Additional Changes - Week 7 Layer Photo

This has been a little frustrating in getting this photo the way I wanted it. I think that this one is a little better than the first option. I searched on the options within photoshop elements to help me with working with more of their tools and this is what I came up with. Looks a little 3D"ish". I think that this will be fun software once I learn how to use it better.

Photoshop - Layer photos, crop, resize - Week 7

Manipulating photos in photoshop sure does require some skill! I guess it goes with the saying the more you use it the better you get at it. I certainly am new to these functions and found this to be challenging. I plan on working more with the photos to crop the images a little better to get the best effect. I had trouble maneuvering the marquees and the magic want to crop exactly where I wanted, but this is my first attempt and hope to see huge improvements over the next several weeks as we use this program more. The first photo I used for the background was one from my last week landscape assignment of the snowmobile trail through the field.

The next photo I took was one with my husband and brother on their snomachines with the red bridge in the background. My process was to try to extract them from the photo and layter them onto the new image through the process we learned about this week.

I was hoping for a better result, and as mentioned, will play/work with other photos to get better at utilizing the functions better.

Here is what I came up with...suggestions on how to crop just the images out and not the red barn and background...I think the contract is a little higher and would like to make the image appear softer and without such a high contrast.

Process for Landscaping Photos - Additional Landscaping Photos - Part II

My process was to try and visualize my photographs in its final form as I was taking pictures. I tired to use the RofT in my photos along with the S curve and also the framing technique when taking my photos. Also tired to vary the colors in the photos as much of them were "white" due to the natural beauty of the snow and the expanse of the blue sky that was present this day.

Landscaping

Landscape: “a picture representing a section of natural, inland scenery, as of prairie, woodland, mountains...an expanse of natural scenery seen by the eye in one view.” Webster’s new Universal Unabridged Dictionary

I really enjoyed this assignment. I love landscape photography. Just looking at certain scenes brings peace, joy, sadness and a awe of the beauty that is before me. I love the colors and hues that can be present. Much like the beach seens that I have included. These were obviously not taken this time of year, but were take in August of 2009 & 2010 in OOB, Maine.

Yet the difference in seasons brings a vast difference in my ability to travel in search of photographs for this assignment. My quest took me on a 93 mile snowmobile ride, which last "too" long according to my husband who rode with me and had so much patience with me as I stopped quite often whenever the scene in front of me needed to be captured for my assignment. What a beautiful state we live in and might not have been able to capture such views if we had not travel off the beaten path into the mountains and valleys of Central Vermont. I really had a hard time choosing the 5 best photos, so I hope that you bear with me as I add a few more than expected. Hope you enjoy the views as much as I did!

Week 5 - Elements of Photographic Composition & Aesthetics

Each week seems to give me a deeper insight into photography. Things that I wouldn't normally think about, such as simplicity, the rule of thirds, lines, balance, framing and mergers have all added to how I look at new photographic opportunities. Looking at/for geographic shapes or S curve of the objects to give line and definition to my photos instead of the basic point and shoot or simple things as adjusting your own angle to take a good photograph to give more options of an uncluttered background are things to keep in mind as I take future photos. What I find as an Ah-ha light blub going off was the rule of thirds. Viewing photos and placement sure does add more dimension and wasn't something I had every heard about.

One tip that I found on a website, www.digital-photography-school.com, is a tip for how to take a good photo even though you have a distracting background is to use Aperture to blur the background to have the central focus of the object to stand out more! "The quickest way to see the impact of this stragety is to switch your camera into aperture priority mode and to take a number of shots at different apertures. Start with an aperture of f/20 and work your way down - one stop at a time. Once you get down to under f/4 you'll start seeing the background in the shots getting blurrier and blurrier."

Light and Color Part 2

Sorry Not all pictures posted for my blog or in the right order, I thought that the eggs and the flowers would be examples of the Complementary Color Scheme and the others would fall into the Analogous Color Scheme, I've posted the others here. I thought the black and rhinestone photo was neat, but a little bright. Any idea how to capture the twinkling rhinestones without too much glare?