One Photo Focus: November

Every month with Stacy’s challenge we all get the same photo to edit.  It has been fun to see what everyone does with the same image.

This month the image comes from Helen Chen of HHC Blog.

I felt that the original was a little flat.  So I imported into Lightroom and then Photoshop where I added the poster filter to really show up the roots.  I made the lines as thin as possible.

Then I went back to Lightroom to do some more tweaking to the shadows to bring out the room at the back.

Finally I added some filters from Nik Colour Effex.  I wanted a vintage feel to it.  I did write down which filters but have lost the book.

Anyway here are some more posts:

November One Photo Focus

https://emiliopasquale.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/octobers-one-photo-focus-2/

https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/november-one-photo-focus-and-wpc-treat/#comment-45140

One Photo Focus – November

https://marshaleith.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/onephotofocus-for-november/

Thanks for visiting.

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One Four Challenge: July Week 4

Week 4

Good morning from a warmer Hastings day.  We were almost springlike yesterday. I wonder how long this barmy weather will last until winter rears it’s cold head again.

Anyway it is week 4 of this challenge hosted by Robyn at Captivate Me.  This is where we get to edit a photo over 4 weeks.  For me it is a great change to learn new editing skills.  Anyway last Sunday I sat in the sun working on this final edit. This was started last month but I could finish it due to health issues.

For my final week’s version I just played around in Photoshop and then in Photoscape.  Don’t ask me what I did.  I just let the creative juices flow. I do know I used some of the preset filters in Photoshop before going over to Photoscape where I played around with their preset filters too.  Then I imported it into Lightroom and converted to black and white.

I quite like this affect.  It is like an optical illusion now.  My son, who is dyslexic looked at it and couldn’t see the face.  What do you see?

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Original

 

Let me know what you think with my poll.

 

https://robynsfineart.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/one-four-challenge-july-week-4/

https://lensaddiction.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/one-four-challenge-july-wk-4/

https://emiliopasquale.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/one-four-challenge-july-week-4/

http://travelwithintent.com/2015/07/27/daisies-in-hyde-park-2/

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/07/27/one-four-challenge-july-week-4/

https://aperture64.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/vintage-charlestown/

Thanks for visiting.

One Four Challenge: Week 3 July

Good morning from a cool Hastings day.

Last month I wasn’t able to finish off this challenge hosted by Robyn over at Captivate Me.  This is where we take a photo and edit it four times to see where it takes us.

This morning I woke up early and decided to get up and play with Photoshop.

I deleted the distracting background, added a drop shadow and then played around with the sliders on Camera Raw.  With this I reduced the clarity, increased the vibrance and decreased the exposure.

Then I added a new background using one of the presets – a nature texture.  I then played around with a brush for the shrift.  And added the zen border to add to the texture.

Here are the first two weeks.

Week 1

Week 2

Let me know what you think.  I know that my Photoshop skills are a work in progress.

https://robynsfineart.wordpress.com/2015/07/20/one-four-challenge-july-week-3/

https://lensaddiction.wordpress.com/2015/07/20/one-four-challenge-wk-3-july/

https://emiliopasquale.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/one-four-challenge-july-week-3/

https://marshaleith.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/one-four-challenge-for-july-riverwalk-week-3/

https://aperture64.wordpress.com/2015/07/20/charlestown-vintage-salt-print/

One Four Challenge – July Week 3

Thanks for visiting.

I won’t be able to go through my reader this morning.  I have my painting class today. So catch up with you all later.

One Four Challenge: June Week 2

Week 2 for the month of June has come around so fast for this great challenge hosted by Robyn at Captivate Me.  This is where we take one photo and see how we can edit our photos.  It is a great way of learning new skills with all our various photo editing software.

So for this week I played around with the exposure sliders in Lightroom.  I adjusted the whites, blacks and shadows.  Then I cropped it and added a slight vignette.  I think the statue now stands out from the background now.

Compare this with last week’s version. Let me know what you think.

https://robynsfineart.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/one-four-challenge-june-week-2/

https://emiliopasquale.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/one-four-challenge-june-week-1/

https://marshaleith.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/one-four-challenge-for-june-picnic-table-week-2/

Thanks for visiting.

One Four Challenge: June Week 1

A new month and a new image to work on for Robyn’s challenge at Captivate Me.  This is where we take a photo and edit it each week to see what we can come up with.  It is also a chance to learn new techniques as well with Photoshop and other photo editing programmes.

My image this month was taken last Friday at Cornwall Park.  For this first week I played around with the exposure, tweaking the clarity, sharpness and colour cast slightly.

So it will be fun to see how this will end up.  Any ideas and constructive criticism is welcome.

https://robynsfineart.wordpress.com/2015/06/01/one-four-challenge-may-week-4-2/

Thanks for visiting.

One Four Challenge: May Week 4

Where has this month gone.  We are now onto week 4 of Mays image, which is part of Robyn’s challenge over at Captivate Me

So this week I had to go monochrome.  This final edit was edited in Lightroom. I just played around with the sliders.  In particular with the clarity, luminescence and vignette.

There is a poll to let me know which one you prefer.

I will catch up with everyone later as I have my acrylic painting class.

https://robynsfineart.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/one-four-challenge-may-week-4/

One Four Challenge ~ #4

https://aperture64.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/one-four-challenge-hanging-blossom-mixed-media/

https://emiliopasquale.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/one-four-challenge-may-week-4/

One Four Challenge – May Week 4

Walt Disney Concert Hall – week 4

Thanks for visiting.

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Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

One Four Challenge: May Week 3

Good morning from a cool and cloudy Hastings day.

Drum roll please:

I now have a new computer.  I have to give a huge thanks to my son for helping to pay for a huge upgrade from what the insurance company was going to pay.

Here are the specs:

• 2.6GHz Intel i7-4720HQ quad core processor
• 16GB RAM
• 1TB hard drive
• 4GB AMD Radeon R9 M265X graphics
• Windows 8.1
• DVD Writer
• Brand/Model: Toshiba Satellite P70-B097
• Processor: Intel Core i7-4720HQ Quad core Processor – 2.6 GHz – 3.6GHz
• Memory: 16GB DDR3L (2x8GB) 1600MHz Ram – (total memory expandable to 16GB)
• Disk Drive: Hybrid 1TB SATA (5400rpm) + 8G SSD cache
• Optical Drive: DVD-RW
• Display: 17.3″ Full HD with LED Backlit Display (1920 x 1080)

Having a son who knows about computers helps a lot.  So I got a $2000 computer for half the cost.  So I am a happy chappy.  It is a bigger screen as well which helps.  When I came to editing in Lightroom I got a better response from the sliders.  And Photoshop works like a dream.  What is also new for me is that the keyboard lights up too.  And it is lovely to type with, compared to what I was using.

So onto my One Four post this week.  I cropped the image more closely to the branch and then just used the preset filter – pastel strokes and did a HDR edit as well through photoshop.

Then for something different.  As everyone knows I have been going to an acrylic painting class.  We have a competition on at the moment run by the Fruitgrowers Association here in the Hawke’s Bay.  So I am entering it with these two paintings.  I decided to combine my photography and painting.  I edited the photo with Photoshop to get a brush stroke affect.  I then printed the image onto a special paper which I then ironed onto the canvas.  Because the canvas has an uneven surface ti didn’t quite come out as well as I wanted.  Then I just painted the apples.  We had to showcase our fruit.  No grapes or anything to do with our wine industry was not allowed.

https://robynsfineart.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/one-four-challenge-may-week-3/

 https://emiliopasquale.wordpress.com/2015/05/17/one-four-challenge-may-week-3/

https://marshaleith.wordpress.com/2015/05/17/one-four-challenge-for-may-cottage-life-week-3/

One Four Challenge – May Week 3

Walt Disney Concert Hall – week 3

https://aperture64.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/one-four-challenge-hanging-blossom-watercolour/

One Four Challenge ~ #3

Thanks for visiting.

One Four Challenge: May – Week 2

I don’t know where the time goes.  It is time for week 2 of May’s photo for Robyn’s challenge over at Captivate Me.

I have only done a simple edit this week.  I have a Dummies guide to Photoshop CC so was doing some reading about selecting colours.  So with this knowledge I deleted the background and added a new sky with clouds.   I do think it brings out the apples a bit more.

Tell me what you think about this week.  I am open to some constructive criticism.  I would love some advice on what to do next, just for me to learn new techniques.

https://robynsfineart.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/one-four-challenge-may-week-2/

https://marshaleith.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/one-four-challenge-for-may-cottage-life-week-2/

One Four Challenge ~ #2

https://aperture64.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/one-four-challenge-hanging-blossom-monochrome/

One Four Challenge – May Week 2

Walt Disney Concert Hall – week 2

Thanks for visiting and I will catch up with your blogs later.

One Four Challenge:May/Week 1

Good morning from a cool sunny Hastings day.

Robyn from Captivate Me has started of a new month of her One Four Challenge. This is great for us who love editing to get a photo and edit it a different way each week.

So for May I am going for a autumn theme.  The apple trees are or were fully loaded down with apples.  For my first edit I adjusted the exposure and clarity. It was underexposed and it was hard to pick out the leaves clearly.

For more information here is Robyn’s blog to check out.

https://robynsfineart.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/one-four-challenge-may-week-1/

One Four Challenge – May Week 1

https://marshaleith.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/one-four-challenge-for-may-cottage-life/

https://aperture64.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/one-four-challenge-hanging-blossom/

This should be interesting to do this month.

Thanks for visiting.

One Four Challenge: Review Month

This is a great challenge to learn or stretch our editing muscles for our images.  This challenge is hosted by Robyn over at

https://robynsfineart.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/one-four-challenge-april-review/.

I had some successes over the past few months that I have participated in this challenge:

November’s photo

December’s photo

 

Week 4

February’s image

Week 1

But  this last image was a big failure.  It was taken during the golden hour in the evening but it was a bit windy which meant that the shutter speed wasn’t enough to really freeze it.  I gave up in the 4th week as I was having major problems with my computer.  So this week I backed up all my photos to an external hard drive and deleted a lot of photos.  This really did lighten the load for my poor computer.  Which also meant it didn’t mind me using Photoshop again.

So after spending several hours on this final image I came up with this.

I ended up using one of the preset filters – a sketch filter to outline the thistles and played around with layers.  I did go and find some free textured papers for the grunge look.

So what have I learnt with this.  You do need to have a good image to start with.  I think my most successful month was the dandelion image.  That did have a lot more potential. I found with this last month the black and white edit seemed to be the end of the road.  Which is why for this last edit I just went a bit abstract.

Let me know what you think of my first real edit with Photoshop CC.

I have managed to do these tags but they were just basically background papers, stamps and text boxes.  Plus I played around a bit with text styles.

Thanks for visiting,