portraits

This shot of my niece in the car on a trip to her aunt's house I added motion blur to the background, I took this stopped in a parking lot I also used dodge to lighten the heavy shadow on her face.

Since my niece had taken over my computer and chair I figured I should at least get a picture in return it just seemed to work better for me in black and white.

I chose this pic because she was the only one who wore an Easter Bonnet,
I made background black & white and blurred it slightly

This last shot comes as is and is the cats doing what cats do best.

Cloned

For my cloning I just took a lonely sail boat and cloned it no it has playmates.

First the original;

Now the clone;

For the painting photo I decided to paint an old bard I wanted it to look like an older paint job not a fresh one so I used small dabs of paint then set the brush to mix so the new paint got blended into the original color giving the paint a more faded, weather worn appearance.



First the original;

Now the painted barn;

For this pic the subject is an old friend gone missing, I first chose the text then played with different script styles, oriented the direction, added drop shadow and adjusted, plays with inner and outer glow and beveled the edges, then choose print color and adjusted global lighting.

First the new print;

Now the original;

Filters

Filters are a favorite because they are fun to just play with and see what type of effects you can do to a photo, of course always work with a copy so as not to ruin the original.
This first picture I went with the glowing edges and adjusted the edge width and smoothness then covered it with plastic wrap and adjusted highlight strength and detail.

the original

In this pic I solarized it then added a diffused glow.

the original

This next shot I used dodge & burn to change the shadows .

the original

for a little extra fun I used the liquid filter on my woodpecker photo

My niece with glowing edges and plastic wrap

I like how you can adjust brightness and colors in just a selected area instead of having to adjust the whole picture at once.
This picture I decided to just have a little fum I first brightened the trees on the left then darkened the rest of the tree line, next I darkened the sky a little. When I got to the snow I played with brightness levels and curves and adjusted color balance and hue.

Here is the original.

This picture I selected an area and adjusted the color balance, and hue.

The original.

An extra one

magic crops

This first image is a woodpecker that was out the other day I start wit the simple crop.

this is the original

here is the same shot with some lasso and copy work.

this next pic is some magic wanding ( this tool is renamed in Photoshop CS5 as the quick selection tool ).

here is the original.

following are for fun extras first is more fun with magic wand.

original,

Toasted,

original toast,

Goose Step,

original goose,

Landscaped

Back out into the cold and wind we go. I know finding the "right" landscape can be a difficult task until you remember that anything outside the house is technically a landscape. I did however, add a few shots that are not recent just for color.
shot one is my poor snow covered raspberry patch and the trees behind.

Next is Whiteface Mt.

the rest are just to add color,

Champlain valley from NY side,

I still miss my bridge to Vt.

the road home,

Framed

I never really gave much thought before this class to picture composition and shot angle, most of the pictures I have taken over the years have had no planning, if I happen to see something while I have a camera with me I take a picture. Most pictures are spontaneous and either taken at standing level or out the car window. I never paid much attention to composing a shot, I have always felt that photo aesthetics are individual to the viewer, in other words like all art what one person may consider art or great composition may only represent a load of crap to another viewer. I do hope to get some time ( when I don't have to wade through the snow to experiment more with angles and picture composition