2B Logo Challenge

This was an wonderfully challenging lesson. I am not 100% satisfied with the end results.  I have a few things I want to change on it.  I used a logo I had professionally done for the center.  It didn't seem to be a strong enough file though to show up very well even before I added the vintage peel. I also don't have a full understanding as to why the center portion of the peel has a pink tinge to it.

I had taken a blogging course at one time where we had  lesson on how to create our blog button for people to grab and I kind of by passed that when other things pulled at my time.  I have an idea of how I can do it.  That will be the final thing after I fine tune this into the 'final answer'.

I learned a lot of new things by doing this challenge and I look forward to using them for future projects.   It only took me about two hours but that is because I kept going back and forth between elements and the lesson...pausing and redoing along the way trying to keep up.

The added bonus is that it helped me learn more about the tools in PSE 12 which I am just now starting to use.

Sad thing is....it's time to hit the hay and I want to stay and play!!

This grown up responsibility stuff can really get you down sometimes.  (Smiling).

Thank you, my Dear inspirational Kim.

A Little Bit of Magic - Day 34 2 B

I don't know....I think I need to play with this 'magic' a litle bit more.  

The top is the final.  This lower is the original.  It's not hitting me in a 'magical' way for some reason.  Maybe I need to try a different photo, a different 'magic' layer maybe.  

Or maybe....working on it at late hours of the night after a day of brain work really does affect my creativity sometimes.

But..another thing learned...for future 'masterpieces'.

Style - Mine - 2BD19

My dear inspiration, Kim, has challenged us to show our style.  Photographic style.  Editing style.  Artisitic style.

I have to admit....I still wonder what I can call my style. I know where my passion is. Nature. Wildlife.  The outdoors.  God's given gift of the earth's bounty and beauty.  I know I've burned myself out a bit on just the shots of a single bird...a photo without a story.  I know...I keep my hand a bit in the portrait photography....but not enough to get some financial satisfaction out of it. (But neither has my non portrait style - a result, I say though, of the job that was supposed to pay the mortgage...now no more....now changed...with high hopes of 'being fun' again.) Portrait photography...I can easily find an excuse for not doing it...on a regular basis.  Nature, wildlife...I am very patient with.

I love the candid shots...sort of like the one above.  I guess, when I think about it...street photography.  Not posed.  I love photographing those that are so comfortable in front of the camera that all I have to do is create with my lens.  The setup stage is all natural.  They do it themselves....especially when they aren't aware of it.  My passion for 'surprise' maybe.  More so though...my passion for natural, simplicity, serendipity.

This shot above..stirs so many passions in me. Maybe because it was one of the few awesome images I captured during a week that was supposed to offer up so much more to me than what it did.  Maybe because of some of the awesome company (my mom and niece and her boyfriend) that joined me on the trip.  Maybe...just because....I'm proud of this shot.  It isn't just a single bird.  It tells a story...for me. It's a beach...and I can hear the waves in the background. The sandpipers just seemed to invite me over.

I like them in focus and her out of focus. It makes me want to walk on the beach again.

My style...not a true...all in focus landscape type person.  I love bokeh.  I love...blur.  I love dreamy.  I love mystical.

I did crop in on this.  I did add texture even though the picture worked for me even without the texture.

This picture...makes me wonder if I shouldn't make this a vacation location on a regular basis.

Does it stir anything up for you?  Does it make you wonder?  Smile? Dream? Does it tell a story to you?

2B Ace Chairs

A new editing challenge.  Maybe a bit much?  Not the normal me.  Creatively squashed again from the 9 to 5.  Just trying to brighten the day. Needing a bit of color...pizazz.

Added kk-whitewashed texture with a couple layers, one in soft light, one in screen.  Then I added a layer of contrast and increased the red and yellow saturation.

It needs something else though.  A bit of difference in color between the two chairs maybe.

I want a house with a wrap around porch...filled with colorful chairs, rocking chairs, porch swing...to sit in and relax and enjoy the magical sounds of the outdoors. Reading a good book.  A cup of hot tea. Snapping shots of the wildlife as they visit.

2B - Day 3

Another one of those 'serendipity' moments.  Probably not the best for what this Day 3 assignment had in mind...and not what I had initially intended on doing for this project...but it happened.  I came home after an awesome ride home in an awesomely gorgeous snowfall and just started snapping pictures in my yard.  This little snowman sits in my yard during this time of the year.  Normally...unnoticed for the most part.  Covered with snow though...it caught my eye more than usual.  So I captured it's profile...far and near.  If I had thought that I would use it for this project, they might have been a bit more different...but I think I was thinking more of the fact that it was snowing...wet snow...camera unprotected...me with limited time as I had an appointment to go to.

I downloaded onto my mac and well...I decided it would work for this.

The one in the top left hand corner has KK frosted texture added to it.  This is also one of my first uses of the lightroom templates...and it took me forever to figure out how to get it printed to just a jpeg file.  (duh!!!)  In a rush and decided to be like a 'guy' and not find the directions that I know are at my fingertips as I skipped over that chapter of KK Roundtrip and definitely need to go back through it all again.

So today....this morning....as I wait for the day to warm a bit more before taking a long overdue walk...I must say I am proud of myself...for discovering something new. For learning something.  For accomplishments.

For KK inspiration.