Saturday, January 22, 2011

Fun with Photoshop

I'm currently taking Kim Klassen's Photoshop e-course - and I love it!!! All the information is still a little bit overwhelming at the moment. I'm glad that I've already worked with Photoshop Elements 9 before and therefore know some of the wonderful things you can do with it. However, I was always inspired by those images that are transformed with texture to make them more artistic and wanted to learn how to do it. After having taken Kim's free (!!!) Skinny mini class last fall, I knew that it was time for me to go deeper into this - and luckily just at that time she offered her Essentials class.

Yesterday I learned a lot about using textures, made tons of notes that I still use, but it's getting slightly easier. This morning I practised with some of my photos, and this is one of the images I came up with:

the original photo

the altered one

What do you think?

It's not perfect, after all I'm totally new at that, but I hope that with practising I'll get a better feel for it.

13 comments:

La Vie Quotidienne said...

Oh Carol...I am doing the same thing, but my version of Photoshop is so old that is was difficult to follow along with Kim, so I am stumbling through it myself. So much to learn but I am making a small headway. The blending part is what has me a bit confused. Love what you did with the immage above.(-:

Unknown said...

I do not have any professional or technical training, all I know is that your picture caught my eye from a thumbnail on my blog and I had to check it out. I LOVE THE ALTERED ONE TOO. These photos are amazing, love them.

patty said...

Oh boy, I love photoshop, but it can be a total black hole! There are at least a million+ ways to alter every photo. where do you stop? which one do you choose? it's a great learning process but can be a little overwhelming too. Lately I'm doing actual physical altering of photos - with sandpaper, bleach, etc. also fun! just not enough hours in the day!! Enjoy!!

Robin Norgren, M.A, R-YT, Spiritual Director said...

wow! it is AMAZING what a difference even what you say are beginner techniques are making-good job!

Diana said...

I love the new altered photo. It feels lighter or more artsy. I stumble along with Photoshop, too, and sometimes I get what I want and don't even know how I finally got there. Auuughh.

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Hier komme ich ja mit dem Gucken gar nicht hinterher. Mit Photoshop, etc. hab ich mich noch nicht beschäftigt, bin schon froh, wenn ich meine Fotos "ganz normal" bearbeiten kann ;) .... Dein bearbeitetes Foto hat was, wobei mir das Original besser gefällt, die Farben leuchten so schön. Ich bin ja ein Farbenmensch.

sil said...

You did a great job! Really like the textured version :)

Molly said...

I am SO excited!! My son gave me Photoshop Elements 9 for Christmas and I am dying to learn how to use it. I knew there had to be some online courses, but I was clueless as to which ones would be worthwhile. I take you recommendation as gold, and I plan to immediately go check out this site.

I LOVE the modified photograph - and hope that you post more of your creations over time.

Christine E-E said...

love them both!
I love close-ups anyway! the altered one looks like a watercolored picture. How very cool!

puna said...

I like it:)

dandelionlady said...

I like the alteration quite a bit! It really portrays a painterly feel, like a delicate watercolor. I really really need to learn how to use photoshop more effectively! Maybe I should check out Kim Kassen's website...

gina said...

I like both photos -- great composition and colors! Textures are lots of fun and really change the mood of a photo. Well done!

B @ Sweet Limes said...

I'm really loving the altered one, the way it looks like an old postcard image or something. Great job.