Week 39 good to WOW edit Orange

Time to edit our orange photos from Monday.  Here is my original if you didn't have a chance to view it on flickr.

As you can see, it is a pretty bad picture, but it is just so ORANGE!  I had just picked up my friend's macro lens and only took 3 pictures (of the leaf).  I did not yet realize just how small the depth of field could be and how tricky focus can be.   But while the photo will definitely not win the SOOC prize, it is a great photo to practice all the different skills we learned about editing this last, almost, year.

First I used my very first personal preset--since I was almost always using the LR presets "General Punch" and "Tone Curve - Flat"--I saved them together as one preset w/clarity.  I plan to save one without the clarity, too.  Then boosted the blacks and saturation a little and call that a "clean edit."

Then since the biggest problem was the snail being out of focus, I cloned that out, and I actually was pleased at how good it looked, except then the photo was boring.  So I took it and another picture into PSE6.  I cropped the flower from the other picture, added a drop shadow, and dragged it to the spot the snail used to be.

Then I used Kim Klassen's texture, Scripted Edges Magic 100% screen.  But there was that blank space next to the flower, and it cried for some text, but then the pretty orange leaf would be completely covered up, and that would defeat the point...

So I remembered the lesson about adding the blank space, added the green (giving my photo the triadic color scheme: purple, orange, and green), gave it some of the same texture, and searched for some text to add.

"But out of limitations comes creativity"  seemed to fit this experience perfectly.  (Debbie Allen is some actress from the 50's).

Be Imitators

There is so much beauty in this world, but I have spent most of my life noticing the ugly.  Photography to me has been a gift from God to help me notice the beauty, just as He notices the beauty in us even when it feels like it is buried in ugly.  Saturday's World Wide Photo Walk was a great opportunity to walk with 12 other photographers from my area interested in and capable of spotting beauty and interest in the unusual or mundane and share it with their art.  It is quite thrilling to see how different our photos are and yet, they are all beautiful (at least the ones we're sharing).  But there is one artist who is always beautiful, who is never buried in the ugly...especially if you seek Him.  He is the one I want to glorify with this gift He has given me and who I strive to imitate...not the other talented and nice photographers, but the original artist.

Ephesians 5:1-2

You can visit my flickr set if you are interested in seeing more of my photos from the walk.  If you were not able to participate this year, I encourage you to go next year.  It was really fun!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

This was a really fun hunt!  Maybe because I felt like I had enough time for each one and an idea...though time can be a detriment.  You'll see what I mean.  I cannot wait to see others for this week!  Hunts are just so fun...photography for a purpose!

Inspired by a Book or Movie:

I'm not 100% satisfied with my pictures or the collage, but I knew when I saw this prompt that I had the perfect thing to enter!  This is a shadow box (upper left corner) holding the letter I received from Hogwarts this weekend--the owl was very, very late because the letter came in a shadow box instead of an envelop.  (This was a birthday present from a very creative friend.  Since we do not yet have the two story library with spiral staircase and leather chairs, it will be hanging in our family room soon, close to our Harry Potter books.)

Brown:

I don't really have much to say about brown, except after choosing this photo I realized there are 3 sets of beautiful brown eyes in my family that I love a lot more than random decorations.

Hazy:

I'm a little hazy what hazy means, but I hope this counts.  I absolutely love this photo.

Tea:

It wasn't so much that I couldn't pick a favorite as each one was incomplete without the other.  Our tea party was more than one moment--finding in brother's left over lunch, moving, and "microwaving the corn nuts,"  borrowing Mommy's creamer because we couldn't find the tea pot, taking our princess dress off, getting the baby settled, and eating corn nuts with a spoon.

Linger:

I hear people like to linger over a good glass of wine.  I kind of figure that is because it doesn't taste good enough to drink fast.  But Sunday, my friend and I ducked into this wine shop in order to change lenses out of the wind, and ended up lingering for almost an hour taking photo after photo after photo.