Texture Tuesday : Hope in Winter

This lone tree stands in the park near my house.  The plain white/gray background needed some dressing up.  What better chance to use my new coffee textures?!?

I picked one with the salty stars because they kind of look like snow flakes falling--or blooming trees.   What can I say?  I love winter!

Photo Processing in PhotoShop Elements :

 Layer 1 ) My Coffee Texture 4958 - Background image
Layer 2) Kim Klassen's Be Still Texture - Soft Light 100%
Layer 3) Kim Klassen's Hope Filled - Soft Light 100%
Layer 4) Copy Layer 1 - Normal 47%
Layer 5) Hue Saturation Adjustment - to dampen yellows and pinks
Layer 6) My Coffee Texture 4958 - shifted - Soft Light 43%

 Layer 7) My Coffee Texture 4934 - Soft Light 51%

 Layer 8) The Tree image - Color Burn - 100%
           (This treatment blurred out some of the houses and clutter in the horizon line)

With spring coming and the promise of gorgeous pink and white trees, I couldn't resist playing with some girly colors for a spring version :

For this version, I played with a few filters in Picassa (I know--heresy to the LightRoom crowd.)
     Graduated Tint (Pink from the top down)
     and Glow
This one is my favorite of the 2.  A little more color, a blush to bring back Spring.  

There it is!

Sharing with Texture Artists Facebook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Dreams and Memories by Firelight : Texture Tuesday

Kind of a nostalgic picture for me.  That winter, my husband and kid built a Quinzhee (kind of like an igloo, but not).  The kid really enjoyed it and treated it like a fort.  He was allowed to bring matches and candles into the quinzhee ...   I took this picture and I almost deleted it as a failed picture--but now I kinda like it.  It came up naturally with certain effects we try to add by other means.

It's got that warm firelight texture and the dreamy blur of memory ...   It kind of looks like  he's riding a flying carpet with mountains behind him.   Added Kim Klassen's Appreciate Texture.
 

Sharing with Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday and Texture Artists's FaceBook Group.

Texture Tuesday : Lion of Lyon

"Wherever there is light, one can photograph." -- Arthur Stieglitz

I've been thinking a lot about Light in Photography these days.

I read a book last summer about a photographer in the early 1900s.  He said something about Light being the medium photographers worked with ... 

As a photographer, "you must see what others cannot ... In our world of shadows, there is no black and white, but a thousand different strokes of light."  -- Moses Levy in  The Museum of Extraordinary Things.

There was  more to it than that.   I wish I could find the exact quote.  I'm pretty sure I highlighted that passage, but I can't figure out how to get the Kindle to show me those passages.   The photographer character had been influenced by Arthur Stieglitz who at the time had elevated photography to an art form.  The book was The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman.

Last May, we were visiting family in Lyon, France.  I never realized what a beautiful city is is ...  Mostly we just passed through the Airport and train stations on to other destinations.  But this time, we stayed for a few days.  After that visit, I named it The City of Light.  Christian's cousin lives in the old part of the city, along the river.  Many of the old (medieval) stone buildings are painted a beautiful golden color, designed to reflect light, and make more light where the shadows might otherwise take over.  I took a few pictures of the stucco just to capture that color and texture of the city. 

I'm also amazed at the way our modern tools can help change, improve, or create something new in a photograph.  No  longer is it just capturing what you see.  Light Room as a software program can do some amazing things.  I'm not entirely comfortable with Light Room and tend not to use it regularly--I've "lost" several images with LR in the past, so I tend to use other tools, like Picassa.  Maybe that will change in 2015 : Year of Light?

For the processing, I thought I'd use RadLab to change the Light effects in this overall image.

Photo Processing on this image in PhotoShop Elements:
Layer 1) 2LO Winter Storms 6
Layer 2) Lyon Lion (original) - Darker Color Blend Mode 100% opacity
Layer 3) Pareeerica Ale Texture - Soft Light 87%
Layer 4) Kim Klassen's Golden Hour Texture - Multiply 23%
Layer 5) Rad Lab (Oh Snap! - Punch Out - Lights Out - Antique Tone)
Layer 7) Reflected Light in Lyon (My Own Texture) - Soft Light 23%
     > Merge Layers
Layer 8) Run The Coffee Shop's Dandelion Wine Action (minus the last 3 layers)

 This photo gives you an idea of the beautiful reflected light all over the old city of Lyon, France.

Here's the original.  An overcast day at the city summit.

Sharing with Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday : Abandoned

 

  Abandoned 3

Directly across from the house I grew up in, there was a similar abandoned house--except it wasn't abandoned, and there was a lot of trees and brush around it.  An old hermit lived there : Ed Herder.  No running water, or electricity.  He died there in the 1980s ....   You can read a little about my memories of Ed Herder's house here.   That's probably why old abandoned houses have always interested me.  What stories do they have to tell?  Are they best forgotten?  Sometimes yes, and sometimes no.  Happy home lives with laughter and family togetherness, or drunkeness, depression,  abuse, incest?  Even murder?   If these walls could talk, what would they say?

There's a whole genre of abandoned houses and buildings.  I wish I had the hutzpa to explore more and not worry about getting caught trespassing or injured by a roof falling in on me, or falling through a rotten floor.  Fortunately, I can explore these places through the magic of Pinterest and the Internet!

Yes!  This is it!    Abandoned 3 is my favorite version so far.  A perfect gray November Day.  I can finally put it to rest and work on something else!

I spent virtually the whole weekend on this one image -- going for perfection, I guess!
I was bothered by the fact that that most of the textures wouldn't hang on that white/gray sky.  So I had an idea to start with a texture, and lay my original abandoned image on top.  That way, the whites would disappear and the textures would rule.  

Here's the recipe layer-by-layer :
Layer 1) My own Stormy Clouds Background Texture [Yeah! for using my own textures!]
Layer 2) 2LO Fairy Tale 15 Texture - Normal Blend Mode 59% opacity
Layer 3)  Abandoned House Image - Multiply 85%
Layer 4) Brightness/Contrast Adjustment - Normal 59%
Layer 5) Copy Layer 2 (I LOVE 2LO Fairy Tale Texture set!) - Color 77%
     > The pink texture effectively desaturated the greens in the grass, and added some depth to the moody gray sky.  I was playing around with that blend mode before I settled on it's application here in the line-up.   When I used it earlier, my moody gray cloud texture would take on the exact colors of the fair tale texture, but not the cracked stucco texture--only the colors.  There are times that could be really useful, but not here ...

Here are the other work-ups before I settled on the one above :

This is the version I worked up in PhotoShop Elements with several layers of textures.
The sky needed something ... and that green grass needs a little tamping back.

Processing Layer-by-Layer:
1) Background image
2) Kim Klassen's Flourish Magic Texture - Overlay Blend Mode at 21% opacity
3) Lost & Taken Subtle Grunge 8 Texture - Multiply 100%
4) Levels Adjustment - Brightness / Contrast
5) 2 Lil Owls Bliss 9 Texture - Multiply 100%
6) Copy Layer 4 - Soft Light 30%
7) 2 Lil Owls Bliss 7 Texture - Soft Light 14%
8) Kim Klassen's Light Paper 3 Texture -  Multiply 31%

Abandoned

For this de-saturated version, I added 1 final step to the recipe as laid out below :

 Picassa's Infrared Filter.

Quite a different feel to it, no?  It probably needs some birds flying around there, doesn't?

Here are the original photos I started with, almost straight outta my camera.

I'm always amazed at the transformation that textures can make for creating a mood.  It's almost the difference between "Memorex" and Memory.  Memory adds all the emotion of internal landscapes, while Memorex records what was.  (Remember those old ads from the 1980s : "Is it live, or is it Memorex?" I know, I'm dating myself here ...)

Sharing with Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday : Wisconsin Barnstead in November

 

 I used one of the filters from the 100 Cameras App for iPad to achieve an old-timey Painterly effect.

I love the names for their filters.  I think this one might have been "I Remember the Clouds from that Day" or maybe it was "The Light Fell Between the Trees."  I saved several versions, but it doesn't save the meta-data, so I'm not entirely sure just which filter this was.

 

 But I couldn't stop there ...  Back into PhotoShop Elements to add Kim Klassen's Linen Texture Brush for that little something extra.  If you click on this image to see a larger version, you'll see the linen texture.  The addition of the Linen Brush makes it look like it's painted/printed to canvas. 

Here's the original image, with pesky power lines and antennae removed.

A real Wisconsin Barnstead, complete with a dusting of snow.

Sharing with Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday : Pick More Daisies

Photo Processing Layer by Layer :
Layer 1) Background Image - cement cleaned up, smoothed out
Layer 2) Copy Background Image - Soft Light 38%
Layer 3) 2LO Junkyard 25 - Soft Light 37%
Layer 4) 2LO 1 - Soft Light 100%
Layer 5) Kim Klassen's Rest Texture - Soft Light 21%
Layer 6) Kim Klassen's Karla Texture - Soft Light 38%
Layer 7) Kim Klassen's Wonderful Magic Texture - Screen 100%
Layer 8) Kim Klassen's Chalk Magic Texture - Soft Light 18%
Layer 9) Text - CK Ali's Hand Font - Multiply 76%

Here's the original image I started with.
Taken in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where they were having a Latin Fest and where I purchased the very well-made sun hat.  My Old Friend, J, bought me some flowers to go with it. ;-)

Sharing with The Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday : Your Move

Your Move

Photo Processing Recipe :
Layer 1) Background image
Layer 2) Copy Layer 1 - Screen 14%
Layer 3) Kim Klassen's Flourish Magic - Soft Light 16%
Layer 4) Coffee Shop Burn Action (applied last)
Layer 5) 2LO Junkyard 2 - Soft Light 67%
Layer 6) 2LO Ancient Times 1 - Soft Light 54%

And just because it's a song with a Chess theme, and I've always loved it, "It's Your Move" by Yes :




Sharing with Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday : Purple Fountain Grass

The Recipe :
Layer 1) Background Image
Layer 2) Copy background image - Multiply Blend Mode 58%
Layer 3) Kim Klassen's Appreciate Texture - Multiply 28%
Layer 4) 2LO Winter Storms 5 Texture - Soft Light 73%
Layer 5) 2LO 1 - Soft Light 91%

As a frame of reference, here's the original photo I started with.

Sharing with Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday : Bristol Ren Faire 2014

Welcome!

 

A scene from The Friends of the Faire Garden Alcove at the Bristol Ren Faire, Summer 2014, Wisconsin.  I used a Coffee Shop Action on it (can't remember which one, though), along with a 2 Little Owls Fairy Tale Texture and Kim Klassen's Paper Stained texture.It all combines to give it a nice Italian Renaissance Old World feel.

It just isn't summer if we don't get to go to the Ren Faire!

Sharing with Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday : Geese at Sunset

Sunset Geese

This photo was taken on an evening walk in Marshfield, WI, on a nature preserve there.  The geese were congregating atop a berm.  There was a pond on the other side, so they were not far from water.

This is a great example of why Kim Klassen  calls these black textures "magic."

Here's the original image from my iPhone.  Not bad ...

The super simple recipe in Photoshop Elements :
Layer 1) Background image
Layer 2) Kim Klassen's Flourish Magic (black) Texture - Overlay 92% opacity
Layer 3) Kim Klassen's Wonderful Magic Scripted - Soft Light 34% opacity (this layer adds a subtle frame to the edges, and some words to the clouds in the upper left corner.
Cropped

The black magic textures deepen the colors and add drama -- like a sunset if you stay long enough to see it!  Very different from the  dark shadows you might expect with black textures.  These are amazing!

Linking up with The Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday. 
Come join us!

Texture Tuesday : After the Storm

 

After the Storm : Barn outside of Neenah, WI

One of the New Wisconsin Barn Pics from the tour around Lake Winnebago a few weeks ago. 

I liked the silo and that zig-zag trim detail.  From the looks of it, this barn has a new metal roof -- which means someone is taking care of it!

In this one, the sky was so washed out that I added Kim Klassen's Cool Grunge to texture the sky.  It looked stormy, hence the title.  I also used The Coffee Shop Blog's Vintagram 2  PSE Action, with few minor tweaks here and there.

Sharing with the Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday. 

Texture Tuesday : Vision with Action

 

 Vision with Action

[Click on the image to see a larger version.]

It's been a heck of a week!  Busy with one thing after another ...   This background image has been sitting in my archive for a couple of years now-- I shot it in the basement windowsill of an artist space here in town.   The light was beautiful, and the props were nicely set.     You can even see a partial reflection of the model.   I always called this guy Action-Man, because he appears to be in perpetual motion.  Running ragged?  Running TO something?  Running away?  Just running?   I decided to add the star so he'd be reaching toward something -- striving -- stretching, and that changed the mood from frenetic to focused (something I needed to do in my own mind this weekend!).  The star also balanced the ball of twine in the opposite corner.

I looked at a lot of quotes on action -- mostly from BIG men of the world who were risk-takers, and do-ers, not necessarily thinkers or visionaries.     Their quotes didn't quite mark the sentiment I was going for, until I found this one by Nelson Mandela, affectionately known as Madiba.  Action for itself may not get the desired results.  Indeed, action alone could be disastrous - It may get you out of danger in a fight or flight scenario, it can also create bigger problems to re-act or act rashly.  Vision was the missing key : You've got to have vision, too.  Not much happens with Vision without the goals and the plan to make it happen.  Great things can happen when Vision and Action are married together. 

Here's the Photo Processing Recipe :

Layer 1) Background image.

Layer 2) Copy Layer 1 - Screen Blend Mode - 20% Opacity

Layer 3) Star Brush - Hard Light 96%

Layer 4) Kim Klassen's Sepia Scratched Texture - Soft Light 51%

Layer 5) Copy Layer 4 - Multiply 30%

Layers 6 + 7) Text - Clive Barker Font with FB Buttercream (Change)

Layer 8) 2LO Cracked 10 Texture - Soft Light 100%

Layer 9) Kim Klassen Scratched Magic Texture - Screen 38%

Layer 10) Color Fill Frame (Black) - Soft Light 46%

Sharing with the Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.   Cheers!

Indigo Moon ... Dreaming One Night

Indigo Moon ... Dreaming One Night

[Click on the image for a larger view.]

An appropriate posting for the day after a Super Moon!

I saw this very scene out walking the dogs one evening in my neighborhood.  One house on the Lake has a lovely wrought iron fence that creates a wonderful silhouette when the light is right.   I didn't have my camera with me at the time.  By the time I got home, and ran back to take the picture, it had changed quite a bit--the moon has risen higher, the colors washed out.   Indeed, the actual photograph as it came out was not as good as it was in my memory.

Enter PhotoShop!  With the magic of textures, I made the sky the blue I remembered, and erased the tiny little moon, and replaced it with the pearly giant you see here.  There, now : This is what I remember from that night!

Photo Processing :
Layer 1) Background Image - tiny moon erased
Layer 2) Copy Layer 1 - Screen blend mode - 100% opacity
Layer 3) Nancy Claeys' Xeveria Texture - Multiply 100%
Layer 4) Stock Vault Free Texture Friday (a starry night blue) - Soft Light 56%
Layer 5) Kim Klassen's May Magic 1 Texture - Screen 15%
Layer 6) Caticat Moon Brush on DeviantArt - Normal 100%
Layer 7) Copy Layer 6
Layer 8) Text - Tangerine Font with color sampled from image - Normal 80%

Sharing with the Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.  Enjoy!

Texture Tuesday : Magnificent Grunge Work Horse

Magnificent Grunge Work Horse [aka "The Tinker Horse"]

[Click on the image for a larger view.]

This magnificent piece of sculpture stands in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  This huge rusty draft horse is made entirely of recycled metal parts.  Gears, chains, wire, shovel heads ...  It's amazing!  The longer we looked it, we discovered new things incorporated into it.  It's a beauty to behold!  We were mesmerized by it.  It also says a lot about horses being replaced by "iron mules" when tractors came into use.  My dad even talks about what a revolution that was in farming.  You didn't have to feed a tractor through Winter, or stop working when it was tired.   Still, there's a beauty and a nostalgia about horses -- even work horses.  Maybe that's why we think of the winter sleigh ride with the neighbor's Clydesdales as such a treat!

I tried to find out who the artist was--there was no title card near it on the street.  Anyone out there in blogland know the sculpture artist?

I love-love-love the way this turned out! : No wonder with my love affair with grunge and rust.   This feels so much more comfortable for me than the flowers posted last week.  If I have a personal style, this is probably it.

Photo Processing on this Image:

Layer 1 : Background Image

Layer 2 : Copy Background Image - remove Security Camera in Right upper corner

Layer 3: Copy Layer 2 - Soft Light Blend Mode - 50% opacity

Layer 4 :  Kerstin Frank Texture - Multiply - 48% - masked off of horse

Layer 5 : 2LO Junkyard2 28 Texture - Multiply - 52% - masked off horse

Layer 6 : Polaroid 5 - Screen - 78% (added last as a frame)

Layer 7 : Kim Klassen Beekeeper Texture - Soft Light - 74%

Layer 8 : Copy Layer 7 - Multiply - 63%

Layer 9 : 2LO Relic 17 Texture - Soft Light - 45%

Sharing with  The Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.
 

Texture Tuesday A Dream is a Wish ...

I've had this photo for a few years now, not quite sure what to do with it--until now!  I woke up with this old Disney princess song in my head., and it suddenly clicked with this pic ...  and then the flourishes -- Obsidian Dawn and Kim Klassen's original Flourish and the subtle magic texture.

Photo Processing Recipe
Layer 1) Background - cropped
Layer 2) Copy Layer 1 - Screen blend mode - 19% opacity
Layer 3) Text - Tangerine Font
Layer 4) Obsidian Dawn Brush Flourish under text
Layer 5) Kim Klassen's Flourish Texture - Flipped - Multiply 27%
Layer 6) Kim Klassen's Flourish Magic Texture - Screen 16%
Layer 7) Color Fill Frame - Soft Light - 38%

Sharing with  The Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday : Spinning Out of Nothingness

The obligatory summer carnival pic ...   All those centripetal and centrifugal forces of the rides made doing physics story problems fun, back in high school and college.   You could actually FEEL the forces and see farther than you could on the ground.   Oh to be young and feeling all those new experiences!  Not to mention practical applications for math.

The spinning motion of this ride made me think of this Rumi quote ...  the process of being born, in motion, shiny and new.  Creation is not for the faint of heart : It is active work!

Click on the image to see a larger version.  Details get lost when it's small-ified = Disappointing.  The original BIG version is really neat, especially with the added texture.   Bluer and more textured. 


Photo Processing Recipe:
1) Background image
2) Coffee Shop Vignette Action (added after Vintagram 2 below)
3) Coffee Shop Vintagram 2 Action (tweaked settings)
4) Kim Klassen's Oceanside Texture - Multiply blend mode at 39% opacity
5) Text - Rumi quote with Tangarine Font

Sharing with  The Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday : French Country Breakfast Still Life

This is one that seems to have lost a lot in the process of re-sizing for the Web.  The original looks so much richer, textured and much more interesting.

In France on this last trip, we stayed in a small country hotel for a few days.   We were there for a family wedding, and this part of France was not known for tourism.  Just real everyday people/everyday scenes in France.   The woman who ran/owned the hotel was also the town mayor, and the person who did civil marriage ceremonies.  She did not do the Church wedding ceremony, however.  It was a small town, and she had a lot of jobs there.  

This is the scene that greeted us one morning at breakfast.  Some scenes just present themselves ...  Glad I had my camera along!

For what it's worth, here's the recipe :
Layer 1) Background image
Layer 2) "15" Texture by ??? ; Multiply Blend Mode at 35% opacity
Layer 3) Golden Contralto Texture ; Soft Light 85%
Layer 4) 2LO 1(4) Texture ; Soft Light 24%
Layer 5) My own Sweet Leaf Texture France 9891 ; Soft Light 65%
Layer 6) Kim Klassen Chalk Magic Texture ; Screen 20%
Layer 7) Hue Saturation adjustment (to tone down the too bright green of the leaves)

Sharing with  The Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday : Good Night Iguana

  

Good Night Iguana : Lyon Lizard 3

Layer 1) Background image

Layer 2) An old Free Texture Friday Texture from StockVault - Multiply 85%

Copied the layer mask from version 2 (below)

Layer 3) Copy Layer 2 - Soft Light 30%

Layer 4) Color Fill Frame - Soft Light 61%

I think this is my favorite one of the three.  It makes Mr Lizard look like he has a sky full of stars behind him.  Oh what a difference a texture makes!

I was trying to make the spines on his back stand out a bit more, but I couldn't quite do it.  The brushes are round, and the magic wand tool, kept taking more than I wanted.  Hard to follow the outline of the spines, so I finally gave up on that. 

Lyon Lizard - Version 1

Layer 1) Background Image

Layer 2) KK Sissy Texture - Multiply Blend Mode; 89% opacity

50% brushed off the Lizard's face

Layer 3) Color Fill Frame ; Soft Light - 61%

 

Lyon Lizard - Version 2

Layer 1) Background Image

Layer 2) 2LO Junkyard 14 Texture (smoothed out a bit) - 

Multiply Blend Mode; 100% opacity

50% brushed off the Lizard's face

Layer 3) Color Fill Frame ; Soft Light - 61%

I tried layering these textures but they both wanted to dominate, so I did each one separately.  

I couldn't decide which one I liked better so I'm presenting all three.

"Here's lookin' at you, Kid!"

Here's the original Lizard pic.  

Christian's cousin has a wonderful old stone apartment in Lyon, France,  along the river with shade trees on the terrace outside their windows.  This building must have been there in the Middle Ages, or earlier.  There is wonderful reflected light all over the city -- even with the buildings so close together, you'd think it would be dark and miserable.  On the contrary, it's a warm and inviting light.

Their apartment has all kinds of very interesting decor -- like this Iguana lizard statue. 

 Sharing with  The Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.

Texture Tuesday - Stitch in Time in LaCanourgue, France

Here's another one of the historic street signs in La Canourgue, France.   This one is for a seamstress/tailor shop with a wooden spool and metal needle and thread.  I considered removing the wire above the spool, but it lined up parallel to the needle, and I decided to leave it for the sake of repetition and pattern.

Image Processing Recipe :
Layer 1 ) Background, cropped.
Layer 2) 2 Little Owls Artisan Texture 3(5) ; Multiply Blend Mode at 96% opacity
Layer 3) Copy Layer 2 ; Soft Light  96%
Layer 4) 2LO 3; Soft Light 51%
Layer 5) Kim Klassen's Sonnet 2 Overlay Texture ; Overlay 63%
Layer 6) Text - Aquiline 2 Font

Here's the original photo pretty much SOOC:

It just amazes me how textures can turn a blah picture into something much more interesting and artsy.  Thank you, Texture-makers of the world!

Sharing with  The Texture Artists FaceBook Group and Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.