The Eyes Have It

Beyond Beyond Assignment - From Above

Shooting a subject from above is challenging.  We don't usually view the world this way unless it is our shoes or maybe the sand along the beach while searching for shells.

In Beyond Beyond we were encouraged to take shots from above.  I tried a few things unsuccessfully.  The subjects were really flat and boring shot this way.  I decided to try a still life of some of my eye makeup.  The round brushes and tubes would roll away from their placement on my smooth surface.  I think putting the rumpled cloth beneath them helped save the shot.  Not only did it stop the items from rolling, the fabric folds gave the light more places for shadows and textures.

In Photoshop Elements 4.0, I enhanced the lighting with a gradient layer and levels adjustment layer.  Kim Klassen's texture layer, Cora, was applied twice and using different blend and opacity adjustments for each layer.  A text layer was added. The finishing touch was to add the frame on a separate color fill layer which was also adjusted for blend and opacity.

Faith and Works: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Is my faith like this rusty old wagon?

I've been studying, memorizing and meditating on the second chapter of James. This is concentrated food for the mind, the heart and the soul.  The book of James contains the kind of teaching that inspired the late J. Vernon McGee to proclaim his famous phrase, "where the rubber meets the road".

You can have a car [faith], but if it just sits in the driveway, what good is it?
When the rubber meets the road, you're going places and doing things you can't just sitting in the driveway.

I was raised on a farm that is still in my family.  I enjoy walking down the lane past the grove, looking out across the pasture where cattle are grazing and the fields of corn and soy beans.  Along the way is a resting place for some of my brother's equipment.  Some have been retired from service.
As they settle into the landscape, their aging process helps camoflauge them with coatings of rust and lichens and fading, peeling paint.  Their patina is beautiful to me.

For today's Texture Tuesday, I chose this image of a retired grain wagon.  I applied Kim Klassen's texture layers "Confidence" and "Storm", along with other adjustments using Photoshop Elements.

During the editing process, I was reminded of the last verse in James 2.  One thought that came to mind is that if faith is the wagon, what good is it when it just sits wasting away.  But if it is hitched to the tractor, the wagon can be put to use to haul grain from the field to market.  The wagon [faith] is active along with the tractor [works]. (see James 2:22)
...probably not the best analogy, but that's how I came up with the verse for the image.

In case you're wondering, I'm close to having the second chapter memorized.  I'm finding that I must keep reviewing chapter one while continuing on with chapter 2, because the details tend to slip away from my mind if I don't.

If you're wondering about Texture Tuesday, see Kim Klassen's blog for details.

Flowers of the Grass and Other Ponderings

"For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass;

its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. 

So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits." 

James 1: 11 ESV

Daunting words.  I'm studying the book of James with a group from my church using Beth Moore's latest study guide: "James - Mercy Triumphs."  This time Beth threw out a challenge to memorize the book of James.  What?!?!  It's not required, but I was drawn to the challenge.  My normal thinking is that I cannot possibly do that.  Previous attempts to memorize topical verses has not been a great success.  I haven't disciplined myself to keep reviewing the verses to keep them fresh.  Occasionally, by the grace of God, a verse will come to mind when I need it.  So how did I think I could memorize a whole book of the Bible, let alone a chapter?

With God all things are possible.  Seek, Ask, Find.

And by HIS grace, I have memorized chapter 1 and have my foot firmly planted into the beginning of chapter 2.

What happens to your mind when you are memorizing a complete passage is pure blessing.
It is joy.

Something else happens.  The Word is alive in all aspects of your life in a new way. Even art making.

I skimmed through my image files looking for something that I could enhance with Kim Klassen's Simplicity Texture.  (Be sure to follow the link to Kim's site where each week she shares a texture.)
I was attracted to a group of images I shot one late autumn that were inspired by silhouettes and textures at a local park, and I hoped to use the shots for painting references.
The "Dead Heads" gave me a great digital palette.  The sky was a vast blank of nothingness.  Most of the detail of the image was lost to shadow, though not a perfect silhouette, giving me lost and found edges.

As I made adjustments to the image, cropped it and applied the texture layers, I remembered the Word that has been scrolling through my mind and falling from my lips over and over...

"Like a flower of the grass, he will pass away..."  James 1: 10b ESV.

I am reminded to share my blessings.

Tallcorn Towers Four Ways using PS Elements

Tallcorn Towers Four Ways

Today I learned a different way to convert color images to black and white. Then I made simple adjustments for a variety of effects.
My inspiration is a historical building in downtown Marshalltown.  I couldn't resist the name play of this building that is emphasized by the angle of this shot.  I edited out a street light that cluttered the right side of the composition.  Adding texture layers helped disguise some imperfections in that background edit.

Black and White adjustment layer.

I duplicated the background layer and used an adjustment layer to convert the color image to Black and White.  Using an adjustment layer gives you more editing options than converting the image using the Enhance menu.  That's just one of the many tips I've picked up from Kim Klassen.


Vintage Effect

 Since the black and white conversion was done to a layer, I could adjust it's opacity to let a bit of the original color come through.

Even more color comes through...

This image reminds me of old faded color photos that might be found in the back of a drawer.  I decreased the opacity of the Black and White layer even more to allow more color to come through than the previous image.
Let me remind you that there are additional textures and adjustments overlaid on the image.  The above shots are showing the differences from playing with the black and white layer.

Color fill layer added

I like the character that adding a color fill layer gave to the image.  Using the color picker tool, I selected a solid burnt orange hue from the bricks.  A layer of orange covered the whole image, but I greatly reduced its opacity.  This layer warmed up the cool tones and neutralized the sky area.  A painter would get a similar effect by painting a transparent colored glaze over their painting.

Be sure to check out Kim Klassen's web site.  She is starting a Photoshop Essentials eCourse in February and will be covering both PS Elements and Photoshop.  If my schedule wasn't already so full, I'd be taking that class.  Her videos are easy to understand and she is generous in providing practice images as well as free texture layers.  If nothing else, follow her blog.
You can see more of my recent editing at my Flickr photostream.  Thanks for your comments!
Oh yes, that IS a new blog banner at the top of the page.... same scripture with a different background (part of one of my paintings that sold).