ADDING TEXTURE TO PHOTOS

ADDING TEXTURES TO PHOTOS

Yesterday I went out with my camera and took photos of different textures. I then used Photoshop to overlay a photo previously taken at a cemetry, and added the woodgrain layer with reduced opacity. I may try out other textures on the same photo to compare effects. It's a good way of experimenting with Photoshop and learning how to use it.

Unfortuantly Monday is the last day of 'Love your Picture, Love your Page' e-course. I thought it was tomorrow, but have been told there will be a final posting on Monday with one or two surprises added. Look foreward to those!

As I've really enjoyed taking part in recent e-courses I have signed up for 'The August Break' run by Susannah Conway. This is an invitation to post photos , without prompts or goals, just a sharing with others. It will be nice to relax for a while and hopefully enjoy more of this lovely summer, while still having a community of friends to share my photos and ideas with.

This week I have a few days planned with friends for creating, and next Saturday my monthly Eclectic Keepsakes Group where Karen Cole will be showing us how to make a mini album. That's right up my street so very much looking forward to that! I'll be posting my finished piece when it is done. Have a good weekend.

OUT WITH MY CAMERA

After a stonking headache, and a duvet day to recover, I am taking it easy today. The sun is shining and inviting me to go outdoors so I plan to take a walk with my camera. This is something I often do, but today I will be on the look out for textures. I am trying to create different techniques using Photoshop and I have lots of ideas but little skill. The only way I can grow comfortable and confident is by jumping in... sometimes I sink, sometimes I swim, but it's the only way to learn.
Some of my ideas have been inspired by Shimelle's 'Love your Picture, Love your Page' e-course. Sadly this is in it's fourth and final week, but fortuantly it does not end as I can continue to post photos and take part in discussions. I recommend this course to anyone interested in photography and scrapbooking. I have lots of new ideas to try, and ways of taking these a stage further. So while I'm sad I will not be receiving the daily download, I also need time to try out those I have!

The course gave me reasons and opportunity to try out Photoshop, which was great as I need a prod. I find it so overwhelming! Two books I bought have also been a great help and source of inspiration:

'Digital Expressions.. creating digital art with Adobe Photoshop Elements' by Susan Tuttle (published by North Light Books) .

'The Photoshop Elements 7 book for digital photographers' by Scott Kelby & Matt Kloskowski (Published by New Riders).

You need a basic skill of Photoshop to use the first book, so if like me you need some help with this, I have the second book invaluable. Both talk you through techniques stage by stage and I am amazed how easy some of these are, once you know how.

You can download textures from the web, while 'Digital Expressions' includes a CD with brushes , photos and textures for you to experiment with. However, I think it will be fun to create a texture collection using my own photos and techniques. So I will share some of these later. Meanwhile, the sun and camera are calling!