12 Days of Textures: Days 1 & 2

Happy to be sick-free as I opened the week, but I faced quite a lot of assignments as well as chores / errands for the house, so I didn't have much time to update all of my blogs.

Kim Klassen's "12 Days of Textures" just started - something I love to do, and since she is giving away 12 different textures everyday, I decided to use pictures I took the day I received the texture download link thru my e-mail. Here are the first two of twelve textures:


* please mouse over to see the SOOC shot *
First texture was Lilly, and I just made a quick and easy edit to add textures to this image. I just added a layer of Lilly blended to Multiply at 100%, gave it a pass of the National Geographic script followed by a pass of Manny Librodo sharpening script.


* please mouse over to see the SOOC shot *
Annabelle is today's texture, and I used a picture of a cocoon I took from our garden this morning (before the rain fell). I basically used the same recipe as the first one, but for this I added two layers of the Annabelle texture - one I blended to Soft Light at 100%, the other I blended to Screen at 40%.

Holidays / Christmas (SOOC)

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! Everyone seems to be kind, sweet and generous... and everybody is always in such a happy mood. When I found out this week's Good to Wow (Shoot and Edit) prompt is Christmas / Holidays, I just knew I had to participate.


This was taken last December at the nearby mall. Every Christmastime, every SM malls have their own Christmas decor set up for mall goers to have their pictures taken. I am not sure if it's the same with every branch (SM is such a well known mall, they have branches all over the country), but for their branch in Fairview, they had the Gingerbread House as the theme.

I took this picture using my cell phone while waiting for mom. That time, I still didn't have my camera because my old one (Canon Powershot A1000is) just died, so I relied on my cell phone to capture moments while I was waiting for me to have enough money to buy myself a new camera.

I will do very minimal changes for this image; although I still have to think of a way to deal with that lower right side of the image.

One Week Recap

Oh noes! It's been more than a week since I last updated this blog! Well, time management is still a learning process for me, but even if I haven't blogged, I never really stopped taking pictures. To make up for the lost time, I decided to choose one picture from each day (from 25 November - 01 December) and share it here. Most of these pictures were taken during my morning walks at Colinas Verdes.


Wildflowers
25 November 2011

One of the wonderful things about greenish wide open spaces is that it had ample space for different kinds of plants. I don't know what this flower is called, but its pale purple color surely caught my interest in an instant!


Lemonade
26 November 2011

Today I met up with my fitness buddy again. He has been so supportive and great to me (even if I don't get to see him everyday), so after we met up for some workout, I treated him for lunch. I took more than a few pictures that day, but I chose to share this picture, because I normally take pictures of my drinks with my camera facing down; today my buddy suggested I take a picture of it with my camera a little below and the lens looking straight the glasses. It was a great suggestion; I was able to do something I don't normally do.


Bashful Mimosa
27 November 2011

I took this picture with my camera under the leaves. Another angle I learned from my fitness buddy (hmm... he sure is more than a fitness buddy, he's also a photo buddy because of the tips he shared to me. This was a shot of faith as I couldn't see my camera's LCD - the plant is a few inches away from the ground. I just positioned my camera, hit the shutter halfway (to focus it) before fully hitting the shutter to make the shot. It turned out wonderful and I was happy.


Tree Silhouette
28 November 2011

I was late for this day's walk and the sun was already up and shining so bright. I took this before entering Colinas Verdes' gate, and even if it was sunny that morning, this picture was a blessing.


Grass
29 November 2011

Today I decided to leave my camera and just take my cell phone. Doing my morning walks here everyday made me feel as if I have already seen all there is to see. Taking a break from 30 minutes of brisk walking, I just attempted to put my cell phone's camera on macro mode and take a picture of the grass, hoping to get a clear shot of the grass and the background slightly blurred. Well, I wasn't able to achieve it, but I did love how the image turned out.


Golden Sunrise
30 November 2011

This wasn't the SOOC. I brought my cell phone again today, and for a while I felt a bit sad seeing this wonderful sunrise from afar. If I brought my camera, I might have taken a much better picture, but of course, I'd just have to be contented with what I have. The original shot wasn't as close as this - I just cropped it and made a 640x480 selection, then I gave it a pass of Golden Autumn lomo script, because even if my eyes were seeing an orange tint in the sky, my cell phone's camera wasn't able to fully capture the colors the way I saw it.


-19Lbs.
01 December 2011

The last two months has been one heck of a ride for me. Though it was, I was happy to learn many things - that I can surely wake up real early in the morning to walk (even if I was alone) and eating less than normal. I have lost 19lbs total for the last two months, and though I still am over 200lbs and my weight today is basically the same as my weight when I first hoped to slim down in 2008, I was happy to be able to fit into my sister's blouse and a pair of denim shorts, both of which were too small for me to fit into before.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Free & Easy Edition

* please mouse over to see the SOOC shot *
This morning, one friend on Facebook posted this status:

SISTER WEEK: Real sisters aren't perfect - they wont always fit the mold. They aren't bound by blood alone, but by love that flows through and through. A real sister has made you laugh, hurt you, stuck up for you, drove you crazy, annoyed you, hugged you, watched you succeed, saw you fail, picked you back up again, cheered you on, wiped your tears, calmed you down, made you strong and is someone you are proud to have in your life. I love you, sissy!

It made me miss my sister so much. She started her training for her new job this week, and even if we get to see each other everyday, I just miss our sister moments - attending events, cooking/eating, walking.

This image wasn't the last time we went out for a morning walk, but this was one of my favorite images. It's quite difficult for us to be in the same picture, so when I saw our shadows, I just asked her to stop so I can take a picture. She's the one on the left, by the way. Soon, my shadow will be as small as her's. :)

How I did the edit:

• Scaled image to 480x640.
• Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Music Lovin" texture, blended to Hard Light at 50%.
• Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Water Stained Frame" texture, blended to Multiply at 65%.
• Ran the SOV:Light script, set to default.
• Ran the "Summer Heat" action, then adjusted the levels.
• Ran the Van Gogh (LIC) filter, set to default.
• Ran the National Geographic script, using my preferred settings.
• Ran the Manny Librodo sharpening script, using my preferred settings.
• Added watermark, flattened and saved image.

Last week, I added a texture with border, and I used another one this week. I am slowly loving that border thingy! :)

My Gratitude Renew Itself Daily

This picture may be taken last February, but ever since went back to doing my morning walks, I have always hoped to see a great sunrise at Colinas Verdes again. I really am a morning person, and each morning, I am always thankful to the wonderful gift of life for me to start anew.

Sure, everyday can be a struggle, but as long as I am breathing, I'd be grateful for everything that comes my way - be it good or not.