Playing with trucks . . .

I had a truck . . .  I don't have a truck . . . but I love trucks, so I play with trucks!

My Little Red Truck

El Camion Azul (Little Blue Truck)

 and last, but not least . . . my gardening truck!

Garden Truck

Got a little tired of trying to photograph what is now my brown garden this afternoon, so grabbed my little toy trucks and had a ton of fun playing!

Thought for the day:  the simplest of things can bring the greatest of pleasure.

Photo Art Friday

Still feeling adventurous, I decided to participate in Bonnie's Photo Art Friday.  Bonnie blogged:

"Did you have time to experiment with some new styles, forms, tools, compositions this week?  Don't you love the gratification that comes with the mastery of a new skill?  I don't even have to totally master a skill to feel gratified.  Just getting familiar with a new photoshop tool or trying a new form of photo art gives me a shot of  'let's keep going' encouragement."

How could I resist!

Abandoned Farmhouse

This is a photo taken last year of an abandoned farmhouse outside of Florence in in the Chianti region of Italy and apparently a favorite, as I used the same photo in my blog "The Process".

The processing included using a (minor) cutout filter (grabbing the edges primarily), inverted the results, added a "warm" photo filter, layered on a gradient filter, reproduced the original photo, layered it over the filter colors set on linear light at 50%, added Bonnie's Canvas Clouds 3 set on vivid light at 50%, and topped it off with Nancy Donaldson's ecaustic background (tinted) set on darker color at 100%.  Whew . . .

Below is the original photo I rendered . . .

Chianti Region/September 2010

Bonnie, thank you for the opportunity, it was fun!

Thought for the day:  echoing Bonnie's sentiment, 'lets keep going'!

In Rememberance . . . .

The process . . .

While not of big interest to some, I decided to take a photo from beginning to the final product.  Below is the original photo that was taken in the Chianti Country outside of Florence . . .  not a bad photo . . . but it could be a little more dramatic!

Original Photo

The process:

For the final touch I added a "photo art frame, set on soft light at 70% and was pleased with what I now consider the finished project.

Abandoned Farmhouse/Chianti Country, Italy

For those that may have had an interest in the process, hope you enjoyed the steps; otherwise, hope you enjoyed viewing the "final product".

Thought for the day: gifts surround us, be open to receive . . .

52 Photo Project: Week 29, Shades of Aqua

I love photography, I love my camera and I spend more time blowing dust off of it then using it . . .that is about to change!

Decided to involve myself in Bella Cirovic's "52 Photo Project", where she supplies a prompt weekly for our photography!  This gives me a reason to use my camera and carry and keep it with me!

This weeks prompt was "aqua"; now the high mountain desert isn't the most idea place to find aqua, lots of brown . . . but then, in northern New Mexico you see so many old homes with a color that is called locally,  "ojo de Dios", the Eye of God.  While not quite aqua, the color has a strong aqua tint, that the natives use to paint their windows and doors in to protect their homes.  Couldn't find a window without jumping a wall, but did find this . . . not quite native with the purple trim, but a sorta, kinda, aqua!

Ojo de Dios

I'll  have to admit, I was in a panic thinking, "aqua, aqua, aqua", when I pulled out an old batik wrap that is 15 years old or better, and has been used for anything and everything, but never a wrap!  The flash of the camera brought out the "gentle patina" of the fabric . . . but there was aqua!

Batik

Having been reminded of this beautiful piece of fabric, the batik is back in use and is now adding a burst of color to an otherwise utilitarian bathroom!

I won't know until Sunday what the new prompt is, but I'm excited and looking forward to participating!

PS:  Both photo's have texture overlays:  Ojo de Dios has Nancy Donaldson's "ecaustic background" and Kim Klassen's 'autumn burst"; the Batik has an overlay of Kim's "subtly yours".

At the Capitol . . .

you will find red leaves!  Not having forgotten my quest for red leaves, I paid a visit to the capitol with my camera this morning, so I'd have a sampling of red leaves to post!

Capitol Leaves

The red leaves are on the east side of the Capitol, seven beautiful pear trees planted from the entrance of the capitol to the sidewalk.  The trees are planted close together, are well protected, and slow in turning vibrant this year. (This is also a glorious sight in the spring when they are in full bloom.) . . 

Capitol Pear Trees

When I first arrived at the capitol this morning (I was attending a committee hearing) it was snowing, cold and grey.  I'd decided to wait till noon to photograph the trees, but I looked up and saw the seal of New Mexico peaking through the trees, and couldn't resist (plus I love my zoom lens).

Great Seal of New Mexico

Thought for the day:  "All things are exactly as they should be."

TT Challenge

Kim Klassen's TT challenge for November 8 is the number 2; participants were asked to put their twist on the number 2 using at least one layer of any of Kim's textures.

Sometimes being other than literal, this is what I came up with.  Both photo's were rendered using a textures I made using a photo of grass taken early last spring, then layered with a KK texture. 

Double Your Pleasure

The photo above is one of many of the faux David's that you'll find in Florence.  Textures used: "grass"/linear burn at 54% and "one word"/difference at 100%.

Sunset on the Gulf of Mexico

Above is a photo taken of a sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.  Textures used: "ugglovebandw"/multiply@36%, "ugglovebandw" flipped horizontally/multiply@33%, "grass"/hardmix@19% one layered over the other.

The inset of the same photo has two layers: "ugglovebandw"/multiply@48%, "grass"/hardmix@19%.

Not leaving anything to chance, and just in case the intent was to be literal . . . 

Numero Uno Dos

Textures used: KK's "ugglovebandw"/darker color @ 100%, "grass"/softlight@100%, "one word"/darkercolor@100%.

Artistic Cut Out Tool

There is a Yahoo Group, Artist Techniques Digital, that I joined a couple of months ago and it has turned into a treasure for me.  The biggest boon is that the group owner, Sherre Hulbert, posted a "Tool of the Week" that I'm playing with.  Many of the "tools" in Photoshop I know nothing about, and it is sooo easy to get into a rut, using the same tools over and over again, and learning little or nothing about the rest.

This weeks tool is the Artistic CutOut tool . . . guarantee you, a tool that I never would have thought to use without a little prompting!

Apple Picking Time

Pear

Actually, it is a nifty little tool to use, and I enjoyed playing with it.  I have to be honest here, I did use a texture on both photo's and the photos aren't mine, but rather royalty free photo stock from stock-xchng.

Below is a photo I did take last week that I used with the cutout tool and a texture.

That's it folks, not even a thought of the day!

More fun with creating textures.

Digital Montage Studio has a challenge this month to "get out and grab some photos of texture" that can be combined with other images to alter them digitally. 

Can't admit to "getting out", but I did go thru my photos and found a few to play with;  a couple from a visit to the Carson Ranch, and a photo from China. I had fun creating the textures, and look forward to creating a whole lot more with varied techniques . . .

Below is a sample board of the photo's and the changes I made to them to create textures.

Sample Board

And here are a few photos' that I applied the newly created textures to:

Native Apricot

Panda/Chengdu Research Center

Water Garden

Thought for the day: Live in an attitude of gratitude and give thanks for what is and for what is to be . . .