Silhouettes and Shadow Puppets

The very last photo, and post, of this class. I feel deeply sad. :'( I need a better word than sad. To the Thesaurus! hmm... let's try poignant. That sounds good. "Poignant". I feel 'poignant'. Anyways, here it is, my silhouette photo. I decided to make shadow puppets for this  assignment, the silhouettes of my hands via light. This particular picture was taken using my timer with the camera on a dresser. I chose this picture because I like the bird I made with my hands, and it turned out better than some. I like how you can see my hands making the shadow, and the angle of the hands and the shadow to one another. I ran the sharpen function of my action, flattened it, and made a new layer, where I did some brushing. I fixed a problem on my sweater sleeves, and then I tried to darken m shadow so it would show up clearer, using a dark brush. This is where some problems arose. I had a lot of trouble making my brushing smooth and even in the hands, and I got it pretty good, but it looks as though it's been drawn in. Which it has been drawn on, but it was there before. Also, it smudged into the background some, so I tried to clean that up with a light brush, but it made the background too light and left lines there. It looks sort of like pencil and eraser marks that have smudged. That is definitely something I would have liked to improve. Also, the shadow looks a little disjointed at my right thumb due to my brushing. I like the way my non-silhouette hands look so smooth, though, and I like the flying feeling of the photo. This may be the end of digital camera, but not of my blog. I will try to still post things, though they will not be as regular or often. It's been great blogging a' vous, tout le monde! Au revoir, pour maintenant! The people of the violet mist will return, but for now, we must take flight on the wings of a shadow and vanish into the violet mists' depths.  

(I commented on brian's)

WaterScapes

This week, as Christmas and the end of the semester, and unfortunately this class, draw ever nearer, we took pictures of 'waterscapes'. When I first heard the theme, grand visions of waterfalls and lakes danced in my head. But in the end, I took pictures of puddles in the driveway on a gray, rainy day. My picture did turn out pretty well, though. I chose this picture originally because I liked the reflection of the pole in the water, the way it looked into the distance, and the neighbor's blurry porchlight in the distance. Then, when it came time to edit, I had a lot of trouble deciding how I should go about it. I tried about seventy different ways, and the best are displayed here. Of course, the first one (above) is the one I'm officially submitting to be graded and voted upon. I chose it because I felt it was the most unique and creatively edited, and I thought it looked really cool. I started, of course, by cropping it. Then I ran Ashley's clean and did something to one of the layers, rather by accident, where I turned it to "satin", which I liked the effect of. Then I brightened it up a bit. At this point, I saved it as the image below. But to get to the image above, I dramatically increased the saturation, which blurred it a little, but I think it gives it the feel of an oil painting. I love the brightness of the blues, the smudged light, and the general painting feel of it. I would like to have made it brighter a little, and perhaps a tad more colorful, but I think this is good.

This is the above picture pre-saturation

This comes from the same picture and the same crop, but I ran my action on it (minus the dodge and burn). I adjusted the color curves to brighten the colors, lightened it up a bit, ran sharpen, then flattened it. Then I decided to make it black & white.

Once again, same picture, same crop, as these all are, but I ran 'Aurea' from 50 photoshop post-work actions. I like how it makes it sort of foggy, and very vague and mysterious. 

This is the picture with the 'Retro Wet' action from 50 photoshop post-work actions. I like the wonky colors. They make it funky.

And those are just some of the ways we edited this picture this week beyond the violet mist!

(I commented on 'Kobliska's' picture. )

Lightway to Light

The name of this picture is taken from a quote in the movie Anne of Green Gables, when Anne is first riding to Green Gables and they go through the pretty little forest of trees, which are covered in delicate white spring flowers blooming. It is officially named 'the avenue' but Anne does not think this is fitting for such a beautiful place, and suggests wonderingly it should be called, "Lightway to Light". Being as we took pictures of light this week in digital camera, I thought of this scene and decided to title my picture thus. To take pictures of light, we turned the shutter speed on a camera very slow, went in a dark closet, and used flashlights. To color my flashlight, I put various sheets of tissue paper over it. Here, I tried to draw a V, let's say for vivi, inside a flower. It didn't come out so clear cut, and I like that. It became an abstract, swirling shape. I think it looks really cool, and that is why I chose it. When it came time for actions, I cropped it to the edge and ran the color correct from my action, and I increased the red and some blue, and I think I turned up the saturation. I think that is all I did, but I cannot remember for certain. One thing I like that the action did is it made the lit area sort of puffy. It gives it a soft, fuzzy, flowing feel. One thing I might improve is that the left side of the V is more white because I lingered too long, and if I'd moved faster it would be more purpley-pink. Also, around that spot, the black is lighter, and it sort of disturbs the contrast of the picture and weakens the vividness slightly of the light. Light fairies danced behind the lens this week beyond the violet mist.

(I commented on someone named klimensh's)

Store Window?

This week, I went crazy with our store window pic. You (Mrs. Riehle) told us we could go crazy with these, so I did. And I have to say, I think it looks pretty awesome. I took pictures of my hat through a glass bowl, which was blue, being as I didn't get to town to take a picture, so I made my own little hat shop. Originally, I chose this picture because I liked the angle I took it at and the blue color of the bowl, which showed the faintest purple on the hat. I cropped it, putting the hat in the upper right corner. I proceeded to run my action, tampering with the color curves to the extreme, turning up the red and blue and down the green. Also on my action, I turned the sharpen layer up to the highest pixel degree thing, which gave my image a neat pressed-grainy look. I did not mess with the dodge and burn. Then, I ran ashley's clean, but I turned off everything except the hue/saturation adjuster. I continued and put the saturation at its highest, then flattened my image. Then I felt the urge to add a texture. I got a neat fabric one, and put it on. I turned it to soft light, but, unsatisfied, I turned my background into a smart layer so I could take down its opacity to show the fabric better. And finally, it came to look like this. I love the final look of my picture, the fabric's soft flowing over it, the amazing bright colors, the motion of the angle, and the general magical feel of my picture. I probably should've taken an actual picture of an actual store window, but this, I feel, is a pretty awesome picture. Also, it doesn't look as good against my blog's purple background--it shows much more vividly and uniquely on a white background, but one picture is not reason enough to change my blog's awesome background. I recommend to viewers that they copy-paste my picture into word or something to see it better. This is what our hatters' shoppes look like beyond the veil of the violet mist.

(I commented on Heather's)

Oil on the Water

Cette semaine, dans la classe 'le camera digital', nous avons prende' les photos du "oil on water". Actually, we put oil, water, and watercolor paint in a glass bowl, which we sat atop fabric. I chose this picture because I loved the colors, and the particular wisp I caught floating off the top. Also, I liked the warmth and the angle. I ran the coffeeshop actions, and under color pop I did the triple shot. In the end, I love the rich, vivid color, and the bright, popping warmth. I also like how it is cropped to be in the bottom corner, and the flowing feeling of the pigments in the bowl. It makes me feel like I'm in some sort of foreign spice market across the world, what with the bold orange fabric and glowing magenta waters in a fine glass bowl. . Something I could've improved on is oil presence; it was hard to see the oil before I ran the action, and my magnification of the colors only made it more vague. There is one good spot in the glare, (which I also dislike in itself,) but it is tiny. Bold colors from a foreign land have spilled into our lands, here beyond the violet mist.

(I commented on Tayler's)

Architecture and its Environment

This week, our theme was Architecture and its Environment. I meant to make it to town and take some pictures of buildings there, but I ran out of time so took some pictures around the house. This picture does not have the most architecture involved, but I thought it turned out really cool. It shows some of the wood framing our picture window, both architectural details. It also features our Christmas tree we just got out, a branch up close and its reflection in the window. I love the colors of this picture and chose it because it just generally appeals to me. I cropped it in respect to the rule of thirds--originally the tree's reflection was smack dab center, but I cropped it so it would be in the upper right-hand corner. I ran Forf's HDR normal. (technically, I ran all of them, but this is the one I liked best--it made the colors nice and rich but not too rich and oversaturated.) I love the colors and the depth of my photo--the branch in front and the reflection in back make it really neat. I like that I followed the rule of thirds, and it does work well in this picture. I would improve my 'architecture content'--I quite simply ought to include more architecture. Beyond the violet mist, the Christmas tree has come out and the decorating is begun.

(I commented on Martina's)

the Shiny Pencil Sharpener and the Word Spasm

 

The school: inside and out. That is what we set out to capture this Wednessday. I took pictures that showed the school itself better, but I also messed with my camera and some reflections in a shiny pencil sharpener in the computer lab, and these were the ones I liked best, because I thought they were creative and different from what others would do, and I felt a pencil sharpener is an effective symbol of school. I chose this of the pencil sharpener pictures because it shows my camera and hand nicely, and I like the depth the layers of the sharpener add. I ran Ashley's clean actions, and, because my photo was quite vague at first, duplicated the background copy to make my image extra sharp and I increased contrast to 100 to make my camera show up brightly and also increased saturation a little, though not too much as it made my hand red. Then I flattened it and added... my wordle spasm! I love all my color and variety on my picture, how bright and colorful it turned out, and I feel like it does say something about school. Also, I like my French words because I feel they add linguistic depth. I would have liked to know another language, like German or Norwegian, for even more variety, but the French is nice. A quick translation of my french, from the top, left to right, starting with mon coeur: my heart, the teacher, my cat, an apple, the school.  However, I may have overdone it a taaad bit with my spasmatic wordle. As much as I love my many font colors, sizes, and shapes, they do make it a little... busy. This is almost a better representation of my mind than school. Almost. Another thing: I didn't ask Mrs. Riehle how to rotate things until the very end when I was almost finished, so I didn't rotate much. It may have been better with things going all directions, but then again I may have given someone a seizure. Word spasms flourished today beyond the violet mist. 

(I commented on Tyler's)

A Good Night's Rest

seeing the details

You know those mornings when you wake up and look at your arm, and it is covered in wavy imprints from the sheets in the night? My detail portrait is derived from one of those nights. I woke up in the hotel and looked at my arm and my brain went, "This is the perfect picture for my digital camera detail portrait."  So I got my camera, posed my arm on the still-cozy-warm pillow, and took a few shots. I chose this picture because it is the one where my markings showed up best, and I liked the gentle morning lighting, pale, soft colors, and the angle of my arm and hand. I ran Ashley's clean actions but took off the background copy because it made my skin look too sharp and weird. From the '50 postwork actions' folder, I ran ghost glow because it maintained the soft paleness of the photo and the sort of tranquil, clean feeling. Another action I tried and liked was Argenta 1, but I decided it made my photo too yellow-pinkish and chose this one instead, as it also kept the original mood where the Argenta action changed it. I still really like the soft, calm feel my photo has. If it had more colors, it might be more interesting, but it would lose the mood of calm. Perhaps I should have done something to make the lines on my arm clearer, but it is hard to do that without doing too much. Beyond the violet mist, we got a good night's rest and saw the benefits. 

(I commented on Martina's)

Props 

My Mom and Nature

My mom here models some interesting artifacts we chanced upon the other day in my grandparents' cow pasture: a fallen birds' nest and a giant mushroom from the side of a tree. My mother is holding these little excerpts from nature, showing the interesting things we found. I chose this picture because my mom is smiling nicely and naturally, and I thought the pose was nice. I only ran Perfect Portrait Three, and of course fiddled with all the layers. One thing that bugs me is that I accidentally made her left eye significantly darker than her right, making her eyes seem uneven. I might've overdone the eye coloration a bit, as well as some of the definition on some things and the skin tone adjustments just weren't quite right. However, I like how vivid the props are, as it makes them stand out and look cool and vivid. I also still really like her smile, and the colors on her t-shirt were nice before but are even brighter now that I've run the action. Thank you, Mom, for being my muse this week! We went on a nature hunt beyond the violet mist today.

I commented on Tyler's

Side-Lighting

The light side, The dark side, and Contrast

Aujourd'hui en classe, we took side-lit portraits. (That sentence begins 'today in class' in French) This is when, in a portrait, light falls on one side of a person's face, but the other side is left misted in mysterious darkness. I chose this picture because I liked the way the light sparkled in her red hair--you can actually see little glittering flecks--and the shadows on her face showed up really well, with good contrast. Also she is smiling a nice, natural smile. The shadows in this one I do really like because of their abstract blobish-ness and the way they create patterns that aren't just straight lines, and it makes them so much more interesting and adds great depth. I ran Ashley's clean actions, in which I increased the contrast, because to me contrast seems to be really the whole point of a side-lit photo, having your shadows deep and your highlight brilliant. I also took off the sharpening layer copy thing under Ashley's, because I liked it more vague and soft, and it sort of overtexturized her skin.  Of course, I also ran Perfect Portrait 3. Some of it I did not do, for example I did not apply 'whiten teeth' because when I brushed it in it lessened the strength of the shadow (as her mouth is in shadow), and I did not like losing that strength. The same goes for the shadowed eyes, which I did not want brightened. In the end, I still really like the sparkling of the red in her hair in the highlight,which also adds color to the bright side one can look upon in my photo. I love the contrast even more since the actions have been run, and it adds a lot of depth to the photo. I might have rather had the background be entirely black paper or entirely brick wall, one or the other. I feel like either would've been ok, but both is just a little distracting. Also, now, looking back, maybe I could've put the background--including her sweater and everything but her hair and face--in black and white to help focus the photo on the main portrait, which is to say, her face and hair.  Or perhaps I'd even do everything in black and white save for her hair, which is the main color focus of this picture, but then again that might take away from the contrast of her face. Things hide in the shadows beyond the violet mist, but hair sparkles in the soft sunlight.

(I commented on Tyler's)

Hands

This week in digital camera, we looked at hands. It was such a wide-open topic, I had to think about what I enjoyed using my hands for. One of my favorite activities with my hands is holding a book-so as to read it... or just to hold it. A well-sized book feels comfortable in my hands. I chose this picture because it expresses my love for books with my hands. I like how it turned out. It just generally achieves the visual feel I wanted. I used coffeeshop vivid first and turned on 'soft', and then of course I used moody pop. I really like how vivid's soft and moody pop worked together, the smooth effect of softness that comes from them. I might have improved the angle of the subject--it is slightly tilted but not enough to create an effect--by either tilting it more, which I think would be the best, or by not tilting the camera at all. However, the camera here was not tilted intentionally- it was propped up and on timer as these are my own hands. Both of them. Also, perhaps my shadows are a nidge too dark, but then again I like the contrast. Beyond the violet mist, we used our hands to signify appreciation for a good book. 

(I commented on Livy's)

Hubcaps and Taillights

Today in our digital camera explorations, we took pictures of hubcaps and taillights. I chose this picture because I like the angle, the shininess of the wheel, and the fact that the weight is in the bottom right corner so it applies to the rule of thirds. I used the butterfly action from under Nelly Nero's timecapsule set, and took off the 'lighten shadows' feature, which gave it better contrast, which is helped aid in showing the shiny reflectiveness of the wheel. I ran my action's color correction, because I felt the picture turned out a little too blue, and I took some blue off. However, I now think I took a little too much blue off in an overreaction, and that my picture is now somewhat too yellow, which I dislike. I do sort of like that you can, if you look closely, see my camera in the picture (once more clearly; the second time, it's very distorted, but still there), and even in the distance a tree, as well as another car and parking lines, which I think is fun and I feel these 'hidden items' add visual interest. Just in general, I think this is a visually interesting, up-close picture of a hubcap that has a cool effect. Despite its mildly over-yellow coloration, I think it turned out fairly well, and the yellowness does sort of give a 'vintage' effect. Actually, looking at it today, it looks a lot less yellow. Beyond the violet mist, we have vintage butterfly chrome.

(I commented on Martina's)

Old Things

a window into history

Old things. They've seen a lot. They know our history. Heirlooms passed down through families, mountains made in the first days of earth, trees that have seen hundreds of years. And they remember all of it. Stories cling to heirlooms, tales of love and loss and all the things that happen to people through the years. Buried in the folds of earth below mountains and in the rings of trees lie secrets, await memories. Trees show scars of fires, bullets from wars, thicker rings whisper of lush rains and renaissances of fertile growth. To archeologists, old things mean history, figuring out how people long forgotten once lived. Old things are an irreplaceable link to our past. This week, for old things, I chose to take a picture of a tree. Wrinkles pattern its flesh, and many branches grasp at unknown prizes. I chose this particular picture because it follows the rule of thirds, has an interesting perspective, and I felt it captures the tree well. I chose to make it sepia and followed the tutorial, and added a small amount of noise. I'm afraid I've forgotten whether I used an action before that or not, as it was before the weekend and I just don't remember, but I probably used Ashley's clean... I think. I like the angle of this photo and how its bark looks like wrinkled tissue paper with the light. As to improvements, I feel like the two pine trees in the background distract from the focus a little bit, and it might have more impact without them. Overall, I am quite pleased with this photo. I wish I could've also used the other picture, which I liked just about as much. In fact, though the first picture is the one I want graded, I will also include it here....

This is the same picture, just with selective color instead of sepia. I did not choose it because it does not look quite as old, but I think it still looks awesome. (I commented on Beth's)

This week beyond the violet mist, we explored our past through things left behind in time...

Les Oeuffs avec les Chattes

   'Les oeuffs' is french for 'the eggs', which is just what we photographed this week. As to 'les chattes', my picture also features a kitten-themed spoon rest and my necklace. I used the actions I created, color corrected because my picture was a little too blue, added a slight vignette and used sharpen, although I did not use my dodge and burn. Also, I used coffeeshop bakery glazes 2's vanilla glaze. I chose this picture because I like the perspective and how my focus is not in the center, but instead is more of an upside-down U composition, it came out crisp, and especially because I like the things my eggs are with. Like I said, it was a little too blue, but I fixed that with color correction, although the 'glaze' added some back. I might have improved my light/dark balance some, but I really like the softness of the photo. Eggs may seem like a quite simple subject, but because of that they are open to a variety of things you can do with them. Beyond the violet mist this week, we explored the possibilities.

I commented on Travis'.

Postcard from a Cafe': Bottles

 

   This week, in class, we took pictures of a still life we sat up with bottles. I named my picture 'Postcard from a Cafe' ' because I thought it looked like one once I added this postcard texture. The E with an ' after it is supposed to serve as an accent aigu, because there is no insert symbol option, which greatly bothers me. I ran the coffeeshop storybook vintage action and used two textures, and after I applied my textures I ran the action one more time to make it a litter darker and softer, and the vignette got clearer. I chose this picture because I like the feel of the setup, the smooth shapes of the bottles I used, and the general romantic feel I get from this picture. I like the shapes of the bottles, but I probably could've used the rule of thirds a little better, though I think that the postcard texture helps my composition some. The people of the violet mist send you greetings from a romantic Parisian cafe'...

(I commented on Tayler's)

I'll See You On the Dark Side of the Moon....

This week, we were told to illustrate a song. I did pink floyd's Brain Damage. The line this photo pertains to is in the title. I used coffeeshop vivid and brightened up the moon. Beyond the violet mist, the lunatic is in our head...

I commented on Tyler's.

Trick Photography

I've found a giant book! Or so it seems... We have this thing called perspective. Things closer to us seem bigger because they take up more of our vision's space, and things farther away seem smaller. We can use that in our photography to play with the eye. Thus, when I put this book in front of the camera and stand further back, I have a giant book. It took me like twenty shots to get this right using my self timer and the bricks in the wall to tell me where to stand, and I guesstimated with my hand. I chose this picture because it is the first one that worked. I used coffee shop vivid and brightened up the red on the book cover. Beyond the violet mist, there are giant books...

(I commented on Martina's)

Reflection

  There is a funny way that light bounces around us. When it finds something smooth and shiny, like a mirror, it bounces back, giving us a reflection. When there are three mirrors making a triangle so that they all face in on each other,  they bounce the light back and forth and back and forth amongst themselves as though they are playing catch, and the light multiplies, making a precise plethora of images. When one puts a camera amidst these, a special image is captured. Thus is what I sought out this week for the theme, 'reflection'. This week we also created our own actions in photoshop to best touch up these pictures. I used only the actions I created. Beyond the violet mist, the light dances between sheets of glass.

(I commented on Sara's)

Fall is Coming

This week in digital camera, we sought out the first whiffs of fall. Then, we created a "polaroid emulsion transfer" on them. I chose this picture because I liked the lighting, which got even better as the action progressed. I used the 'ocean ripple' distort and the flower brush, and the maple tea paper. Beyond the violet mist, we feel a growing crispness in the air...

(I commented on Katie's)

Lines and Texture

Lines weave our world. Look around you. You are seeing in lines. There is not a single thing that does not have an outline and defining lines. This week we explored some of the most vivid lines around. Then we added texture. Just as lines can make texture, texture can add to lines. This is my best of three, a close-up of a rug in the school entryway. I ran Ashley's nice& easy and increased contrast, then put it in black and white. I used three textures, my favorite of which was 'writing on parchment'. I think this one quite simply looks the coolest, and I like the warmth my textures added. Beyond the violet mist, we can see in lines and see lines in textures. 

(I commented on Tayler's)

Finding Letters: Cats

Beyond the violet mist and not, there are letters hidden all around us. This is what we realized in digital camera today. I sought out the word "Cats". I ran ashley's nice & easy on all of them, and on most I adjusted various things. One main thing I did to make them look good in black & white was to increase the contrast on most of them. Today, I found CATS. What will you find beyond the violet mist?

(I commented on Tayler's)

Me, Myself, Vivi, Abi and I

    In digital camera, we had fun with ourselves. I decided that to make my photos unique I would use the bushes to give my picture dimension, to give me places to hide. I peek out of the bushes at myself. The two extra names in the title are my blog name, Vivi, and Abi, a pseudonym I use. Beyond the violet mist, I multiply.

I commented on Tori's

Action! 

This is not my favorite photo, but I think it is pretty good. I picked it because it is the best picture I had with me today-I forgot my camera. My kitten (named Dovey) did actually jump, I just missed it. I ran Coffeeshop Vivid and High-def as well as Seventies and, of course, the cinemagic. That is some action from beyond the violet mist.

(I commented on Tyler's)

Bubble People

This Wednesday, our digital camera class looked into the mysterious world of bubbles. They are innately difficult to capture and sometimes difficult to produce, even. Oftentimes they rest on the stick that made them, as did this one. In this state, they are more manipulable and I was able to reveal some people inside. I ran coffeeshop vivid as my extra action on this one. I like the little people captured within and I cropped out the shelter I was in but left the architectural detail of the post.  Beyond the violet mist today, we chased the mysterious creature known only as a bubble.

(I commented on Martina's)

Sunrise, Sunset

When I think of Sunrise, Sunset, I think of the song (Sunriiiiise, sun-set, sunriiiise, sun-set, was it just yesterday that you were smaaaaalll?) and that makes me think of baby animals, like my cousins' adorable kittens. I ran the coffeeshop High-def and Vivid on this. I think it is absolutely adorable. That is the epitome of adorableness from beyond the violet mist.

(I commented on Brian's)

Un Fleur Avec L'Eau 

My waterdrop photo

This photo's title means "a flower with water" in French. My favorite thing about taking water drop pictures was just getting up close and seeing things from different perspectives. It was fun to see the way the water made little crystals and just to spend time taking photos. The only thing I wish is that I could've had more time, like the whole day, to take pictures. It was hard to just get the "perfect picture". Beyond the violet mist, flowers are lined with crystalline jewels.

(I commented on Tyler's)

Sweetie, Some Flowers, and a Blue Snow Shovel:

my first picture

I had a lot of different pictures I planned, including several still-lifes of my mother's glassware and several of a tree, but this one of my cat just struck me as looking really neat. My cat (named Sweetie) is black and white, and the snow shovel in the background is blue. It just worked out and I felt it expressed the theme to me. I also like the vivid colors created by the saturation I added. And so you have your first glance beyond the veil of violet mist....

(I commented on Tori's)

A Variety of Things, or My First Assignment: A Scavenger Hunt

What would our world be like without photography?

If photography had never been invented, many of the injustices in the world would not have been brought out of their dark corners by pictures taken by brave photojournalists that moved people to move governments to action, and the injustices would still exist. People who were inspired by photos that changed their lives would still be living lives unchanged and uninspired. Also, the internet as we know it would likely not exist. The world of photos would still hide behind the mysterious violet mist.

But, thanks to photography, many sites of photos exist. I have explored a few of different genres below....

*Portraiture: http://myraklarman.com/

       *Landscapes: http://www.daveallenphotography.com/

       *Wildlife: http://www.hadleywildlife.org.uk/

       *Sports Photography: http://www.joshcouper.com/tag/professional-soccer/

       *Photojournalism: http://www.davidabelphotography.com/
       *Fine Art- Still Lifes: http://www.stevechong.com/
*Fashion Photography: http://www.avenaim.com/
*Commercial Photography: http://www.paulkline.com/