Digital Group Black & White Assignment

So, the assignment for this weeks Digital Group, was to choose a picture that we would like to convert to black and white using PhotoShop, Elements, or other digital manipulation software. Armed with some instructions, I used Channel Mixer on PhotoShop CS to convert this picture of my grandson, Spencer, to black and white. My son, Gary, his wife, Jenny, and Spencer visited us in August. We took them all out to dinner at Timbers Restaurant. Instead of placing a lemon in our water glasses, we were all given limes. Well, me being a nasty Grandma, I decided that it was time that Spencer was introduced to limes. We all laughed and laughed at the faces he was making, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to click a few snaps of him with his sour face on. The son-of-a-gun of it was, he wouldn't let any of us take the "forbidden" fruit away from him, so he happily gummed away at it until all that was left was the rind. Silly, silly baby boy!! Grandma loves you sooooooooo much!!

This is a detail of yet another gravestone. I love the serenity on the cherubs' face. It too, was taken with a piece of plastic wrap fastened over my lens hood to give it a softer look. I loved Ians' personal program on Pinhole Cameras and got my brain to thinkin' (uh, OH)! I thought that the images he presented had a romantic feel and would lend themselves well to an old-fashioned sepia tone.
This was a fun shot to do. My husband had received a 5-light LED lamp (the kind you place on your baseball cap) for Christmas. I took plastic wrap and elastic banded (word?) it over the individual lights. I then took magic markers and coloured over the plastic to produce coloured light. I then placed the camera on BULB, then waved it in front of the lens. After that, I tried all kinds of light sources (laser pointer, bicycle flasher, etc.) and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I spent many a sleepless night "painting with light".
I was trying out the on-board macro setting on my camera, adjusting depth-of-field and trying many angles in order to achieve this shot. It is a simple image, but I had never explored this setting before. It was taken a couple of falls ago, just after acquiring my DSLR.
I just loved the curves and colours this image produced. I was testing out the new polarizing lens I purchased from EBay, but caveat emptor it is a linear one instead of a circular, so you could imagine my frustration in trying to "dial" it in - it simply wasn't doing what I wanted it to do. I spoke with Don about that later on, and he told me what the problem was - I didn't know that there were two kinds of polarizing lenses! I am now on the path to purchasing a "proper" one. Ah me, more money spent on my craft.

I've entitled this one "Cinnamom Hearts", because of the stylized heart-shape that the cinnamon sticks form. I finally broke down and purchased a light box system from Henry's (my old lights broke - guess I'm too hard on my toys). I really enjoy taking pictures using the light box - kinda allows me to just play around with different props I have lying around. I was busy taking light box shots (in my 'jammies, of course), when I noticed that it was snowing outside. I adjusted the tripod and camera to point out my studio window, and focused on the back of my van. I like all the lines that the ice, light, and window create. The added blobs of snow created an interesting texture.
I should have cropped the left-hand side of this picture to give it more balance - I may yet. The white in the left corner is a bit distracting. Anyway, it is a detail of a gravestone in the Old St. Thomas Church Graveyard. As far as I know, the grave belongs to the first minister's wife, who was purportedly a very pious woman. Upon her death, and after the erection of her gravestone, the marker immediately turned black. It was then replaced a few years later, but again turned black. Myth tells that the person buried beneath a stone that turns black was a witch in life (and that's why it turns black). That was the story as it was told to me. Take from it what you will, but it makes for an interesting picture and story.

I managed to capture this image using modelling clay and a wire fed up through the stem of the African Violet. I fussed and fussed with trying to keep the flower stem upright in the egg shell. It took awhile, but this is what finally came out. I removed some undesirable elements in post production, but other than that, this is what my camera caught.
I shot this one last year. It was an assignment photo from the time I took the Introduction to Photography course from Phil Bell. Esthetically, I think it's rather pleasing, although maybe I should have removed the bench.
This is my cat, Mrs. Weezer A'Wiggins. Huh, I just realized that she weighs as much as her age (which is 14)! She's like most cats, aloof, BUT she comes a'runnin' when the Whiska Tasty Temptations bag is shaken. It is then that she's put through a battery of tricks. She's sooooooo smart. She shakes both paws, sits pretty, waves "Hi", lies down, gives kisses, and falls down "dead" when I say "Bang!" We also own a couple of tub chairs. One is HER chair. She loves to get spun 'round in it. What a goof! Sharon, you'll like this one, we adopted her when she was two, from a foster parent, who was a member of Animal Aide.

Apres Personal Program

This stand of birch was shot in Waterworks Park, I have it copyrighted 2006, but it was actually taken this year - in fact, all the images I've posted, and will post, were taken this year (guess I'm still in 2006 mode). Anyway, this was one of the last shots I needed in order to complete my personal project. It was a sunny, although cool day, but undaunted, I shot on. In order to create this image, I used a small piece of glass, which I borrowed from an unused picture frome. I smeared vaseline on the diagonal, placed the underside of the glass (unsmeared part), on my 18-55mm lens, then snapped a few shots until I was satisfied with the outcome - viva la digitale! I didn't notice the wooden fence in the right corner of the pic, not sure if I like that or not.

This is Dylan Drew. His dad calls him "Double D". I wanted to get some baby shots for the softness portion of my personal program. I used a DIY diffuser (made from bristol board and a piece of white satin), which I placed over my 420EX flash. Dylan was 5 months old when I took this pic. I just let him do what babies do, and shot him all the while. I was quite happy at my first attempts at portrait photography. Not sure why I don't like taking pictures of people - too animated, I guess. He's a wiggly, jiggly, drooly cutie, and was totally uncooperative - too many new and different sights, sounds, and textures to discover. Out of approxiamately 50 shots, I did manage to get about 15 good ones - giggly, wiggly, jiggly!
I shot this pic on another cold, yet bright day. My husband, Rob, and I drove around to the various graveyards around town, looking for the most interesting gravestones to shoot with a piece of Saran Wrap over my lens hood. I actually used two layers of wrap to get this shot. I used my fingernail to roughen the plastic, and scrunched it up as tight as possible to give it some texture. I love the softness around the picture that using the Saran produced. I really enjoyed discovering most of the new techniques I learned from the article that I chose for my personal program. I will continue to use these things as the shot dictates, and they are now valuable additions to my camera kit.

Yummmmmmm, Lychee!!

Oh, I got all excited last night after our Digital Club meeting at Grant's place. I had taken a few shots last week of lychee fruit (my VERY most favourite - to me, they're like potato chips - can't stop at one). Anyway tonight, with there not being anything good on the tube (is there really anymore?), I decided to spark up the ol' computer, and try some of the skills I learned last night. Now, my last night brain and my tonight brain have not yet meshed together, but I did manage to render this shot in PhotoShop. Thanx to a mag I borrowed from Jim, I learned the new skill of doing a two-photo effect. Not being fully versed in Photoshop (I keep saying that, don't I??), I probably added too much colour, and over-emphasized what shouldn't have been, but at least I'm experimenting with this most powerful tool - this is the end result. Yay! I managed to size the image for the web. Thanks Jim and Dan for that lesson, and thanks to Grant for the paper copy. So now, when I get a free minute, I'll have to do the same to the rest of my pics on this blog. Whew!

On Hold for Now

Well people, I've been busy working on my personal project for the Photography Guild, so pictures are not coming as fast and furious as I want. I also did not have an opportunity to photograph the lovely after-effects of our recent ice storm, because I could risk a slip and fall - damn this osteoporosis! Anyway, here's a shot I took a couple of nights ago, kind of a tease of one of the pics I have chosen to include in my personal project. Picasa is a wonderful software tool, I'm really enjoying using it. I hope to post more pics in the near future.