September 3, Raw Oyster Bar

focal length: 23 mm
shutter speed: 1/40
aperture: f/3.8
ISO: 400
exposure bias: 0
flash: not fired
location: Buddy’s Restaurant, Annapolis, MD

Tonight, I’m partying at my place. We’re having our first Bunco of the year and perhaps – and sadly so – our last Bunco as a group ever.

As I told the ladies a couple of weeks ago, change is the only thing that guaranteed in life. But for tonight – cheers!

Team Up Thursday ~ Selective Focus

This is Kristina’s photo for this week’s Team Up Thursday theme – Selective Focus. I really like her interpretation of it very much. I see the woods, and the broken tree but I’m focused on the litter symbolically lying next to it. I think that photojournalistically (word check?), that it hits the nail on the head.

I had a difficult time with the theme because I couldn’t get the camera to focus correctly. Instead, I got selective focus by using TRA’s POS Action. I guess it’s better than nothing.

See more TUT photos at Melody A. and Megan’s.

September 2, The Color Blind

I met this man last weekend and I was instantly fascinated by him. Although there were others around, my camera kept turning again and again to him. He made room for me on the back of a tobacco wagon and we rode together to the next field to harvest.

I can safely say that we don’t have anything in common but the bond of humanity was strong between us.

I found it difficult to edit his dark skin, shiny from sweat. I worked on it long and hard because I wanted to do him justice. Because of that, I can’t remember all of my steps, but the next time I photograph a very dark skinned black person in the middle of the blazing sunny afternoon in a tobacco field, I’ll know what to do.

September 1, Into The Distance

There must be something working in the universe today. Take a look at Tracey Clark’s photo.

The dog is not a regular Labrador type of retriever. She’ shy and small in the big world.

I put a vignette on the photo but masked out the top part and just made the water darker.

This is not wordless but I’m posting for Wordless Wednesday anyway.

August 31, Summer’s Last Hurrah

Texture is from Shadowhouse Creations GM6.

There was no rhyme or reason for choosing this particular texture. The image was a little bit over-exposed so I suppose I wanted something to darken it. I like the edges and as you can see, I over extended it past the image a little bit.

This image to me is a little bit of summer and a little bit of fall…

August 30, Ruddy & Handsome

1. Duplicate layer – blending mode soft light, reduce opacity
2. Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Brightness Contrast  – increased brightness
3. Masked out the boy
4. Still not quite right so I ran MCP Action – Magic Fill Light
5. And even after all of that, I ran TRA’s Pool Party – reduce opacity
6. Added a vignette. I used TRA’s Burn Out but there’s a plethora of them out there.

The boy said last week over dinner, “Mama, I have something to ask…”

I looked at him expectantly.

“Nah, forget it.”

“No, ask, go ahead.”

“No, forget it.”

The husband said, “Well now you really need to say it.”

The boy, “It’s weird to ask you dad.”

“Okay…”

I said, “Go ahead bud, really.”

“Ok, am I cute?”

We stared at him. I wasn’t trying to parse my answer, since he obviously is cute, I was trying to choose my words carefully.

I said, “Yes, you are very cute. Why do you ask?”

He said, “Girls are treating me differently.”

The husband said, “You are very handsome.”

The boy, “See, I told you it would be weird to ask you.”

Not weird at all.

August 28, Every Street Corner

focal length: 18 mm
shutter speed: 1/6
aperture: f/3.5
ISO: 1600
exposure bias: -1.7
flash: not fired
location: Somewhere in the back alleys of historic Annapolis, MD.

This photo is SOOC. I stretched my little Nikon D40 to the maximum that it could do. There are many times that I wish I had a better camera. I’m human after all. But I still love my D40. It’s not much, but it’s all I have.

I really wanted to post photos of my kids getting on the bus on the first day of school instead. It’s a tradition to take photos on that big day but it’s embarrassing now that they are in high school.

It’s never stopped me before. I still may do it.

August 27, Teach Me The Way That Is Good And Right

I love this perfect moment where we settle into a routine. Both the boy and the girl have started school and for the moment at least, seem content in their classes and their teachers. After much suspense the girl has made the field hockey team – it’s a big deal and a big dent in our schedule. I have worked out a carpool with our wonderful neighbors so that will really help. I encouraged her to step back from riding. She can’t handle this fast-paced schedule and lets face it – I can’t either.

I won’t post the photo edit this morning. Rather, I will give you a link to a favorite black and white action, B’s Vanilla Black & White. I used it to edit this photo. It is a tinge warmer than a high-key type of black and white. I really love it. It is a free action and though there is a lot to be wary of on the internet, I downloaded this particular action with no problems (or bugs.) You can find it at atn central, a plethora of free actions – some are really great, some not so great, but it’s fun to look.

Team Up Thursday – Old

It’s time for Team Up Thursday again!

This week’s Team Up Thursday theme is “Old.” Above is Kristina’ photo. Her computer with her photo editing software crashed. She has given me the ultimate trust to edit her photos for her until she is up and running again. This is akin to giving someone permission to watch your child. It’s big, Thank you Kristina for that trust.

She took this with her point and shoot, wow. This is a renovated historical building in her city. It’s now a night club but still has the charm of yesteryear I think.

I edited it with:

1. B’s Vanilla B&W. It is one of my all time favorite black and white actions.
2. Warmed it with an orange color overlay with opacity somewhere in the 20’s.
3. Added grain

Here’s the SOOC.

Thanks Kristina, I hope you like what I did.

Here’s mine.

This is my mother-in-law. She recently moved back to Indiana after living in Florida for almost 30 years. I can’t even tell you her story yet. It’s too sad. She is among family so that is the wonderful part of the change.

I edited the photo with B’s Vanilla B&W.

Find more fun diptychs at Melody and Megan’s. It’s a little happy creative exercise for me and nice way to meet new friends. Happy Thursday!

August 26, From The Depths

My mother would eat these unopened lily pods. I didn’t have time to try them myself.

Edited with:

1. PW’s Lovely and Ethereal
2. Lightened with Curves
3. Gaussian Blur at 2 pixels
4. Masked out the pod

Voila!

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