons). Anyway, it's not all games and sport; at Cruxton there is always afternoon tea, served by one of the lovely maids. After all that exercise, most of the participants seem quite happy to take a break. I should say, though, that Bob must be quite fit - he doesn't seem to have broken a sweat, even wearing white tie (it's a very formal whipping, it seems).
On a technical note, I have to thank Bobinder and Wragg for their critical and helpful input on this manip, which was giving me some difficulties. Bob provided crucial input on filters, angles and lighting, and both gents provided advice on composition to tie the piece together. For those who don't know about the work that goes into this sort of artwork, the final image is the result of 7 drafts, some of which are reworked. The Katya model is a lower resolution than I might have liked, but that image has no duplicates that any of us could find, so I had to resize and filter it to look blended. The background image as it is now has 27 layers to sort out the carpets, painting, wreath, and walls, and to cut out a bench that was in the way. The Bob figure (played here by Christopher Lee, has at least 3 layers, and took some colour and lighting adjustments. Barb has a nice skirt, which was taken from another model (found by one of the lads who contribute to the "Lovely Ladies" thread - thanks chaps. You do come through with some good stuff!) - I hope she doesn't catch cold. Anyway, I needed the skirt to cover the fact that the Caprice image was only from the thighs up, and was wearing some hideous panties - you can thank me later, Barb. The background has at least 3 photo filters over it to make it look natural and let the human figures take centre stage. The painting above the fireplace is one of my earlier manips, adjusted for perspective and filtered to make it look like a painting, so that I wouldn't have to put in another bunch of layers backwards to look like reflections in a mirror (the very thought made me shake a little, but that might have been the sherry). There's no real reason for Katya Clover to be in this picture, except that the pose suited the four-poster so well, and Wragg does like to see her show up. We wouldn't want her to get into trouble at Christmas, would we?
I may have to make Lord Wragg and Sir Bob Inder a bit more youthful, although I think they do look rather dignified and sinister here.
YIKES!!! 
