Photo A Day ~ July 6 - 12

July 6 ~ My Name
July 7 ~ Minimalist
July 8 ~ Inside my Fridge
July 9 ~ Street
July 10 ~ My Story
July 11 ~ Late
July 12 ~ Early

Dark Decors ~ Friday Finds

How to hang framed art or photos properly in groupings...

To see more examples of what was blogged about click here.

Project 52 - Week 2

I think I'm actually going to make the linky up this time...wooo...hooo.

I walk my dog every day in the park and a couple of days ago I found these leaves (a pile of them) and grabbed a few to photograph.  I didn't have my camera on me at the time...I know what kind of photographer doesn't have their camera on them at all times...ME.  Anyway, I brought them back home to take the picture, even though this picture isn't exactly how I wanted them laid out, but with a little editing and a fabulous texture by Brenda Starr...here it is.  Be sure to check out Brenda's amazing photos and her textures.

I'm hoping to actually head out and about in the town next week to take some pictures...but no promises.  I've been a bit busy with work.

If you're interested in Project 52, click on the box below.

Happy Clicking!

Edit Me 2012 - Week 2

I'm so excited that the "Edit Me" challenge has started back up...even if I missed the first week.

This weeks adorable photo is from Tara of "Wild Ginger Photography".   She's also this weeks judge.  Here is the photo she submitted...

Adorable right...so many different ideas came to mind, but I decided to keep it pretty simple.

I cropped in just a little bit, I liked the window in the background, so I wanted to keep it in just a little bit.  I then desaturated the photo and brought in just a bit of color on the baby and bear, still keeping a bit of sepia tone.  I softened the photo and added a vignette.

I hope you like it.

If you're interested in the "Edit Me Challenge", then click on the little box below.

Addicted to Textures

Are you as addicted to adding textures to your photos as I am!  Wow...I look at some of my older photos that I've edited and sometimes think..."they look naked"...lol.  I still love photos without textures and any actions as well.  Speaking of "actions" another addiction I just started...sigh.  Unfortunately, I don't have Photoshop, but I do have GIMP and there are a few for that program, but I'm still learning how to apply them...more on that later.

Anyway over at Pixel Dust Photo Art, Bonnie, has offered not one but two Free textures...yes FREE.  She's asked us to be her testers to see who they work.  So here is what I came up with using her textures "Fleeting Memory" and "Silent Memory".

Be sure to click on photo to see all the details.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  What do you think?  The formula I used was desaturated the original added Fleeting Memory blending mode Multiply at 94%, then Silent Memory blending mode Overlay at 59%.

Check out Bonnie's blog to see her amazing work and free textures she offers.

It's another.....

Texture Tuesday

Our assignment this week is to take a photo with people or person and use one of Kim Klassen's texture.  

This photo was taken on Father's Day of my son with his father, our dog Leggs and a dear friend of the family.  We had our friends over and barbequed.  The day started out a little bit windy, but ended up beautifully.

I first duplicated my photo, added Gaussen Blur at 7% radius and erased the blur from the subjects.  I merged my two photos added Kim Klassen's Portrait texture at 100% Burn merged down again and added the same texture again using blend mode Soft Light at 100% and slightly went around the subjects with the eraser tool.

Here is the original.

 

If your interested in Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday click here.

Happy Editing!

Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday

Wow...I can't believe how fast the week goes by.  Here it is time for another Texture Tuesday.  I didn't really head out to take any new photo for this week, since all we had to do was use one of Kim Klassen's fabulous texture to any photo.  So here is mine from a family vacation to San Diego.  We were hanging out on the beach and this seagull was getting in to everyone's bag when they'd leave...it was pretty funny.  Anyway, he looked straight at me and I took the shot.

I used Kim's newest free texture "Mayzee".  I first adjusted the photo using the bright/contrast curves.  Then I added the texture blend mode Overlay 100%, taking any texture off the bird.  I then added another layer using the same texture with Soft Light 100%.  I went to my paint brushes and used one that said distress and changed the color to match the background and added it to add some well "distress" look to it.  I also used a paint brush that was called "marbling" and added a little touch of that around the photo.

Texture Tuesday

Hello, it's that time again.  I so look forward to Texture Tuesdays...even though I don't always participate.  I do get loads of inspiration from others who do.  

Our assignment was to use at least one of Kim Klassen's textures and a word, quote or phrase on your photo.

Here is mine...unfortunately I can't tell you how I did this, but I can tell you which textures I used.

I used Kim's texture "Bent Edges".  If you'd like more information on Texture Tuesday click here.

Happy Editing!

I've been working on my editing skills and applying textures to some of my photos.  I'll first show you the original and then my edited version.

This was taken during my trip back home to Texas.  We were driving along and I just had to stop and grab this shot.  So my next photo will show my editing and textures.  I was going for an old time photo look with a little grunge to it.

First I added a New Adjustment Layer - using the Hue/Saturation Levels and lowered it to -65.  Then a New Raster layer added         Kim Klassen's textures Just Cause (using Color at 65%) and February Magic (using Dodge at 88%).  I then used my burn tool to darken up some areas and to bring the horse and lone tree out a little more.  As always I copied the original picture to make all my changes.

So what do you think?

Happy Editing!

Coming soon to Ametista...

I've been Published!

A few weeks ago, I received an email asking my permission to "possibly" use one of my photos in the 8th Annual Schmap San Diego Guide (an online publication which is down loadable) from a trip that we went on to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. They have a panel that chooses which pictures will be used. I was absolutely shocked and thrilled and of course said "Yes"!

So the other day I received another email announcing they did choose my photo, along with others, for their publication. Yea! Wooo....hooo....Yippeeee! O.k., so I'm a little excited, but mostly very honored to have one of my photos chosen.

Here is the photo they are using and the link too. The Wild Animal Park is so worth going to as well.

There are a lot of talented photographers whose pictures were chosen. To see them just click on my picture and it will take you to the guide.

Happy Summer!

San Diego - Wild Animal Park Vacation

Our family went down to San Diego (officially Escondido), California to visit the Wild Animal Park for Spring Break. Let me just say one word about the park..."Awesome". It's 14,000 acres of just beautiful foliage, animals, and lots of artistic ironworks, murals, and shops.

Initially, I wanted to do the "Savanna Safari Africa", it's a 50 minute ride aboard a 10 person safari cart for an up close personal look at the animals. You get to feed the giraffes! But the tickets were a little steep for our budget at the time. So we did the most economy version (which was still great), you got to ride a tram around part of the park and hear about all the animals (photo stops) and see most of their habitats. It was very beautiful and educational. Also you were able to just walk around the whole park and take in all its beauty.

We were there from 11:00am til closing at 7:00pm. It takes all day to see it all.

We were fortunate enough to have visited right after the births of a "cheetah" and an "elephant". They were so cute! Can you believe that baby elephant wasn't even a month old! Amazing!

The gorillas were a riot what fun it was watching them.

All the animals are in their own natural habitat. Each one keeps their instincts by way of smelling the other animals throughout the park. Like I said it's really cool and very informative.

I would highly recommend taking your family to this gorgeous vacation spot.

Our hotel we stayed in was awesome as well...Harrah's Rincon. The pool was just gorgeous and heated which was great. The people and staff were nice too. We were only about 20 miles from the Wild Animal Park as well.

We wanted to spend one day at the beach, but it rained on that day....shucks...I miss the ocean.

I hope you enjoy just some of the pictures I took while we were there. If anyone else has been there I'd love to hear what you thought of the place too!