Seeing from a new perspective

Taking something, in this case flowers or weeds, which normally wouldn't be worthy of a second glance, and seeing it from a new perspective reveals details and textures which could be missed.
It opens up a whole new world of possibilities!

Old and new flowers

Two different uses of flowers - the first a macro image of a clematis with one of my textures, the second a small textile piece using dried, pressed hydrangeas, together with embellished cocoon strippings, stitches and beads added. But where has all the warm weather gone! Even the newly-planted sunflowers have taken a battering in the wind - and they are all part of a competition!

Cornflower

Trying out my macro lens!

Displaced!

I created these three images using displacement maps in Paint Shop Pro. Took me ages to work out how to do it as the manual wasn't much help and too complicated but finally got there!

Bluebells

A bank of bluebells at Allen Banks! Well worth a visit with some lovely walks in the area.

Playing with shadows

I took this using my Canon camera and used psp to alter it slightly. I have been using both Paint Shop Pro and Elements 9 and find it useful to have both as each has advantages when it comes to digitally altering an image. I find Photoshop good for layers and layer masks as well as effects, but Paint Shop Pro is much better (in my opinion) for printing out images, accessing folders, photo layouts, frames and borders and using the displacement map effect with two images. It's handy having them (not on the same computer) so I'll continue using them both.
Hope you're all enjoying the great weather we're having here!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Beautiful weather here and enjoying family visiting us!

Something borrowed, something blue

Ok, so it's stretching it a bit! A borrowed hat and sunglasses and lots of fun! A photo of some seedheads altered in the Corel Painter programme. This programme has lots of possibilities but I'm just dipping my toe in at the moment, so to speak. Anyone else used it?

Something old, something new ...

Something old - yew tree, at least 900 years old, planted in Beltingham graveyard, believed to ward off evil spirits. New growth seen on a walk at Allen Banks, which is said to be a good spot for seeing lots of bluebells. I'll put it in the diary!

Variations on a theme

Two altered images from the rose petal photo - one of these two will be printed onto fabric and stitched (at least that's the intention!). Don't know which I prefer. Hmm ...

New rose

Rose

Seems to be a bit of a flower theme at the moment - here's one I took using my new tripod. I took the coward's way out and used it indoors first!

Lilies

'Consider how the lilies grow ...'
Sometimes I miss the details - you don't have to go far to see things to enjoy! The first image is the original (sooc) the second has some textures added.
I bought a new tripod today, now I have to learn how to put it up!

Textures

A couple of photos using my textures. A reminder of sunny days!

For Margaret R!

Snap! Taken at Tynemouth pier. Coast to coast!

Textured image 1

I always like to see the before and after images which folks put on their blogs and as I haven't mastered the mouseover , here is an image of tulips in the snow with two of my textures from the previous post. I should have given them names to make them easy to identify but they are easy to pick out I think.

The 'recipe' is -
Background image - tulips and snow
Copy of Background-Screen 90
Texture 1 - difference 69
Texture 2 - soft light 42
Soft light was applied then to the merged image.

Hope to show some more soon! Have a good weekend!

New textures

Some of the textures I've made to use with photos. By changing blend modes, hue and sat etc there is an unlimited source of variations. Now to do something with them!

Paint box

We've watched in horror as the disaster unfolded in Japan and are holding the nation in our prayers. It puts problems into perspective and makes us realise we have a lot to be thankful for.

I've had the paints out this week to make some textures to use with photos - the last image is one of a Christmas decoration with one of my textures added. I'm playing about with some more. Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Textures and shadows

A bright sunny day here - I took this photo of our landing on another day, added a texture which I made and scanned, plus text using a drop shadow (outline). The original photo is below.


Hope it's sunny where you are!

Brushes

Been doing some work with digital brushes this week and getting some of these brushes out to get hold of some real paint. Going to make some more of my own textures to use with photos, so hope to show some results in the near future!