The Color of Morning

Have you ever wished you could capture the colors of a morning?  When the sun rises in pinks and fills the earth with light I am filled with wonder and long to hold on to the painting. Since I cannot hold the beauty in my hand I'll create it. I set to work in Elements 10 stacking four morning glory photos on top of each other, adding touches of delicate light, and finally a soft Kim Klassen texture.

Draw out the colors using The Coffee Shop's Color Bar.  Add a bit of text and there it is...a pink sunrise in the depths of a morning glory.     

 

Editing Story

Texture Tuesday in a Hurry

What's the old saying?

That's how I'm feeling today, but I'm still joining Kim Klassen at her Cafe for Texture Tuesday

Bleeding Heart Love

This is one of those photos that I don't feel all that great about, but it meets the requirements for the photo challenge: Use at least one layer of Oh My or Let Go textures.  My artistic process was a long one, probably because I just couldn't seem to get it the way I wanted it to look. Here's the steps I took:

In the Adjustment layers I fiddled with Levels, Brightness/Contrast, and Hue/Saturation. 
Added a color filter.
A layer of Oh My texture mode set to Multiply at 70% opacity with a layer mask to retrieve the color of the bleeding hearts
Finally the layer of Let Go was added and kept at 100% opacity.

I was looking for a painterly effect, but to me it's muddled.  Anyhow, that's how I learn.  How 'bout you?  Do you learn through trial and error? Check out more texture love at...

Edit Me Challenge & Your Sunday Best

The Edit Me Challenge was such fun to try. I discovered this weekly challenge while visiting A Rural Journal. A photo is provided for download and then the editing begins.

This week's photo shot by guest judge, Kristy from Life-n-Reflection is below.  

My edit of the photo...

My goal was to create a vintage looking photo. I used Elements 10 for my editing.
Layer 1:  Adjustments and Gradient Map.  Click on black to white gradient creating a black & white photo. Set opacity to 70% bringing back some of the color.
Layer 2: A Distressed Jewel texture was added and the mode set to Multiply.  The opacity level set at 69%
Layer 3: A French Kiss overlay, Glorious Grunge Edge gave the photo an aged look to it.  I set the opacity to 51%   A masking layer was added to remove some of the scratches from the yellow flowers
Finally, I stamped the photo with a French Kiss brush, French Script No1, Meilleurs. By holding down ALT I changed the text color to a dark gray. 

Linking up at A Rural Journal for Your Sunday Best Challenge.  I like to go through my week's photos and choose the one I like best. The Sun Worshippers conveys multi-layers of meaning and emotion, at least for me.  A lonely barn, decaying in the morning sun, yet vibrant with life as turkey vultures stretch their wings greeting the light of the day.  I wish I could have gotten closer, but a field separated me from the barn.

I have a question:  Do you ask before shooting?  I knocked on a couple doors hoping to get an ok to walk on their property and take photographs, but no one answered the door.  Instead, I stood respectfully along the side of the road grabbing what photos I could.  It limits the shots, but makes me feel less invasive.

There's more Sunday Bests at...

The White Post

Today is Texture Tuesday with Kim Klassen.  Focus on white and use at least one of her textures on the photo. Easy, peasy...except I couldn't get the look I wanted.  ACK!  What to do, but keeping trying.

A lovely set of white English ironstone was found at a second hand shop for a mere $7.00 a few years ago and what a buy that was.  I love using them for photography, displaying them, and setting the table with them.

 

I've been experimenting with actions in Elements 10.  The Coffee Shop Blog has wonderful free actions and presets along with tutorials, so I thought why not give it a whirl.  I used Kim's shine texture over the Coffee Shop action, Faded Day Dreams. After messing about with actions for a couple days, I've discovered that they're a short-cut for a quick artistic touch, but I prefer creating my own look through trial and error when I have the time.  

 There's nothing more simple than white cotton towels with a stripe of blue, unless it's old feed sacks.  The wasband's mother used printed feed sacks as absorbent dish towels. Did you know that some grain and feed sacks came in delightful prints and patterns with flowers in a multitude of colors.

I used the #2 texture from Kim Klassen's Ben's Collection on this photo, shifted the opacity to 83% after fussing with hue/saturation, levels, and adding a layer in soft light mode.   

There's those daisies again showing up in a pitcher.  I don't believe the sweet white petals encircling a yellow/green disc are daisies at all.  Single chrysanthemums are what they are, but let's keep it a secret.  Daisy sounds so much happier than mums.

A Pitcher of Daisies photo has the least processing.  Just a punch with a layer in soft light mode and a levels adjustment.  No textures and no actions.

Whatever they are, like all flowers finding the light keeps petals glowing. 
This photo has Kim's embrace and shine textures along with a bit of levels adjustments.

Thanks to Kim for her dream-child, Texture Tuesdays and sharing her creative talents with the world.  Enjoy more textured white photos by clicking on....



While you're at it you might as well satisfy your curiosity about actions and presets at....