Just because I can

I am posting this now because I hope to post something similar in about a year to see whether or not I have progressed!  Bizarre??? Probably, but I tend to lose things you see, so this is as good a place to store it as any!  So, honestly, if you don't want to, you don't need to read any further.  Class dismissed!!!

This might not be a terribly exciting piece (sorry!) but for me, it is exciting in what it represents: my first pic that is a total compilation of bits and pieces.  I still have such a long way to go, but I feel as if this might represent the first few steps.  It will be a long journey I expect!  But it's a fun one, to be sure and one that has already brought me so much pleasure, here at my kitchen table.

This post represents a lot of studying, a lot of pondering, and a lot of experimenting.  I watch the videos that come with the various classes I am taking (at the moment, mostly classes falling under the umbrella of Sebastian Michael's classes, link below) and then I watch them again!  Trying to remember what steps to follow (my logical brain kicking in) I wake up early, too early, but then I HAVE to get up to see if I can figure out something that is bothering me about a piece.  In the above piece, for instance, I was trying to figure out how to darken just that little bit behind the model's head:  just a dark brush?, a curves adjustment on a black layer?, a 50% grey layer to selectively darken?, or (and this one often seems perfect) tossing the whole lot in the bin!  So I slept on it (sort of, I got up at three a.m. again, the problem nagging at my brain) and tried all of these (except the bin part), and I now know how to do all of them, without having to look it all up.  That's what I'm after.  I'm sure there are lots of other ways but it's a start!

The above pic contains purchased content and content provided for free with the course.

photoshopgrunge.com

Getting There

I am excited that I can mess about in Photoshop and not be having to look things up all the time....how to do this and that.  It's getting better.  Still such a far way to go, but there are times when it doesn't feel quite so overwhelming.

This is a shot taken not too far from where I live.  I am so lucky.  I've added many layers and effects, filters (smart and otherwise!), borders, etc etc.  Slowly but surely.

But for sure, I'll be back.

Window Dancing in the Fall.

I continue to move along on my Photoshop journey.  Still at my kitchen table.  It could be worse.  It is most definitely Fall and while we are having a lot of rain, we do seem to have some lovely periods of clear weather most days.  It is a beautiful season.  One of the layers I have used in this pic is a shot I took of a maple tree with its gorgeous golden leaves.  Some of the gold is showing on the shutter behind the dancer.  I like to think I have hidden a bit of the season in my image!

This is an image of a dancer that I extracted from some purchased material.  I then placed her on a window ledge from a picture taken in Avignon a couple of years ago.  Some layers, some shadows, some extra materials, messing about with frames again.  There is so much to learn and I seem to be most 'able' in the forgetting department.  Oh well, more practice.  And then more.  It's all good.

I'll be back.