Lost in Time

This pic was taken out along some ATV trails near Richfield, Utah. We were tooling along when we came across this piece of history. It had multiple colors of paint on it and wasn't that interesting in "real life". I, unfortunately (and accidently), overwrote my original so I can't show a before and after. I will include another shot so you get the drift of what changed. I first desaturated the pic and then did a "fake duotone" based in Scott Kelby's instructions (sort of) out of his Photoshop Elements 5 book. Anyway I picked the color I wanted for this pic and put it in my foreground color. Created a new layer and did a alt-backspace to fill in the color in the new layer, changed the blend mode to color, and adjust color, choosing remove color. Then I flattened the pic. I then created a new layer and filled it with blur. I painted with blur on the background. I gave it a vignette and there you have it. Photoshop is a-a-a-amazing!

Autumn Splender

My daughter, Monica, and I went to Opher to take some picture. As we rounded the corner we saw the most beautiful display of color. Monica is showing an interest in photography. She may see what draws me to the camera. Maybe she will develop the love for photography as her mother has and grandmother had. I can't wait to see what work she creates.

Here is my "after" picture. I edited it in Photoshop CS3 but the technique could be duplicated in Elements. I changed the tint in RAW to a little more red. Then I took the pic into Photoshop and cropped it some, getting a better composition. I duplicated the layer and darkened it. Then I flattened the image. Then I used a spotlight technique of Scott Kelby's. I used the filter Render and chose Lighting effects. From that screen I made the circle larger and centered it over my leaf. I chose the style flashlight and clicked ok. It seemed way too dark so I backed off the opacity until I liked the looks of it. I liked the end result.

Sundance Fall Wonderland

Recently I had the opportunity to go with Bonnie's gals (nurses from the hospital) to Sundance on a photography expedition. Bonnie really is very good and graciously give us tips and tricks to improve our photography skills. It was a beautiful day and we are so blessed to live in a place that we can enjoy the outdoors safely. I learned some things and worked on building friendships.

Here is my "before" picture. Straight out of the camera.