Kate's Dream - Photo Essay

To see a larger view, click here. (*You might have to click the full screen/slideshow link in the upper right, then hit the play button. If the slide show pops up right away, I find I have to click back one frame and then hit the play button.)

• In the first picture, I used the magic wand tool to select the bicyclist, and then inversely selected the landscape and made it black and white.


• In the second picture, I added text, and added a grainy filter to the sunglasses.


• In the third pic, I added text to the sidewalk.


• Fourth pic, (seeing the woods through the door) I used the magic wand and clone stamp.


• Fifth pic, I used the dodge tool to brighten the tree trunks, and to create a mist-like effect.


• In the sixth pic, I ramped up the Vibrance and Saturation levels.


• In the seventh pic, (purple grass), I adjusted the Hue and Saturation.


• In the eigth pic, I used the patch tool and healing brush to remove the water droplets.


• In the ninth pic I used the magic wand & gradient tool to add a rainbow background.


• In the tenth pic, the magic wand, Cut & Paste, and the background Eraser let me put in a funny non-sequitur.


• Next pic, I used Cut & Paste, and the blur and smudge tools.


• In the next one (swirly center), I used the Twirl filter and a lens flare.


• In the next to last pic, the brightness and contrast was adjusted, and I also used the patch tool to remove a rust spot on the ferry.


• And in the last pic, I used the patch tool to remove the peeling inspection sticker from the windshield, and the blur tool to make it look more like a watery smudge.

Adding text in Photoshop

Here are two pics with text added. I also had some fun adding a pattern to the sunglasses...

Photoshop - Patch tool

Here's a photo that's been fixed with the patch tool. I used it to remove the tree branch and replace it with sections of the sky. I tried to copy random little sections of clouds for a more realistic patchy look.

Dodge tool in Photoshop

Here's a photo of paint tubes that was pretty dark when taken, as you can see in the original on the bottom. The photo at the top has been adjusted with the dodge tool, adding brighter highlights to the white & colored areas, and leaving the shadows as they were. It's more subtle than some of the other bolder and more obvious tricks I've seen in Photoshop so far. I can see how this one can be a real asset for a photo where you're just trying to enhance the natural elements instead of push the boundaries with design.

Adobe CS4 filters, Round 2

Here's a pic of a metronome (& guitar in back)that has the "Glowing Edges" filter applied. Photoshop lets you alter your pics in ways you might never even imagine...very psychedelic.

Adobe filters, round 1

Here is a pic that uses the chalk & charcoal filter, with hot pink selected as the color choice. I love the contrast of neons against more neutral colors. Kapow!

Fun with Adobe

Here's an image I took on the ferry to Burton Island State Park. The shutterspeed was set too low, so the image ended up being a bit washed out. Using CS4, I can kind of fix it -creating a blue tint sky, and sharpening & deepening the color contrast. You can probably do even more to adjust it once you have more experience with Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop Crop

Here's another image that was cropped in CS4, along with the original full-size.

Adobe CS4

I downloaded the trial version of Adobe CS4, and was playing around with it today. Here's something I did with a photo of my hand, using the lasso to crop out a photo of my husband jumping, and then combining the two. A little crude, but it's a start!

More fun with Picasa

 

This was just playing around with the settings on Picasa.

Framing slide show

Different ways to frame a picture...including some of my favorite volunteer, my husband.

Rule of Thirds Pt. 2

Here's another sampling of the rule of thirds vs. a centered image. An old oil barrel that makes for a nice effect of bright orange against the vivid green grass.

The Rule of Thirds

Here are two shots; one with the subject centered and one with it following the rule of thirds. Having the picture off-center, falling on the 1/3 dividing line, often helps make for an interesting picture when the subject is pretty straight forward.

I learned in an oil painting class that if you have your subject touching/going outside of the picture's border, it also helps create a more interesting image than when it is straight in the center.

Composition and Aesthetics

I found an interesting website http://digital-photography-school.com/ that shares all kinds of good tips and articles related to composition tricks, practical matters, interviews with professional photographers, etc.

The tip I'm selecting is from the article "Photographing Children - Composition" It gives this hint - "Probably the most important tip I’ve learned in photographing them is to get on their level. So many of my friends show me photos of their kids which are taken from 4 or so feet above the child which does nothing but dwarf them and make them look almost toy-like. Getting on your hands and knees or crouching down before you take a shot of a child takes you into their world and helps you to engage with them through the images you take." -http://digital-photography-school.com/photographing-children-composition

If you click on the link, you can really see the difference that this makes! Some atrociously adorable shots result from getting down closer to ground level, especially for babies. I think this could work not just for kids, but for pets, plants, you name it!


On a side note, I came across an article linked here called "The Biggest Secret of Photography" (The secret: bring your camera everywhere with you), which included the following story that I found greatly amusing:

"Ansel Adams got his famous Shot 'Moon and Half Dome' on his way to happy hour. Yes, he pulled his Cadillac over at 4 PM and grabbed his Hasselblad and got that shot. Got back in his car and drove off to have some more fun. Ironic how photographers now line up in droves to try to get the same shot. Ansel loved to get shots of the moon, and was prepared to jump when he saw that shot." - http://digital-photography-school.com/the-biggest-secret-of-photography

Complementary Colors Shot

Poppies. Red and green - a great complementary color duo.

Monochromatic pic

Monochromatic shot of nails...

Just for Fun

Salvaged mailboxes, re-used at the NRG Systems facility in Hinesburg, VT. A great Green building.

Different Lighting

This weeks' assignment was to photograph an object in two different lighting set-ups. This is my cat, photopgraphed in incandescent light in the night, and then in natural (mostly cloudy) light coming in from a window around 7:30pm. By manipulating different settings under low light, the artificial light brings out some rich coloring that is lost in the other setting. The natural light definitely has a cooler look, that's evocative of a very different emotional tone. Interestingly, the shutter was set to 1/5 for both pics. The aperture was 4.8 for the natural light and 5.6 for the artificial light.

Macro Collage

Here is a collage of images taken on the camera's macro setting. It's a mix of flowers, glassware from the Montpelier craft/farmer's market, and an odd one thrown in of my outdoor lamp. I like close-ups, so this particular assignment was a lot of fun. I love the contrast of the bright orange and yellows against the cooler greens and blues.

Picasa makes it VERY easy to create a collage like this....

Macro setting

Here are some pics that were taken using the macro setting. They come from the Montpelier Farmer's Market, from a set-up by the glass artist Gabriel Cole. He was nice enough to let me snap some pics of his beautiful glassware, and thanked me for asking first.

The colorful reflections from the bowls and bright rainbow jumble of the ornaments sparkling in the sun were irresistible to a passerby with a camera....

One lamp, two views

Two views of the same object. I love the

close-up shot, and how it demonstrates that with enough time, patience, and experimentation, you can turn an ordinary house-hold object into something that is pretty close to art....

Fun with a new camera...

I just bought a digital camera for the first time, and found out that they are TONS of fun to play with. I'm looking forward to posting, sharing, and learning more about them....