Today: A good bargain and a few said prayers

I just ordered “The Photoshop Elements 9 Book For Digital Photographers” from Amazon. I looked through it tonight at Barnes and Noble but couldn’t bring myself to spend $60 on a book! However, I wanted it so bad that I Googled it until I found it for a decent price, which by the way is $27!!!

Anyway, it says it’s for beginner to intermediate users so I’m hoping to learn a few tricks. Be prepared for greatness! (HAHA) But it won’t be for at least 5-7 business days, because I wanted the free shipping. 🙂

Lesson learned: Always search online for a better price. You will usually find it. (It’s usually at amazon.com or overstock.com)

New subject…

With this being the day after a horrific natural disaster, there have been some amazing footage and photography from Japan all over the internet and TV. My heart bleeds for Japan and just wanted to say how horrible this is for them. I’m definitely saying some prayers for them. That being said, am I a morbid person for looking at photos of the disaster and thinking about the “artistic” way the photographer took them? What I saw was amazing….to make something so horrible look so…..I don’t know….amazing I guess.

http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/world/2011/03/11/devastating-tsunami-rips-japan-massive-earthquake/#slide=1

So again, say a prayer for the people of Japan.

Now, since I must have a photo for each blog entry, and a little humor is nice, here’s a random one I call “Always Prepared.” 

Adjusted saturation

Random shots of winter.

Adjusted colors, added "small border"

Saturated slide film effect

Lomo

Old Fashioned photo, Added Lomo Vignette

My husband

This is my husband, soulmate, and best friend, Jeremey.

B&W, High Contrast

Handsome, isn’t he? 🙂 At first, he didn’t really get why I spent so much money on a SLR camera, but now he’s very supportive of my new hobby. Everyone has their toys that they spend some money on! He drives me around sometimes so I can try to get some good shots, and helps me brainstorm other places we can go when it gets warmer. When we went hiking a couple weeks ago, he went down by a stream and took some photos. Here’s the best one, I think it’s a great shot! I jazzed it up a little on Photoshop, of course, but even without the jazzing, it was a good photo.

This was taken by Jeremey:

Saturated Slide Film effect, Softened focus

 I didn’t do anything to the water, but it’s so pretty it almost looks fake. Great picture Jeremey!

And for kicks (get it?), just wanted to add one more. We saw these in Upland I think. You don’t see this very often any more…I like it.  Are those Nikes?!

Lomo Effect

More Trees Continued

Not sure why, but only half of the last post was published.

Here is another shot of my favorite tree. 🙂

Graphic Pen effect.

One looking upwards…

Made sky bluer, then Lomo effect.

Here’s a shot of the sky through branches…

Adjusted colors, then Fresco effect.

 And last but not least….I loved the way this tree looked when the sun was shining behind it….beautiful!

Made B&W, adjusted exposure, used Inner Ridge Border.

More trees

I know I’ve posted tree photos before, but I love trees! It sounds really corny, I’m aware of that, but they are great subjects to photograph. When it comes to trees, there are never 2 alike. Sometimes you may think, a tree is a tree, but when you really look at them and the details, they are intriguing. (InTREEguing) 🙂 And when I start to edit the photos, there are so many ways to make the photo look great.

I came across a tree last week, and when I took a picture of it, it seemed as though I caught it dancing. Too funny. Here are a few shots of it. Cool, huh?

Original, no edits

Torn Edges effect, then Sun Faded Photo.

Old-Fashioned Look

I’ve been exploring the “Old Fashioned Photo” and the Sepia tint effects on Photoshop, and I think the Old Fashioned Photo gives it more character. First, there are more options when you use this instead of just making it sepia and you have more control over the tint and saturation.

I also just found some borders…after having Photoshop for 2 months I’m still finding things! I found a border I really like to use with the old fashioned look called “Small Noisy Border.” (I find the name of it funny) It just gives the photo a little more character. I found an old hay wagon (I think that’s what it is) along the side of the road today and beside it an old basketball goal. When I took a couple photos of them I had in my mind how I wanted them to look, and with this setting they turned out perfect.

The first one I used the Old Fashioned Photo, the second I used Sepia tint. I’m happy with these photos!

Old Fashioned Photo, Small Noisy Border

 

Sepia Tint, Small Noisy Border

 

This last photo, I used an effect called Sun Faded Photo. Similar to the previous 2 looks, I really like this!

Sun Faded Photo, Small Noisy Border

Don’t let Mother Nature fool you, it’s still winter.

It reached 60 degrees today in northern Indiana. People drove with their windows down, I took an hour long walk, the foot of snow melted, and I’m sure some were out there with shorts on…but we just got spoiled for a day or 2. Don’t be fooled, winter will come back. And it will overstay its welcome even when spring officially arrives…so why not make the best of it?? I’ll admit, snow is beautiful, but there comes a time when you’re just ready for the temp to rise and the flowers to bloom!  But for now, here’s some more winter pictures. I think the last one is my favorite of these.

Overlooking a river

 

Old tree with Lomo effect

 

"Conte Crayon" effect

 

Blizzard, another Lomo effect

Shoutout to my sister :)

My younger sister Laura and I are alike in a lot of ways. Even though we are 7 years apart, we share a lot of the same interests….such as music, sports teams, even school subjects, and most of all photography. She has that same passion for photography as I do. She got a Cannon Rebel when she graduated high school and has been taking fantastic pictures ever since.

I wanted to share with you some shots she got last month of our cousin Olivia. I think these are amazing. I love the way she edited them too…she has Photoshop CS. Whatever she did to make Olivia’s eyes look that beautiful…I want to know how to do that! So enjoy, and give her kudos for these awesome pictures!

P.S. Olivia, you should really be a model. 🙂

Again, these photos are by my sister Laura, not me.

Trees!

Trees have so much detail to them, and the are all so different, which is why they are great to photograph! (In my opinion…) Here’s some snowy trees with different effects done to them.

This one looks like a 60’s print…

Accented Edges

Plastic wrap makes it look like ice on the tree.

Plastic wrap feature

Stamp feature

Twirl

I'm a fan of Lomo camera

Snow pictures

I just learned how much fun it can be to work with snow pictures. You can really make objects pop in front of the white background.

I’m trying to find a setting on Photoshop where I can give the picture an iced look. I want my snow pictures to make you FEEL cold! Anyone know how to do this?

 

Lomo camera effect

Graphic Pen setting (Photoshop)