Beyond Beyond 10

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The words on this image became my mantra today as I worked on Lesson 10 in Beyond Beyond.  It was a short lesson, with a Lightroom preset, a texture, and a new video on adding text (this time to a selection).  The assignment was to create, create- for the sake of creating.

Text on a path is the most difficult part of Photoshop for me; I seem to have a mental block about it.  I am going to master it- but not today evidently. My attempts are not yet ready for prime time- so I did text on a very STRAIGHT path for my CREATE assignment.  I used a couple layers of Kim’s subtly yours and an additional layer of cora (to add some pink tones).

These blossoms are from the most beautiful cherry tree EVER (outside of Washington DC). I drive by this tree often and am totally in love with it.  You will see more photos on here another day for sure.

 

Melinda8 Comments

Lake, Mountains, and Clouds

We spent the night at Tahoe Tuesday! My husband had a business meeting, so we spent the night before at the Sunnyside Lodge, where we had a wonderful dinner and a room overlooking the lake.  Before dinner, I took the opportunity to take photos in the afternoon and early evening.

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When it was time for dinner, I left the camera in our room, and went downstairs to the dining room.  Just before our meal arrived, I noticed the couple at the next table was looking at something outside, but when I looked out, it looked like just the same scene I had photographed before dinner.  Finally I got up to see the view from their vantage point and saw the MOON- reflecting on the lake.  I ran upstairs to get my camera and joined the lady from the next table as we tried to capture the beauty of what we were seeing.  She also had a Nikon (maybe a D5100?), and we struggled with settings as the moon slipped behind the clouds- and then was gone in a matter of just a few minutes.

So here is the moon as it went back behind the clouds. Sigh. And I have tried to ignore all the beautiful full moon photos (taken with cell phone cameras. . .) on Facebook.

I used my new Silver Efex Pro plug-in to convert this photo to black and white.

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Regarding Silver Efex Pro:  If you have purchased any of the Nik software suite within the last five years, you may have received an e-mail from them a few days ago, giving you the entire suite for FREE.  My e-mail was in my spam folder.  I am thrilled to have all these new toys- but have no idea how to use them yet.

Melinda4 Comments

Tulip Black and Whites

I bought some tulips for $4.00 a bunch at Raleys this weekend and have had fun photographing them as they begin to open.  All three were edited in Lightroom, and the second one had some additional editing in Photoshop (some cloning and a bit of matte processing on leaves and background). I am still making up my mind about matte processing- love it in everyone else’s work, but miss the clarity in my own.  I compromised on that second image, masking the effect from the flowers.22Mar2013-9684 22Mar2013-9726-Edit 23Mar2013-9769

You will see these (and more) tulips again this week, I promise!

 

 

Melinda6 Comments

Beyond Beyond 9

Fonts! Typing on a path! Typing on or in a shape! Glyphs! Wow- lots of good stuff in this lesson!

I’m a little out of my photography comfort zone- and going back in time about 10 years to my attempts at digital scrapbooking.  After having worked with Photoshop for the last couple years, these skills are easier for me now than back then- but typing on a path is still my nemesis!

5X7 Card

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The author of the last quote was Henry Ward Beecher (I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate it so that it looked okay).  Both photos are textured with Kim Klassen’s Sybil texture (yup- still my favorite).

Melinda14 Comments

Nervousness and Hysteria

I have been on a decluttering spree.  You could have filmed an episode of Hoarders in a couple of my closets- but no more! One of my missions was to organize my yarn.  Photography has replaced knitting as my obsession, but I still love knitting and am not ready to give up my precious yarn (which is now mostly boxed up in labeled storage containers, thank you very much!).  I had not knitted since my carpal tunnel surgery, so, when I found a half done scarf, I got inspired and am slowly finishing it.  And, of course, knitting is a great subject for photography!

The challenge for this week’s Texture Tuesday was to use words in the image.  The below is actually my favorite knitting quote- by my favorite knitter- Stephanie Pearl McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot)- but it was a bit too long for the photo:

“In the nineteeth century, knitting was prescribed to women as a cure for nervousness and hysteria. Many new knitters find this sort of hard to believe because, until you get good at it, knitting seems to cause those ailments.”

Hahaha! You have to be a knitter to really get the truth of this!  But, now that I think of it, you could substitute the word photographer for knitter and photography for knitting– and we could all relate!

I came across this quote from Elizabeth Zimmermann, the mother of modern knitting, which I think speaks to the meditative quality of knitting.

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I spent WAY too much time on this photo edit: FOUR different Kim Klassen textures to get the tones I wanted (havana, sybil, reentry, and 0303), a hue/sat layer, a levels layer, a blur layer- HOLY COW!  I know there was an easier way. . .

Melinda15 Comments

Beyond Beyond 8

My father was an avid photographer.  I have boxes and boxes of slides and reel upon reel of movies stored in the closet.  When he retired from dentistry, he took photography classes at Butte College, and it is from this period that I have the photographs that I most treasure.  They are black and whites of my children when they were about the age my grandchildren are now.  He took the photos, developed the film, and matted the prints himself.

Most of his photos are landscapes however. He was a big fan of Ansel Adams, of course- I wish I had paid more attention when he talked about him! I recently re-discovered his old Nikon and a couple lenses in a closet.  I don’t think I will be getting into film photography, but it would be nice to get his camera cleaned and operational again.

ansel adams layout

I created this layout for my Beyond Beyond class. I combined two of the three assignments into one.  I actually did all three- but wasn’t happy with my results, so this is a quick re-do. The challenges were 1) to find an inspirational quote and, using a specified technique, make it look like it was printed on a chalkboard , 2) use matte processing, and 3) create a layout. The chalkboard technique was interesting, but complicated- and when I decided to create a layout using my quote, I decided I needed a different quote.  Instead of going through the process again, I used a chalk font I already had for this layout.  I have experimented with matte processing before and enjoyed using Kim’s technique.  And (confession time), I created this layout in Lightroom (easier for me than Photoshop).

Melinda6 Comments

Produce . . .

. . . is one of the themes of my daily challenge group.  I decided to take macro shots of a cucumber slice.

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Then I got the idea of trying taking another series of shots showing the translucence of the slice.  I have seen many photos of strawberries and other fruits suspended in a glass of sparking water- very cool!  But, unfortunately,  there was no sparkling water in the house.  I wanted light to shine through the cucumber and was wishing I had a lightbox, when suddenly my internal light bulb went on.  I DO have a lightbox- or at least my husband does.

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This is the same cucumber slice used in the first photo.  Can you guess what I used for a lightbox?  My husband’s iPad!!! Sssshhh-  don’t tell!

Melinda6 Comments

Up

I am taking some time this week to catch up on some of the challenges for my Daily Challenge Flickr group.  Since I stopped doing a Project 365 this year and am no longer constantly searching for new photo subjects each day, I haven’t been so dependent on this group for new topics.  But, it is still fun to participate a couple times a week- I always love seeing what this creative people in this group post.

One of the topics this week is UP- as in looking up or view from above.  We are having gorgeous Spring weather here, so I just had to look outside for inspiration.

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Texture- Sonata by Florabella

Melinda2 Comments

Subtle

Yesterday’s flower photo was pretty dramatic; today’s is subtle. They are both macro images from the same Trader Joe’s bouquet- I always get a lot of mileage out of those! This one I converted to black and white, adding a layer of Kim Klassen’s Anna texture for a bit of warmth. Happy Texture Tuesday!

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Melinda12 Comments