The Open Edition

It was quite unfortunate that I wasn't able to finish the 12 Days of Textures party over at Kim Klassen's blog, but now that I have sorted out blogging priorities, it's time to add textures to certain images.

This week is an "Open" week, and I am sharing this picture:


The SOOC.

I took this at Plaza Ibarra (Timog, Quezon City) while waiting for the event to start. Plaza Ibarra is one of the great choices for a party venue, and since the venue was spacious, these vine also added drama to the venue. Looking up, I was amazed that the leaves looked like hearts, so I quickly aimed my camera to take a shot.

I was on auto mode when I took this (normally during events, I play safe by using the auto mode), and even if my camera's still considered a point-and-shoot, I am happy that my camera can create that blur in the background, making the subject stand out, even if I had to use the zoom.


Image with Texture.

To get to this edit, I...

• Ran the "Black and White Film" script, set to Agfa 200x.
• Ran the "Retinex" script, some settings changed according to my preference.
• Added some color to the image (slightly deep pink tone).
• Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Phoebe" texture, set to Screen at 85%.
• Added a layer of Kim Klassen's "Lilly" texture, set to Multiply at 100%.
• Ran the National Geographic script, settings changed according to my preference.
• Ran the Manny Librodo Sharpening script, settings changed according to my preference.
• Used the Burn tool set to Shadows at 10%.
• Added name stamp, flattened and saved the image.

Hope you liked the end result. :)

Cabarnet Sauvignon

Would you believe it's exactly a month ago since I last posted here? Oh well, I surely got drowned with so many things, but I am pretty much determined to get myself out of this rut. :)

Oh, by the way... Happy new year!


Celebrations are often celebrated with a bottle of wine, and this bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon - together with it's very cute wine rack (shaped like a carriage) was something given to me when I attended the press conference of the Weddings & Debuts 2012 Bridal Fair last Thursday at Plaza Ibarra in Timog, Quezon City. The Wedding Library organized this event (the Bridal Fair will be next month), and as a parting gift for us who attended, we got this.

I don't drink wine that much, but I found this one really cute, so I might use this for future celebrations here at home - as a table centerpiece.

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!