Texture Tuesday - the Phoebe eDition

I'm running a bit late this week, which is why I'm joining Texture Tuesday on Thursday.

Meet Jen.



Jen has been part of our family for 15 years. You can read a bit more about her here.

Jen is very camera shy, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to capture this shot during the week.

I used Kim's Phoebe texture above the background - Hard Light (23%).

Things I Learned from my Nine Year Old About Photography

A couple of months ago, our family travelled to the beautiful city of Toowoomba to visit the renowned Carnival of Flowers.




It was a gardener's and photographer's paradise. The floral displays were amazing. Everyone had a camera in their hand. Not wanting to be left out, my Son asked could he borrow my camera to take some pictures.

As I did not want to discourage a budding, young photographer, I reluctantly handed over my 7D, flicked the dial to Auto and gave an impromptu lesson on how to take a photo, along with the warning "DO NOT DROP IT OR ELSE".

I stood back watching with mixed emotions as my Son started taking photos. I found myself feeling proud and nervous at the same time because I could share my love of photography with my child, but my camera might not live to see another day.



Later that evening, upon viewing the images in my computer, I was amazed at the beautiful images appearing before my eyes.









I'm not just bragging as a proud Mum either.



The photos were really quite good.

It got me thinking about the events of the day, and how my Son's images were so different from mine.


Here are some things I learned:

1. Get Down Low


They may be smaller than us, but seeing things through a child's eyes can offer a wonderfully different point of view.

Don't be afraid to get on the ground and get a little dirty. You may just get the shot you're after.





2. Take Your Time


Instead of capturing the images of the flowers that I really loved, I tried to get as many different images as I could, resulting in quantity over quality.

My Son, on the other hand, took things a little more slowly and only took photos of what he liked best.




3. Every Photo Doesn't Have to be Perfect


In my quest to improved my photography, I have found myself lately avoiding pressing that button if the conditions aren't quite right, missing out on some memorable moments in the process.

Although some of the images my Son took on the day weren't perfect, we will look back on them in years to come as a wonderful memory of that special day.

And the most important lesson of all:

4. Photography is Fun






Need I say more?


And, yes, my camera did live to see another day but now my Son is using an old point and shoot.

Note: The images are all straight out of the camera with no post-processing.

In My Garden - Wonderful Weeds

Beauty can be found in the most unexpected places.

Published in Scrapbook News and Review Magazine

This is another one of my favourite layouts and it has been published in the September issue of Scrapbook News and Review Magazine.






Credits:

Kit: In His World by Veronica Spriggs
Type Overlay: Nicole Bradbery
Font: Cooper Black

Don't forget to be in the picture!

If you are like me, and are guilty of always being the one behind the camera
and not in front of it, then there is a wonderful article on the Clickin Mom's Blog today titled:

"Because You Were There, Too: Thirteen Tips for Family Self Portraits"

I speak from experience when I say how disappointing it is to look back on important family events only to find I wasn't in any pictures.




Maybe this will be a good excuse to get that new tripod I had my eye on.

In My Garden - Roses

My yellow rose bush has been producing the most beautiful flowers lately. I love having flowers in the house.

The image below is straight out of the camera.






When I started editing this image in Lightroom, I started trying out some of the presets. One that I felt worked great with this photo was "Colour Creative - Aged Photo". I really like the vintage effect (even though my roses were no longer yellow).

Then, in Photoshop, I added a texture called "Crackerjack" by Kim Klassen. Blend mode - divide; Opacity - 40%.

In My Garden - Lettuce Flower

This beautiful little flower is from a lettuce growing in my vegetable garden. The flower is only 10mm in diameter.


Canon 7D | Canon 100mm f2.8L macro | 1/125 seconds @ f2.8 | ISO 100


Post Processing:


Background: Photograph

Layer 1: Milk&Honey Texture by Shadowhouse Creations; Hard Light 66%

Layer 2: Paint Set 4 Texture by Shadowhouse Creations; Hard Light 11%

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - Beautiful Eyes

This photo of my son was taken a few years ago on my old point and shoot camera. I've even got my old watermark on the image. People are always commenting on his beautiful eyes and, yes, they are really that blue.


See more "Beautiful Eyes" pictures at I Heart Faces.

Happiness - Published in Australian Photography Magazine

The theme for the July issue of Australian Photography Magazine was "Happiness".

I think this image of my son and his dog says it all.

Texture Tuesday - Pink

This week's theme for Texture Tuesday is "Pink".

I found the perfect subject in my backyard - a beautiful, pink camelia.


Details:
Canon 7D, Canon EF 100mm f2.8L macro, 1/125 seconds @ f5.6, ISO 4000.

Photo Layer: Paint Daubs filter at default settings, Dry Brush filter at default settings.
Texture Layer 1: Simplistic by Kim Klassen; Screen (inversed); 100%.
Texture Layer 2: Wettile by Kim Klassen; Screen; 30%.

Back to Nature (and a free download)

Here are some images from the past and they happen to appear in the June edition of Scrapbook News and Review Magazine.

The theme for this month's submission was: DIY - All papers and elements were to be created by you.

Butterfly




The photo in this layout was the inspiration behind the name - "Butterfly Rose Designs".


Bearded Dragon




My Back to Nature kit was created a few years ago, but I managed to find a copy of the background papers used in the layouts above.




You can download the papers here.

Hope you enjoy!

Texture Tuesday - The Golden Texture eDition

Can you believe that this beautiful little flower is a weed? It is only about 5mm in diameter. If you look closely, you can see lots of little flowers inside. There are more pictures of the flower in this post.

This weeks them at the Kim Klassen Cafe was to use the Golden texture in your image.

Details:

Camera: Canon 7D

Lens: Canon EF 100mm f2.8L macro

Settings: 1/250 sec @ f6.3, ISO 1250

Processing (in Photoshop CS5):

Background Layer: Photo

Layer 1: Golden by Kim Klassen; Blend Mode: Hard Light; Opacity: 25%.

Layer 2: Love in Layers by Kim Klassen; Blend Mode: Screen; Opacity: 30%.

Texture Tuesday - People

This weeks theme at the Kim Klassen Cafe is People.

I was trying to use the light from the small window in our bathroom when taking this picture of my daughter.

The texture used was Yesteryear, Blend mode - Multiply, Opacity - 59%. I used a soft round brush to remove texture from the face.

Weeds are flowers too ......

I was weeding in the garden yesterday, when I came across one with a pretty little flower.



So I thought I'd take a closer look .......




....... and this is what I found.





"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them." A. A. Milne

Texture Tuesday - The Free and Easy eDition

One of my favourite flowers in the garden (apart from Roses) would have to be Camellias.

My favourite Camellia is called 'Star Above Star'.

For each of the Star Above Star photographs below I have used Kim's new texture 'Mayzee'. I experimented with some different blend modes and opacities.





Soft Light - 100%




Overlay - 20%



Screen - 31%
I removed some texture over the flower using a soft, round, eraser brush set at 10% opacity.



Overlay - 20%

Images from the Kitchen

Feeling hungry?

Here are some goodies that have recently come from my kitchen.

Clockwise from top left:
1. Little Lime Meringue Pies
2. Anzac Biscuits
3. Red Velvet Cake
4. Caramel Popcorn
5. Honey-Iced Coffee Cake
6. Scones (The first batch I ever made that didn't turn out like rocks.)

Texture Tuesday - The Word eDition

"Each flower is a soul blossoming out to nature." Gerard De Nerval



I don't know the name of this plant but the flowers are quite pretty.

I used Kim's new texture - Sublty Yours - set at Soft Light, Opacity 75%.

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - From a Distance

My son, sitting in the park, watching the sunset on an Autumn afternoon.

See more "From a Distance" pictures at I Heart Faces.

How to Colourize Textures in PSE

In my previous post, the tutorial was done in Photoshop CS5.

This tutorial is for those using PSE. I currently use version 8.










Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Nikki

How to Colourize Textures

I love using textures on my photos. But what if you have a texture that you absolutely love and the colour doesn't work with the photo? You can colourize the texture to make it the colour you want.

Here's how I do it using Photoshop CS5:









Hope you found this tutorial useful.

Nikki