Take a Word--Raven

Playing with Light

Just playing around with the light blend modes and the light filters.  The bird house has  a photocopy layer and one of Nancy Donaldson's cemetery textures, both set to vivid light and 58% opacity.

This one has a duplicate layer with the Sumi-e filter set to vivid light, with opacity reduces just a bit.

This one has a duplicate layer set to overlay and a 50% gray layer (set it to overlay, it disappears) with the lens flare filter applied.  I love the look of bright sun light on the water that it gives.

52 Photos Week 1 Beginning-Nurture

First photo taken with my new camera, a Fugi Finepix S4500, a complex point and shoot with a great zoom and various manual modes.  So far I like it a lot!

Gothic arches-Snap! My Name is JOE!

SPA-Turquoise Trail

This photo of the dead tree was taken somewhere along the "Turquoise Trail," the old road between Santa Fe and Taos.  The sky really was this wonderful color.  I added the crows.

4x4 Friday--Open Theme

This one's really about the colors.

Photo Arts Friday-Inspired by a favorite book title

This week's challenge is to make  a piece of photo art inspired by the title of a favorite book.

One of my relatively recent favorite books is Dennis Lehane's Mystic River.

While this photo has absolutely nothing to do with the book--It's the Charles River, which runs from headwaters in Hopkinton and travels through Boston to the sea.  But to me there's something mystical about the way moving water distorts reflections...sometimes you can see what you want to see.

My photo of the Charles where it runs behind my office building, paired with a layer of Bonnie;s Blue Moon texture and two layers of the gorgeous new texture , Blank Page.

Bonnie, you DO make me stretch!

Thank you!

A New Challenge--Edit ME!

Thanks to Deborah at Musings I have found a new photo editing challenge.  A photo is posted every week for our editing pleasure.  Here is the original photo, and my rendition.
What I did:
Duplicate layer, conte crayon filter, set to Luminosity
Duplicate layer, set to Overlay at 63% opacity
Duplicate layer, photocopy filter, set to Multiply.

Sunday selections--Carousel Museum

There is a Carousel Museum in Bristol, CT, full of wonderful, wonderful things--Carousel horses of all ages and types, other fanciful animals, an entire small carousel in a separate room and pieces in the midst of restoration. It is a magical place!

Moo Mania--Egypt

Egypt, land of the Pharoahs, land of the pyramids and lost treasures...

The top image is from Google, a tomb painting, and the bottom is made with a texture of the pyramids by Pareeerica and PS brushes of Egyptian symbols

Three Muses--Word Art

I did not alter the wonderful poster by Shephard Fairey.  It's a work of art in its own right.  I just added the text, from Barak Obama's speech at the Al Smith Dinner in Ocrober of 2008, a month before he was elected president..  While we all might wish that he really was "born in a manger" or sent from Krypton to save us, he has done remarkably well with the daunting task of being this country's president.

but enough of that!  This quote was actually found in the "humility" section of WisdomQuotes.com, and if there's anything the president of the United States needs...

Photo Arts Friday--Blue Boat

One of the first photos I  took that made me think that I was a photographer and not just a snapshot taker.  Taken with our old faithful Pentax K1000 and a telephoto lens.

Two layers of Bonnies texture, Chinks of Light and one of Gauze Sheers.

Texture Tuesday--White door

A storage building at the lighthouse at Cape Elizabeth, Maine, one of my favorite places to photograph, Kim's textures Providence and Aurora

Texture Tuesday--Holding On and Letting Go

My photo, Kim's textures, Let Go and Providence.

Collage obsession--Cabinet card

Tiny Dancer

Three Muses--Bathing Beauty

Ok, maybe not so very vintage, but my aunt had a suit like this when I was a little girl, and the 60's were 50 years ago.

Image is a Jantzen ad, many layers altered with filters  and blending modes.

Inspired by Nick Bantock Mail Art

Happy Birthday to Me

On Saturday, during the 6th inning of the baseball game, I was thrilled and amazed by THIS!

I wanted to turn to everyone around us and shout  "That's ME!"

Instead I gave my dear man a big kiss and watched MY message come around again and again for the entire inning!

Photo Arts Friday--Lighthouse, Portland, ME

So sorry i missed the deadline, this week...I was away, in Portland, with no computer.  I did take this photo of the lighthouse at Cape Elizabeth, and also wrote the haiku.

Two layers of Bonnie's texture, Vellum were applied.

Take a Word--Time

Time...one of my very favorite themes!  We all know how fast time goes  as we get older, especially when we look back at our memories and they still seem so fresh and so close... Ramble on, Linda, ramble on.  Tomorrow is my birthday, so time is on my mind a lot...

SPA--Blossom

My own photo of holly blossoms--Aren't they the most vibrant yellow!

Altered with PSE filters and blending modes.



52 Starlets--Audrey Hepburn

Portraits of Audrey

I was so thrilled to see all the wonderful black and white photos of Audrey Hepburn that popped up in my Google search.  I love playing with b/w images and colors and gradients!

Then I found a whole page of quotesby her...fascinating stuff!

Background on the second piece is an image from the Hubble Telescope.

Three Muses--Steampunkerie

I think I'm finally getting the hang of this!

Bits from all over: the lady is from Mandy, over at SPA, the background and fly are from Trine Secher's free Steampunk kit, the alphabet from Cottage arts, the flying watch from Cecelia Swatton, and the rest from Google

Moo Mania--trifold

Her is my trifold Moo for this week.  It has two common themes; first the Divine Sarah, the great  stage actress, Sarah Bernhard.  The second is that all three posters are the work of Alphonse Mucha, one of the foremost poster artists of the Arte Nouveau movement.

Texture Tuesday--Little Things

I found this scraggly forsythia bush near where I get on the train for  my commute home.  It looked so brave as it put forth a few bright blossoms in its gloomy spot.

Kim's texture  "little things" and a mask from Jerry Jones at Shadowhouse Creations.

Take a Word--Skinny

A "skinny" is a card measuring 3 by 5 inches.  Started with a dictionary page, then some brushstroke brushes to simulate gesso.  The figure is from a painting by Whistler, the tiger was from Wikimedia Commons and the window I found on Image After.  The labyrinth overlay is a brush from Nicecrane designs.

SPA--Zetti

SoArtful--Rainbow

Texture Tuesday--Soft

I just love this quote!

The photo was teken last week of the dogwood that overhangs our driveway--not quite ready to bloom.

Textures used are Softly and Lola.

Photo Art Friday--Macro

Tulip with Bonnies texture Off Kilter and my frame.

This is a fiddlehead, a tiny curled up fern frond, with Bonnie's Texture, Yesteryear, set to Difference.

Below is the original photo.

gothic arches--eggs

Image from Graphics Fairy, textures from Cottage Arts and Joyce's picture book.

52 Starlets--Yvonne De Carlo

Three Muses--Umbrella

Image from Google, much altered with Fotosketcher layers, filters and blend modes.  The poem is from a classroom site featuring poems about rain. Texture from encounter_laura at Textures for Layers

Crazy Amigos--open theme

A is for April...A is for Alice...
Made with brushes used as stamps (Alice and the grass) and textures from Temari09 and others at Textures for Layers.  The font is-wait for it- Beyond Wonderland!

All about the Eggs

Found this wonderful photo on Google, altered several layers in Fotosketcher, and stacked and restacked and blended and reblended until I liked what I had made.

Sunday Selections--Fences

Fence in my neighborhood

Fence at a historical park on Cape Cod

Another fence in my neighborhood

Fence on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic in Orleans