April's calendar freebie

It only seems appropriate that April's calendar page originates with an iPhone photograph. I haven't touched a "real" camera since I got the darned thing! Not that I've abandoned them....heavens, no. It's just that I've been enamoured with this new gadget and am constantly looking at items around my home with fresh eyes. Like the pot of purple tulips a neighbour generously gifted me with for bringing her back some grocery goodies from the U.S. on our winter getaway. A sweet gesture and now that they're blooming, a wonderful photographic opportunity I refused to let slip away. I brought one of the tulip images into photoshop and the result is the calendar page, above. Just click on it and you'll go to its page on Flickr, where the "all sizes" button will let you download the size of your choice. I think it would be great wallpaper for the month; it should also print out to a respectable five or six inches square if you want to stick it on your fridge or filing cabinet.

The following two shots were also taken with the iPhone (all three photos here were taken with the Hipstamatic app, quickly becoming a huge favourite of mine).

My next iPhone adventure will likely be to add to the Hipstamatic app's selection of "lenses" and "film", as my understanding is that there are several add-on packs you can buy. Uh-oh.

And thanks to all of you who have asked after my health. Today I actually started to feel like myself again...yay!

Yet another iPhone post

Please forgive this obsession. It's just that this darned iPhone takes the coolest photographs. None of these have been altered whatsoever, except to add the blurb beneath them as well as a watermark; they're straight from my iPhone.

Above, a photograph I took last week as I got out of Nancy's car down on Queen Street East, near Logan, when we headed down to The Roy for a great lunch. I used the Toy Camera app, set on random the Hipstamatic app for that shot. (Note to self: When under the weather, triple-check your blogging before you post!) Below, The Roy's wallpaper, using the QuadCamera app.

And isn't this last one just the coolest?

We all have Nancy to thank for this app: KaleidoVid. You thought the other apps were addicting? Wait until you try this one!

Wondering what I had photographed? My leggings!

(My bad. I have been out of sorts for several days now and I should have checked over this blog post before I let it go live. The photograph of the bicycle was taken with the Hipstamatic app, not Toy Camera. I knew that, so why didn't I get it right the first time? Blame it on this foggy brain. Also, Blogger won't let me change any photos or make them any bigger than "medium". I am SO not impressed.)

Art Creations Friday, meet iPhone

Yesterday I downloaded the Art Creations Friday challenge image, a gorgeous texture. Today I took a few pictures of Tippi with my new iPhone. And this afternoon I decided to combine the challenge image with one of those iPhone images; results, above.

The technique was not complicated. First, I squared off the photograph of Tippi, then made some curves adjustments, lightened the photo and boosted the contrast. I then made some additional colour adjustments, just minor ones, using the Color Balance command. Next, I applied the Pioneer Woman's Vintage action and brought the opacity of that down to 80 percent. I then placed the ACF texture on top and chose the Saturation blending mode at 100 percent. Lastly, I merged the layers together and used a clipping mask I found online (unfortunately, I don't remember where) to soften the edges and round out the corners.

I have been under the weather for the past couple of days; possibly a mild case of food poisoning although I suspect a glass of merlot I had Wednesday night is the true culprit. Today is better although not yet normal; it was good to have enough energy/concentration to get in some photoshopping!

Pop Art Mug

More iPhone, this time created with the Pop Art Lite app.

I. Am. Smitten.

The soldier's return

Take 38 seconds and give this a look. Even if you're not "a dog person", this should warm your heart. I could watch this over and over again.

Lovin' my iPhone

I guess I'm one of the cool kids now -- I've joined the iPhone club. Like most of you, I've had a cell phone for ages (I got my first one back in '94), but I've never been a fan. But this baby? I love it. It's easy to use, the variety of apps is astonishing, and the camera is so much fun. Above, a shot taken with the Hipstamatic app. No photoshopping whatsoever, except to add the title. That is straight from the iPhone, including the square crop and the faded edging. It's all done by the Hipstamatic app.

The Toy Camera app produced this gem. Again, this is straight from the iPhone with no photoshopping. I have this app set on random, so I never know what to expect. So far, it's been a blast.

I can see it now. This iPhone photography is going to be addictive!

Green Day

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

The captain is 50% Irish (his mom is a Whelan) and I have Irish ancestors as well. But no, we will not be drinking any green beer today. Nor will we have green bread. We were in Dominion on Monday (sorry....Metro) and they had loaves of bakery bread tinted bright green with food colouring. It was a tad alarming but I'm sure it would delight the young, and young-at-heart. Have a great green day!

Art Creations Friday...on Tuesday

It's been several weeks since I participated in an Art Creations Friday challenge. Every week I download the image and then, before I know it, the week has slipped right past me. So, last Friday I downloaded this week's image (Waterhouse's Ophelia) with good intentions but once again didn't get to it...until now. You see, I created yet another new texture (please read the previous two blog posts to get the entire scoop) and wanted to try it out. Poor Ophelia popped into my head and, a few clicks later, she popped up onto my screen and away I went. Results, above. I think I shall call it Ophelia Fading. As for ACF, I'm going with the better-late-than-never philosophy. Sigh.

This texture creation process is addictive. Here's the newest one, the one I used on the artwork above. Just click on the image below to go to its Flickr page, where the All Sizes link will take you to the download page.

Hope you give this one a try too!

Something new from something old

First off, I want to apologize to anyone who tried to download yesterday's textures from Flickr and couldn't. I have gone over all my settings at Flickr today and everything should be back to normal now.

And secondly, it's time to show you what I've done with those two textures! (Thanks Marie, for the reminder!)

Let's start by having a look at the two photos I used, shown above. Those are straight from my files, no photoshopping done whatsoever except to create the layout you see. We'll tackle the gargoyle first.

The gargoyle was photographed last month during our visit to Epcot. After making some minor adjustments to the photo (curves, brightness, contrast), I placed the "cool" texture on top, on its own layer, rotating the texture 90 degrees so it fit atop the gargoyle image. Yes, I could've stretched the texture with its landscape orientation to fit the gargoyle with its portrait orientation, but I decided not to do that. I then chose the Difference layer blending mode and kept it at 100% opacity. Next, I merged the two layers together and messed about with the artistic "painterly" filters and with the Color Balance. After I was satisfied with that, I upped the contrast a bit and then used a clipping mask to rough up the edges.

Now for some flowers.

I started the roses artwork last night, but wasn't satisfied with it and left it for today's fresh eyes. This is a photograph I took several years ago, from a photo shoot for a local florist. I had forgotten all about those photos until last night, when I went searching for a floral photo to use with the "warm" texture. After deciding the roses in the terra cotta vase image was perfect for this project, I squared it off, made some minor adjustments (curves, saturation, brightness, contrast and a small amount of sharpening), then placed the texture on top on its own layer, stretching it to fit the square photo and then using the Overlay layer blending mode at 100% opacity. I wasn't happy with the texture on the flowers though, so I used a layer mask at a very low opacity to "erase" it, just over the areas that bothered me. (This could be done in Photoshop Elements using the eraser tool at a low opacity and a careful hand.)

At this point I was tired and ready for bed, so I shut down the computer. This needed fresh eyes, not droopy ones. So, after staring at the project this morning, I came to the conclusion that it needed some sort of edging. I used the eyedropper tool to capture one of the lighter tones in the image and applied a smudgey edge. I was close to liking this enough to call it finished, but I wasn't there yet. After a few more experiments that were tried and then deleted, I flattened the entire project and applied the Dry Brush filter. To my eyes, this was just what it needed and I called it a day!

So there you have it. A little peek over my shoulder as I create. I hope you give these textures a photoshop workout too!

Creating textures from photos

Earlier this month, Jerry Jones over at ShadowHouse Creations published a texture tutorial highlighting his method for creating his marvellous textures. I finally took the time to put his ideas into practice for myself and I can certainly see how this could become addictive! His instructions are perfect for anyone like me who regularly takes photographs of textural objects like peeling paint, cracked concrete, torn paper, etc. So, if you're like me in that regard, give this a try!

The above two textures are the ones I created by combining several of my photos in one photoshop project and then playing with blending modes and opacity, as Jerry suggests. To download these two to use in your artwork, just click on each of the images above, which will whisk you away to their respective pages on Flickr. Click on the "all sizes" button above each image and then pick your size. Enjoy!

(Note: For some reason, the "all sizes" button for these wasn't showing up on Flickr. I've gone over all my settings there and it looks okay now. Sorry if that caused anyone a problem!)

Marching along

Back in January, I promised a little digital goodie to everyone who responded to my One World One Heart post and left me an email address. When it came time to make good on that promise, it proved to be a bit problematic, as many folks didn't include email addresses in their comments. I was also truly overwhelmed by the number of comments I received! I worked my way through the comments as best I could and I apologize if I missed you.

This calendar page is the digital goodie I sent out. Now that March has arrived, I'm going to share this with everyone -- just click on the image or HERE to go to its Flickr page, where you can click on the "all sizes" link to download the size of your choice. Please feel free to use it as your wallpaper or perhaps even print it out to stick on your fridge or filing cabinet. I hope you like it!

I photographed these crocuses last spring out at the Guild Inn; I blogged about that day in my Finding Inspiration Close To Home post. The Inn is a photographic gold mine and I hope to return soon for another round of shooting!

My home and native land

It's good to be back in the land of the maple leaf and the timbit!

I can't wait to go roll up my rim!

(For my American friends who are baffled by all that, have a look HERE.)

(Photo taken yesterday, at the Fort Erie border crossing. Photoshopping done this afternoon, taking a little down time to play on the computer.)

Scenes from the road

We'll be home soon and there's much to anticipate -- being reunited with our pets, seeing friends and family, I'm even looking forward to my own little pillow and my own modest bathroom. Ah, the little things that mean so much. But it will feel a bit odd not driving for hours, camera at the ready. These photos are just a few of the many I took today, never leaving my seat.

That was then

This was yesterday, late in the morning. I took photos while the captain loaded up the car.

This was today, mid-afternoon. I took photos while the captain drove the car.

I have two words.

Not.

Impressed.