It's so exciting to learn new things!!

I have been playing around with my Photoshop Elements 5.0 and have been having a ball learning as I go!

Here are a few of my plays.

This shot was taken at the local county fair back in October. It was kind of tricky to take the shot with the duck in the cage, but fun trying, and still salvageable. I love the final result.

Here is the original shot before...


...and the after

These shots I experimented with the "eye pop" to focus on their eyes. I used the tutorial from Scraps of Jacki's Life . I love the look. I think it is subtle enough to look natural, but still draws you to their eyes.

Here is the original shot of our daughter before ...

... our daughter after

My original shot of our son before ...

... and the finished shot of our son after

I am trying to find a tutorial to show me how to bring out Christmas lights on a tree. I've seen it where they can be made to almost glow. Just beautiful! You can almost catch them twinkling. I just can't quite figure out how to do it on my program. The tutorials I've seen are not for the PSE 5 that I have. Oh well, it's fun to experiment.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed looking! Remember, your feedback and/or constructive comments are very much welcome!

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

I'm back!!

So much has happened in the last year!

Since my last entry, we've had a new baby boy and he is keeping us quite occupied. Pleasantly so, I might add.

I've still been practicing my composition and have gotten some great work to add to my portfolio. I will be posting some of it over the next little while. I'd love to hear what you think. I know I can always improve. I have so much to learn still.

As you can imagine, I am able to get a lot of practice now photographing our new baby. So I am trying to take advantage while I still have the privilege of watching him sleep, grow, smile, coo, not wiggle too much, etc,. You get the idea. The possibilities are endless.


I will be sharing some of my practice shots as I go, and again, would love your feedback on composition. I love to learn, and as they say, "you're only as good as your last (photo)"

Our computer went kaput just after the new year, and we finally were able to get a new computer! Yay!! So I am finally able to use the Photoshop Elements 5.0 that I bought over a year ago. Of course, the first thing I did was purchase "Photoshop Elements 5.0 for Dummies". I'm so excited!!

Well, I'm off to collect some of my favorites over the last year since I last posted. So please, come back again soon!!

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

Another Practice Shoot!!

Well, this was actually my third practice shoot. I couldn't obtain permission by the parents to post my 2nd practice shoot which took place that same year. I so appreciated the practice anyhow.

It was an outdoor shoot at a local park with a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. I am so excited! I had so much fun! What an adrenaline rush!! They are such a sweet couple and were such a pleasure to work with.

The lighting was not that great that morning though in some of the pictures, but I think they will like them nonetheless. I met them at 9am and the shoot lasted about an hour and a half. I think in the future I will probably try at 8am and see if that might avoid strong sun spots and shadows.

As my thank you for them letting me practice on them, I had an 8x10 and a wallet size of the best shot, made for them, as well as a collage of my favorites, also an 8x10.

I dream of someday owning a Nikon D80, but for now, please excuse the point and shoot(Nikon L11 Coolpix). In the meantime, I am focusing on my composition. CC welcome!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Edited to add correction suggested by helpful comment...

Before (with green sign post)























After (removed sign)

I Think I Inadvertently Got My Christmas Shot!

I was playing around with a spontaneous shot that I had taken of our daughter in her bathroom, and think I may have found my Christmas shot! I had so much fun getting rid of the background and experimenting with different editing tools. I'd love to know what you think.

Original(unedited)


Edit number 1 (filtered, burned to blend, overall clean up, and cloned ribbon tail)

Edit number 2 ~ In Sepia

Very Informative Videos by Rick Sammon

Just some tutorials for my learning toolbox that I want to keep for reference later on when I am able to get a DSLR as there are some great tips I can use even now.

Rick Sammon's Top 10 Photography Tips


Rick Sammon's Digital Start to Finish

Just because I love this one...

Our daughter in a pensive moment of dress-up...

More Itty Bittie Critters...

I'm not one for bugs normally, but when looking at them from a photographer's point of view, look what one can discover!

A Dragonfly on the wall in our garage...

At first glance, "okay, there's a dragonfly. Pretty neat!"

At second glance, "wow, look at the detail in the wings and body."

But even closer, at third glance...look at it's head! It looks like glass! You can see through his head. Gross in a way, yet facinating too!