Here's a new technique I learned today: its called a gradient mask. It means that a large photo doesn't have to overwhelm the rest of your design, so that you can keep the primary focus.
« March 2008 | Main | May 2008 »
April 30, 2008
April 29, 2008
More learning curve with Photoshop
Today I played around with this thing called Overlays. It's about placing a photo over a textured background. Here is the result:
April 25, 2008
Practicing for classes coming up
I'm signed up for two classes. One is manipulating photographs for vignetting and darkened edges and better colorizing techniques. I've got books on my shelves on how to do things like this but thought an online course with daily prompts and an online member forum and gallery would be more inspiring. The second course is not till June but it's an intermediate course on digital scrapbooking and it has great reviews. So in order to be 'intermediate' level once that signs up (as I'm actually a beginner) I got the books down and dusted them off and am practicing some techniques. They are trickier than you think. Here is one of Dave Harney when he and Greg came visiting Arizona for a mountain biking experience. You can see the before and after:
April 21, 2008
Couple more pics while I'm at it
I hardly ever post pics of me. Always either a plant or other people. So here's one of me at the very posh and very lush and very southwestern Royal Palms Hotel in Scottdale feeling all wonderful after a 90-minute massage courtesy of generous Karen. I do have to say this was my very first facial and it just happened to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I had no idea. It was a citrus facial and I got to take home an 'ampoule' to use every night. My skin felt totally different for an entire week afterwards. And then here is a special pic of the saguaro cactus but a crested one, which is a mutation and very rare. It's at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens. Cool eh?
Raise a toast for Pete and Paula!
Karen from Chicago flew in recently for Pete and Paula's wedding. I have known them for a number of years now. I took these photos and then made them a scrapbook album (which they won't see till it arrives in the mail as they don't know I have a blog!). And then there are two pictures at the very bottom of my post of my good friend Terri - we took a day out to go to the beautiful Boyce Thompson Arboretum I used to work at. Isn't it lovely there with all the ice plants and everything in bloom. I'll be a better blogger and start back again with my at least once weekly posting. 
Pinal Peak
- These photos were taken on November 24th. The light and colors were amazing today... it's been far too long since Ralph and I have been out east exploring. I had forgotten how odd the little cities are that we drove past and how high the elevation is to Pinal Peak.
Home decor creations
- There seems to be endless possibilites as to what to embellish... here are some items that I had a lot of fun creating. Watch this space for a set of scallop coasters in a box and triangular box, a box that is a book for photo storage and wooden frames.
Digital Layouts
- Here are the first of (hopefully) many more digital layouts I hope to create using Photoshop Elements 6. There is certainly a huge learning curve ahead, but now I've at least got my feet wet, it's not nearly as intimidating as I thought. Watch this space for more soon!
BOOKS - miniBOOKS
- Here are some miniBOOKS I have been making recently. I guess I got a bit bored with 12 x 12 layouts and wanted to do something a bit different.
Layouts for scrapbooking
- I love to scrapbook. I can't put it more plainly. It allows me the time and space to be by myself but it also gives me the mindspace to be around my family, relations and old friends. Why do I scrapbook? Because there are no boundaries to what idea you can create a page with. It seems a richer form of either a diary or journaling; it's a way of preserving a moment in it's entirety. Moments in time are nuggets, like gold, and worth keeping. Almost nothing is insignificant. Once gone, memories may or may not return. We're all aware how the intensity of a moment dims, no matter how good that moment ever was. Scrapbooking can keep that feeling alive for a long time. I love to document the simpler things in life, not necessarily just the important events. I can see how myself and others close to me in my life are growing. I can appreciate the now.
Desert Photography
- Here are some of the many thousands of images that I have taken of the Sonoran Desert. I love the desert so much. Anyone who really knows me knows this. I chose to live in the US southwest above anywhere else, and that has made a real difference. Not circumstance, but choice. It is inspiring to me for my art and in other areas. So many trails, so many views and such variety. It's breathtaking. Every single day, really and truly I appreciate it, whether it's small things like my little but beloved cactus container garden, or a certain light of day or something in bloom (because there's always something in bloom here)... the desert is endlessly fascinating, a source of constant awe and inspiration, and I'm so glad I have discovered it in this lifetime. Thanks for looking.
San Diego Zoo
- San Diego Zoo is an amazing place. It has to be one of the best zoos in the world, hands down. I love it there so much. I have a mental note that 2 times a year is the minimum I would want to visit. I love all the tropical plants, the vastness, the enormous variety of plant life as well as of course the huge variety of animal life. The ways of transport in the zoo are so cool: skychairs over the entire site, open-top double-decker buses, trains, etc, it is fabulous. Ralph and I have taken some of our very best photography here and there is more to come.
Phoenix Zoo
- I love zoos! I'm really happy to get these shots as the time before this visit, I took 150 photos and at around 4pm (an hour before closing) I discovered I had left my memory card at home and had been snapping away at nothing....eek!
Edwards Park
- Ralph and I went out on the atv to Edwards Park. It is beautiful remote area near Four Peaks here in Arizona. It is entirely wilderness. We did not see a soul all day. These photos were taken in May of 2006, long after Spring down in the valley. The elevation there is 6000 feet, so Spring is longer coming, hence these shots of wildflowers. This alligator juniper is charred as two summer prior, there was a large wild fire that spread through the entire area. It was quite strange and eery to see such vibrant bright wildflowers springing up amongst such black charred decay.
Daryl's Garden
- These are some shots I took of Daryl and Merlin Flemion's lovely garden, back in 2003 or 2004 I think. I used these images and more to make a hardback book, sized at 8 x 10 with 20 double-sided pages. I made it for their 2005 Christmas present. Making it was a lot of fun and allowed me to appreciate their garden all over again. Daryl and Merlin are members of the Milwaukee Rose Society, but there are much more than just lovely roses in their garden. Each time I visit, there is something new to enjoy, photograph, and then later share.
Wisconsin Wildflowers
- Love Wisconsin when it is lush and green and before the cold takes over. Daryl is the best person for exploring the beauty of this area. All these photos were taken in one lovely afternoon. Thanks for looking.
Sunsets
- There are always sunsets in Arizona, or in the southwest for that matter. The skies are bigger, I mean seemingly more expansive here, I am not sure why it is, or seems that way. It's easy to take sunsets and sunrises for granted, but they are spectacular, and these images are just a few of many I have taken over the years. Hope you like them.