Huck Finn

Dreamy Edges

This is a tutorial to show you how to give your photos soft, colored edges. It’s a bit different from the vignette from the first tutorial.

Step 1
Select your photo and open it in photoshop. That may have been the most difficult step.

Step 2
Create a new layer. This can be done 2 ways. At the bottom of the layers palette there is a handy button that looks like a square with a square in the corner. Or if you prefer to do things the long way, click the layer tab at the top of the screen, click layer and then ok (screen 1).

Screen 1

Step 3
Click on the Elliptical Marquee tool (screen 2). If you have a different Marquee tool hold the button down so that more options pop up and select the elliptical one.

Screen 2

Step4
Set your feather to the desired amount (second bar along the top of the screen). I chose 100 px. While holding down the left mouse button drag your elliptical marquee tool from the upper left corner to the lower right corner. You now have an oval of dotted lines over your photo (screen 3). Make sure layer 1 is selected and not the background layer with your photo on it.

Screen 3

Step 5
You now need to select inverse because you want to work on the edges not in the oval. To do this click select from the top bar and then choose inverse from the pop up menu (screen 4).

Screen 4

Step 6
Pick a color, any color, from your color palette. For our purposes I’ll use white. Then simply grab your paint bucket from the left column and click outside the oval. Isn’t it pretty?!

Step 7
To get rid of the annoying elliptical marquee just go back up to Select and this time from the pop up menu choose deselect. That’s it, easy as pie! Mmmmm pie....

Screen 5

Before and After

Don’t be afraid to try colors too. Here’s black and a pale green at lowered opacity. Have fun!


The photo at the beginning of this tutorial was done using white at 60% opacity.

Stricken

One of my favorite things about my childhood was the thunderstorms. When I would hear that first rumble of thunder I headed right outside. My parent's house was L shaped and in the L, to make a rectangle, was a patio. The patio had a metal roof over it that was held up by cast iron scroll-like columns. I loved the patio, because in it storms were intensified. The crackle of the lightning was brilliant and the thunder, deafening. The wind would blow my hair and I would end up soaked from the misty rain it would blow in. I felt the storm and was a part of it. I guess I was a strange kid because I dreamed of catching a bolt of lightning in a picture, banging conga drums as loud as the storm, or finding a fulgurite in the dunes.

I still love a good storm. Every morning I check the weather hoping for an evening downpour. Today I got one, and for the first time I caught lightning. It wasn't a forked, huge bolt, but it was mine for a fraction of a second. For me, it was a dream fulfilled.

That makes two of my stormy wishes come true. I guess it's time to head to the dunes.

Stargazer

But who will watch my lilies, When their blossoms open white? By day the sun shall be sentry, And the moon and the stars by night! ~Bayard Taylor

Zoo Fun?

Lil' Miss seeing her favorite animal of the day

We took Lil' Miss to the zoo for the first time yesterday, she was not impressed by anything but the monkeys and horsies (zebras). That makes all of my kids disliking the zoo. What's a mom to do?

This tiger was so upset! Pacing and ready to attack! I'm not sure what upset him but we decided to leave then lol!

Tea Party

This morning was a special occasion at our house. My Lil' Miss hosted her first tea party with big sis. It went pretty well with just a few cute incidents, a bit of spilled water and rose petals on the carpet and all over her tea table. Big Sis spent most of her time fashioning a rose crown while Lil' Miss tried to stick the petals in her ears. I'm sure this was the first of many tea parties, but next time I'm thinking tea on the lawn lol!

Castles In The Sky

Don't you just love the sky when the clouds are so thick and low that they look as if you could climb right on them and build castles.

In A Mood

This is my first blog tutorial for CS2, probably works for other CS programs but I have no clue, as I only have the one, so please bare with me because I am not a teacher in any way shape or form. These are the steps I use to take away some of the color and it is a very easy technique. I know there are several other ways of doing this but this one is pretty simple. It’s just another look to play with and variety is good right? Sometimes, you just don't want all that beautiful color and that's when you pull this trick out of your bag.

Part 1~ Loosing color ( quick hide over there...)

Step 1~ Open the photo you want to use in photo shop. Go to file (top left corner), then open, then select photo from wherever you stuck it. This is now your background layer. You didn't need to be told that did you, I thought not. Sorry.

Screen shot 1
Step2~ Duplicate the image by right clicking on the top of the image. A drop down menu will appear, click duplicate. From the pop up menu that follows, click ok. You now have two, nifty huh.

Step3~ We’re going to make the copy image black and white. If you have a preferred technique feel free to use it. For our purposes and to keep it simple we are going to use a very basic, very quick technique. See screen shot 2. Go to Image, then Adjustments, then channel mixer. Click channel mixer.

Screen shot 2
From there click the monochrome box in the bottom left corner. Click OK. (Screen shot3)

Screen shot 3
You now have the original color copy and a B&W. Woohoo! On a side note, I recommend duplicating the original again and playing with a copy, leaving the original untouched.

Step 4~ Drag the B&W copy on top of the color copy using the move tool (looks like a + with an arrow, it's over yonder in the left side column). You now have 2 layers. While the B&W layer is highlighted in the layers pallet (bottom right corner) drag the opacity slider to desired amount (I used 75%). You can get the slider by clicking the little arrow on the right of opacity amount. Then with the eraser tool and a soft brush (fuzzy edges) at around 30% opacity (I used 32%), start erasing the B&W layer off of your subject, bringing back some selective color until you‘re happy (feel free to use a layer mask here if you prefer).

Screen shot 4
After erasing B&W off subject and getting the look you want merge layers by right clicking on layer 1 and selecting merge visible from pop up menu. Isn’t it prettiful! Feel free to get rid of your B&W copy, you’re done with it, you don‘t need it, it‘s served it‘s purpose, be gone with it. Now, let’s get darn right moody.

Part 2~ Vignette

Here’s where we darken the edges for a moody feel. Nab your lens correction filter (see screen shot 5)

Screen shot 5

Slide the amount vignette slider all the way to the left and if you want click the color box at the bottom and choose a color for vignette. I picked a brown. Click OK. By the way, sliding the amount slider to the right will give your photo dreamy, foggy edges.

Screen shot 6
Save your work as a jpeg. That’s it, very easy. Give it a try, come on everybody’s doing it, you know you wanna…

Before and After

Happy Birthday Baby

Today, my oldest daughter turned 13 and just like that she was a teen. I know that today is just the day that followed yesterday and tomorrow will be another. I understand the logical concept but today she is not a baby, a toddler, a tween. Today she is older, and though it is just the next day it feels like the next year. It feels like the closing of a door. I watched her go from excited, to happy, to tears, and back to happy today, and I know that she feels it too. It's a new door that opens now and I wish her all the love that lies behind it. I hope her teen years are good ones. I pray they are filled with joy and not too much turmoil. These years, as I remember them, are the hardest, a roller coaster. So I worry and remind myself to give her wings that she may fly. Give her wings when I want to lock the door. Give her wings...

Something Beautiful