I've been playing again . . .

TW · Postby TW » June 14th, 2008, 1:47 pm

rjc has sent me a CD full of pictures that she has taken with her new camera. She wanted me to play around with them in my editing programs, and to give her a critique on how she was progressing in her photographic work. Here is the first of the photos that I worked on.

I think that she is really learning how to compose pictures to maintain visual interest and balance. Considering the limitations of her camera, a simple point and shoot, she is doing very well.

TW

Susie Hamilton · Postby **Susie Hamilton** » June 14th, 2008, 3:08 pm

Good eye. Love those photos

Sherry · Postby **Sherry** » June 14th, 2008, 6:20 pm

I agree with you TW, she's got a good eye!

Nice shot, RJC!! :wink:

rjc · Postby **rjc** » June 15th, 2008, 1:17 pm

Thank you all, I'm trying different things to see what works. I love the digital camera because I can delete all the awful pictures. :wink:

Yesterday my daughter and son-in-law were helping me clean out the garage. When I moved here 4 years ago this month a lot of the boxes were put there and then we got the hurricanes, My garage window got blown out and I got water in there which in the heat of Florida turned to mold real quick. Long story short, I have not been able to clean it out because of my COPD so the kids came down to help. I found a lot of picture that I can salvage along with some other things but the most interesting thing I found was my husband's 35 milimeter camera, it has to be at least 25 or 30 years old. It was in the case with the light meter, flash attachment, tripod and manual, I am giving it to my grandson.

Mike Vande · Postby **Mike Vande** » June 16th, 2008, 1:50 am

Nice.

TW · Postby TW » June 16th, 2008, 3:42 pm

I have a weakness for pictures that express an atmosphere, aura, feeling, mood, or tone. In other words, a different ambiance than the normal snapshots that people take. Not that there is anything wrong with taking pictures that will refresh our memories later in life, there is definitely a need for them. However from an artistic view point they tend to be bland. As I work through the pictures that my sister sent me I have found a few choice nuggets. Pure gold to me as I can remember the smells, sounds, and feelings that come with the rain in South Florida. One such picture is:

TW

rjc · Postby **rjc** » June 16th, 2008, 4:19 pm

This happens to be my personal favorite from the last group of pictures I took. Of course it is much better since TW "played" with it. I'm blessed to have a brother who will do this and then call me to tell me how to do it.

TW · Postby TW » June 19th, 2008, 4:46 pm

Here's something a little different.

TW

valley · Postby **valley** » June 20th, 2008, 1:57 am

why type of flower is that in the initial post for this topic?

rjc · Postby **rjc** » June 20th, 2008, 1:13 pm

That is a frangipani and is right outside my back porch, I have about 8 plants there. All of the plants produce the pink flowers, this yellow flower actually branches off one of the pink plants. I am totally baffled by this but is quite beautiful.

The hibiscus is call "Painted Lady", I believe that YellowRose has one of these and she has posted some lovely pictures of her hibiscus.

EagerBeaver · Postby **EagerBeaver** » June 20th, 2008, 3:19 pm

TW how do you make those cutouts against a black background? I'm trying to come up with a photoshop graphic for a green screen for work, and it involves blades of grass over a green surface.

TW · Postby TW » June 20th, 2008, 4:17 pm

Beav,
After the initial cropping to remove the bulk of unwanted background. I used the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M) to remove the larger background areas that remained. Then I used the Magnetic Lasso Tool (L) to remove the irregular shaped areas. Note: When using the Magnetic Lasso use the highest magnification that will fill the work area with having to scroll to cover the area you want to remove, then use a lot of set points to control the lasso. After removal of the background I used the Eraser Tool (E) to clean up any dirty areas that were left. Then it's simply pick what color background you want and flood it will the Paint Bucket Tool (K).

TW

valley · Postby **valley** » June 20th, 2008, 5:34 pm

rjc wrote:That is a frangipani and is right outside my back porch, I have about 8 plants there. All of the plants produce the pink flowers, this yellow flower actually branches off one of the pink plants. I am totally baffled by this but is quite beautiful.

The hibiscus is call "Painted Lady", I believe that YellowRose has one of these and she has posted some lovely pictures of her hibiscus.

Thanks. I recognized the hibiscus, but I have never seen the frangipani. Its a beautiful picture.

Jude 2