And then there were more edits!

 This week we tackled more photo edits.  We had to

1. Post one altered photo to blog (share the before AND after) altered with clone and/or patch tool.
   
2. Post one photo to your blog where you added text.
3. Add one photo to your blog where you used the paint tool(s), show the before AND after.

So in this first picture, I am very pregnant with our youngest son, Finn and Bella is loving to kiss him through my tummy.  The fish tank gives some great color, but my stretch marks are showing, there is juice staining Bella's mouth, and the tank isn't 100% clean.

 So in my edit, I cleaned up the tank, faded the stretch marks, and took away the juice stains with the clone tool.  I also used the paint brush to dodge Bella's pink dress.  I cropped the photo, applied a cooler temperature filter, and increased the shadow definition along with adding some text.

This next picture shows Baby Finn (1 day old) and I in the hospital.  There is a lot going on in the background and I have a telephone line coming out of my head.

So I cloned the wall around me to take out the cord, as well as some of the things poking up in the background.  I also cropped the photo, applied a color focal circle filter that has a B&W edge, added some text, and increased the lighting.

In my final picture, I took this adorable shot of Bella in front of the fish tank on school picture day.  She's practicing her smile and twirls while also melting her Daddy's heart.  Again, the algae on the tank is distracting, and the lighting is a tad bit off.

Edit tools to the rescue!  I applied a glowing filter with a paint brush, sharpened the image, increased the lighting while making the shadows more rich, and sharpened her outline with the paint brush.  I also added text, cropped the photo, and used the cloning tool to take out the algae.

 It's a lot of fun to add the various tools we're learning about and it gives me a whole new level of appreciate for people that do this for a living!

Comments are always welcome :D

Filters

This week we had to manipulate our photos by adding layering effects to them.  I choose a picture of my best friend and I at graduation as well as one of my favorite landscapes of the mountains near where I live.

This is the original of Kate and I.  Awesome, we're graduated nurses who take really awesome pictures together.

I cropped the picture, made the background black and white and gave us a filtered layer of color, a layer of insta-tan, sharpened the picture, increased the shadow intensity, and upped the color saturation slightly.  I like the effects, they can be really addicting and it's nice how you can track what you are doing to your picture so you can take out layers as you go if you don't like the effect.

The second picture I choose is one of the mountains near the road off of Rt 15 near my house.  It is early morning and I just like the way the lines of the trees, mountains, and grass flow together to create different levels of interest in the picture.

 

I cropped the picture, increased the clarity, decreased the temperature, increased the saturation, upped the shadow contrast, and dodged the cloud line.  I like how the color is blue-ish which makes me think "winter is coming" (indeed it was snowing when I went into work this morning at my house).  The mist coming off the trees makes me think of the Misty Mountains and I think that is why I like this picture so much; so many literary favorites of mine I can find in one picture of a place I live nearby to.