Monday, February 27, 2012

"Grow Like a Tree"

...and another week went by without a blog post from me. More than ever, I am feeling the pressures of juggling many things at the same time, but no way will I ever give up this blog and taking pictures.

Tree Quote

This week's Quotography prompt is "Trees." I love photographing trees! I love how each tree is different from the other and how much drama there is in a tree. My favorite is the leafless (but not dead) tree, but this month I am loving the "fire trees" I always see around Colinas Verdes whenever I do my morning walks.

I call them "My Sakura," or "My Cherry Trees," mainly because the tree only had flowers and no leaves. From afar they look like it's on fire, but zooming the camera in, more beauty and more drama surfaces.

Grow like a tree. Something I am telling myself...but I also tell myself not to be too tall and too proud.


Quotography at {My}Perspective

Monday, February 20, 2012

"A Change in the Weather is Sufficient"

Weather Quote

This week's Quotography prompt and image is something I could relate a lot...because it's been raining here for many days, though I am glad that it's sunny again - I can go out later to walk.

Anyway, I chose to share this old image (taken in 2009) because it showed how unpredictable weather was at that time. It was sunny all morning, but come near lunchtime, we spotted the rain from afar that made us pack our things and head on back to the boat to continue our island hopping.

We were thankful that even if it rained the time we were traveling, everytime we went down the boat and enjoy the beautiful islands of Coron (Palawan), the sun would peek and give us sunshine. It has been a wonderful trip.


Quotography at {My}Perspective

Friday, February 17, 2012

Cream Cheese Brownies

Cream Cheese Brownies

For Photo Friday's prompt "Edited," I chose to edit this picture of some Cream Cheese Brownies I photographed last Valentine's Day. To edit this, I applied the "Adding Backgrounds" tutorial I learned just recently, and for the background, I used this bokeh image from Digital Picture Zone.

Merging two images plus more editing using GIMP, I ended up with this:

Cream Cheese Brownies - edited

Steps I did -
  • Scaled image to 480x640.
  • Scaled the bokeh image to 480 on the longer end - to fit the width of my brownies image, then pasted the bokeh image on a new layer.
  • Made a selection around the brownies plus the plate using the Path Tool, then feathered the selection.
  • Erased the bokeh images that touched the plate of brownies. Flattened the image after.
  • Ran the National Geographic script, set to my own preferences.
  • Gave it a pass of the Dodge Tool, just to lighten the color of the brownies.
  • Ran the Manny Librodo Sharpening script, set to my own preferences.
  • Added my watermark, flattened, and saved the image.

I am not sure if the bokeh I used was a good idea, but I did love the part between the plate, brownies, and bokeh background looked seamless. I guess feathering it was the key. It sure would look awkward if the edges was a bit visible.


Happily Mother After
the long road

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Adding Backgrounds

I wasn't able to participate in Tutorial Tuesday last week, but I felt like making a comeback, so here's my take on this week's tutorial about adding backgrounds.

Red Rose from Brother SOOC

For this tutorial, I decided to use this image of a red rose given to me by my brother yesterday as his Valentine's Day gift. This image was taken using my cell phone's camera and used our off-white wall as a background - thinking it will be much easier to work with if I have a "solid" background.


Since it's Valentine's Day, I checked for free wallpaper designs and saw this one by Wolf and Willow.

Applying the steps indicated in the tutorial, I ended up with this image:

Red Rose from Brother

Erasing the pattern on the flower and leaves took the most time, but I was happy with how it turned out. Merging two layers, I also ran the "Summer Heat" action before I ran the "Unsharp Mask."



Tutorial  Tuesday

The Happiness Edition

A day after Valentine's Day... I wasn't super duper busy for VDay in the sense that I didn't go out on a date with Mr. Pipoy, but I did have quite a full day - working on some assignments, picking up the cake at the pastry shop, and attend to our pastry party here at home after dinner. I got quite a lot of pictures to edit (plus I had to share the netbook to my siblings), so my post for Texture Tuesdays, Touch Up Tuesdays, and Tones on Tuesdays was a bit late.

* please mouse over to see the SOOC shot *

This week is about "happiness." There are so many things that brings me happiness, but Valentine's Day this year is very special because for the first time in 31 years, I am "celebrating" it with boyfriend. I have had past relationships, but for some reason I am "single" during VDay! Anyway, with so many love in my heart - for my boyfriend, family, friends, and myself, I decided to share this image - Strawberry French Macarons, given to me by Bizu Patisserie... one of the most upscale and posh pastry shops in the Metro. This sweet treat also brings me happiness, because "eating French Macarons" is listed on my Bucket List.

Editing the image:
  • Created a selection around the heart shaped macarons, feathered it, inverted selection, applied Gaussian Blur, and ran "Mute Colors" script - choosing "Desaturated Overlay" to make the slight pink tone pop a bit.
  • Scaled image to 480x640.
  • Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Sweettart" layer, set to Overlay at 40%.
  • Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Waterstained Frame" layer, set to Multiply at 70%.
  • Ran the National Geographic script, using the default settings.
  • Ran the Manny Librodo Sharpening script, using my own preferred settings.
  • Added watermark, flattened, and saved the image.
Hope your Valentine's Day celebration is filled with love and happiness!