Photo experiments

Okay, I found some interesting techniques on the internet I just had to try.  The first one is from http://kimikreations.blogspot.com/.  She won a photo contest with her picture using this method. I realize this is not for everyone, but I like to try things.  Here is my attempt at duplicating it.

Rob

So I will not forget how to do this I decided I would write the instructions down here.  I use Photoshop elements 8.

• Edit photo cleaning up any blemishes 
• Use a gradient map adjustment layer to turn the picture to black and white
• Add a brown texture; duplicate texture
• On the bottom texture, change the blending mode to soft light
• Top texture is left on normal.
• Use a layer mask to mask out portions of the picture to your liking.  My PSE 8 does not have a layer mask so I have to use a levels adjustment, drag the layer below the photo, invert (command I on a Mac) to turn the layer to black.  With foreground set to white, paint out the part of the photo to create the mask on the black portion of your layer adjustment.

My second technique I have done before, but it has been a long time.  I like the blue and the "glow" the picture has.

• Open image
• Remove color (command U)
• Filter--distort--diffuse glow
•  sliders: grainness soft (0)             glow 5             clear 7
• click ok
• set foreground to white- select paint brush and brush out some of the photo
• unlock background layer to layer 0
• transform (command T on Mac) to scale picture up
• create a solid color layer adjustment 
• using the color picker select a blue tone
• drag this below the image layer
• on the photo layer change blending mode to screen 
• Add text
• sample the color with eyedropper- alt backspace  

Home again, home again

I feel like I need to repeat the words from Jordan's blog, holy, moly( http://lifethinking.livejournal.com/  see the entry from August 4th.)  Holy, moly it has been way too long since I last posted anything.  At dinner tonight, I was telling Warren I needed to go get something posted.  He told me to take a picture of a post and put that up and say, "here's my post for the day."  I am not doing that.

I am back from my Alaskan cruise with Jane and I am happy to report she was a real trooper and we both had a great time.  She survived and so did I.  We were very slow getting to places, but we got there.  It was cold, very cold, but oh so beautiful.  How anyone can deny God when they look at wonders of creation?  I cannot understand.

These are glaciers, even the part that look like mountains

The Yukon

Seattle...I know, I know...there's no space needle.  I couldn't get it in.

These pictures are panoramas.  I stitched together 3 or 4 photos to get the whole picture.  I was pleased with how they turned out.  I will have more pictures as I get them edited, so stay tuned.

Other happenings around our household:  Erynn has finally learned to swim!  Yeah for Erynn.  I have been trying and trying to get her to go underwater, blow and breathe, and use her arms to stroke.  It is kind of hard to do all those things when she has to hold her nose.  But one day, she said, "Mimi, I have been thinking.  I want to jump off the deep end and you just be there to help me if I need it."  We practiced at 5 feet, then 6, 7, and finally the deepest spot.  She did great.  I just had to help her get level in the water and she swam to the side by herself.  Her stroke needs refinement, but the biggest obstacle is over.  And look at her two new front teeth.  When I came back from Alaska, there they were...all of a sudden.

Erynn's fearless leap!

My what big teeth you have! (from Little Red Riding Hood)

Warren has been doing water therapy for his back after I coaxed him into it.  I crank up the heater to warm the pool water to therapeutic temperature...he complains about it and I am sure our gas bill will be up, but hopefully it will help his back.  He watches T.V. from the floor now...more support there.

Doing therapy.  He has to have a belt and noodle to keep him up.
He has no body fat, and sinks like a rock.

Warren's new watching T.V. position.

I found some rain boots on sale, really cheap, at Target.  I debated whether to buy them since I have lived 58 years without them, but decided I couldn't pass up such a great deal.  I have worn them everyday since I bought them for working in the garden, spraying the bird poop off the sidewalk, spraying the yard for bugs, cleaning the pool, and finally, I got to wear them in the rain.  We haven't had rain in forever.  On of my lady friends, Gail Stokes, (Brandon's grandmother) told me her family went to Ruidoso to the horse races, and it poured rain.  Her little great-grandson who is 2 years old, said, "What is this?"  It only goes to show you, it has been way too long since it has rained around here when a 2 year old has not seen rain to know what it is.

My new found treasures...rain boots.

It's raining, it's pouring, the old woman is happy!

Day one of travel

I don't know why I titled this day one other than it is day one,but I am not sure there will be Internet access on the ship. Therefore, my day one maybe my only day I will have recorded. I guess I will just have to wait and see.

Our (Jane and me) day of traveling getting to the embarkation destination was uneventful,but interesting. Jane is 94 years old so that in itself presents challenges. I wanted her to check her bag so we would not be so loaded down, but she was fearful it would get lost and wanted to keep it. Apparently she lost her bag on a trip to Hawaii and the one she finally received was full of diapers. Since then she travels with her bag. This did not present too much of a problem until the end of the trip when I got my bag.(I checked mine) Seattle airport must have had a moron design it. Baggage claim is on one level and a normal person would have the passenger pick up outside the baggage claim, but it is not. You have to go up one level, cross the street, then go down a level again. This walk is very long for a 94 year old and with two suitcases, two carry ons, and two purses. That little walk took us forever,but we did it. We got the shuttle to our hotel, checked in then headed to the elevators. Keep in mind we are loaded down like camels, and Jane has to hang on to me for balance. (she did not want to bring her walker). When the elevator came I told Jane to go on first. Well she started, but she is so slow that the elevator doors started closing on her. I barely managed to free my hand from all our stuff to keep her from being squashed between the doors. We finally got on with all our stuff, got to our floor, and this time I held the door and told Jane to get off. She started, but was jolted to a stop because she did not have the strenghth to get her suitcase wheels past the crack made from the elevator and the floor. I was holding the door and about 5 bags along with my suitcase so I did not have a free hand to help her. She just couldn't get it unstuck from the crack. I tried using my leg to lift it, but by now the suitcase was turned around backwards and it was not moving. Then the elevator's alarm started ringing. I don't know why other than we had the door open for so long. There was nothing that I could do, but put down my load, get her suitcase going in the right direction then go back for my things, and get off. When I had us both off the elevator, I took her suitcase and placed it on top of mine and pulled them both. Whew! We made it. The bad thing is that we have to repeat this in reverse tomorrow. We have to go back to the airport to get the bus that takes us to the ship. Maybe our experience yesterday combined with a good nights rest will strengthen us for tomorrow.

Alaskan Cruise

Tomorrow Jane and I are off to meet our ship for our Alaskan cruise.  It will be a long day of travel to Seattle, Washington.  Then on Sunday we are off.  I think it is going to be fun.  Details and pictures will be coming.  Bon voyage!

Little Annie

I took Annie into the vet's today to get her teeth cleaned and a check-up.  I had been putting it off, and decided that I couldn't put it off any longer because she was not looking or acting too well.  She seemed to have a hard time eating, she drank constantly, her right eye wasn't looking normal, and she was loosing weight.  I had talked to Beth (my vet and friend) about her loosing weight and she said that was never good.  Annie had not been there long when I got a call from Beth with not very good news.  She said Annie was a mess.  She had lost 3.5 pounds in less than 6 months which was never a good sign.  We talked about tests, long term care...if there was such a thing for her, and the cost.  In the end, we decided it would be best to put her to sleep and that is what we did.  I am really sad we had to do that because she was really a very nice cat.  It has been kind of a bummer day for me because of that.  I hope for the brief time we had her here that she felt loved and secure.  I think she had a pretty rough life before us.  I took these pictures of her on July 18.  They are the last I have of her.

She never could get enough rubbing!

                                      

She would often cross her paws.  She sat like a queen.

Surgery Day

The day started early on Monday, July 18th.  Five a.m. to be exact.  It wasn't too bad though since we are up at that time many mornings.  Rising early seems to be a side effect of aging--you just wake up, even though you don't want to.  We were at the hospital a little before six and took our spot in the waiting room with all the others scheduled for outpatient surgery that day.  I brought along a limited supply of reading materials, so I looked around for a good magazine to read.  Who ever stocks the waiting room with magazines must have something to do with horses.  There was "Western Horseman" and "The Quarter Horse Journal" and that was about it.  I picked up the "Quarter Horse Journal" remembering the fun pictures in the Pioneer Woman cookbook about the Miss Mustang beauty contest ( http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2010/02/miss_mustang_2010/),  thinking there might be some great horse photos in there.  I was right--there were tons of great horse pictures and I learned a lot of important things like styling the horses' bangs to fit its personality.  There was the spit curl, the ponytail, the braid, the pigtails, and just plain bangs.  These all had photos so you could fix your horses' bangs just like those pictured.  Who knew that a horses's bangs were so important.  I learned about mosquito repellent, parasite control, and the importance of the quality of the colostrum for the foal.  Colostrum is the first lacteal secretion before a mother's milk comes in.  It was termed, "mother nature's best kept secret" because it helps keep the baby from getting diseases or allergies.  I did not know there was poor, good, and excellent grades.  There are even colostrum banks.  There are cute hoof and ankle wear for the horses, beautiful, bright saddle blankets and halters, and very ornate saddles.  I think in my second life, I would like to live on a ranch.  I love wearing boots, and have always wanted a horse of my own.  I did not make it to the "Western Horseman" magazine because we were called back to prep Warren for his surgery.
     Being the first on the surgery schedule was great because that meant we did not have to wait very long before they took him up.

Waiting for time to leave.  He looks pretty relaxed.

The hospital wardrobe.  Always the best in fashion.

He's a good sport for laughing at my jokes.

He can't believe I am taking so many pictures.

He went up and I waited, and waited, and waited.  Finally, he came back to outpatient at 11:30.  He looked pretty miserable, was shaking like an earthquake, and had a towel over his head that made him look like  a biblical character with his beard and all--probably an angel because everything was white.  I am sure the towel was supposed to help retain his body heat since you can loose 40 times more through the head.  He has that little bald spot, so I could just envision all the heat escaping through there.  I did my best to cheer him up, but he was not appreciative of my efforts.  I decided to go have lunch in the cafeteria to give him more time to come around.  I ran into my old chief tech that I used to work for in the lab.  He offered me a job.  It was nice to know I could have job security if I wanted it.  I finished lunch and went back to help Warren recover.  He wasn't recovering very well, and I really wanted him to, because that place was freezing.  I had on a sweatshirt and they brought me a blanket, but they did little to fight off the cold.  Warren had an air warmer for one of the blankets, so I tucked my feet in next to him hoping not to touch him and put him into shock because of my of ice cube feet.  Around two in the afternoon, he was showing signs of life--he had to go to the bathroom.  I thought, "oh good, we will be going home soon, and I can thaw out."  That little walk down the hall made him nauseated.  "Groan, we are going to be here longer."   They gave him some medicine for the nausea and said the doctor was coming down to see him.  Now when they say something like that, I expect the doctor to show up in the next 15-20 minutes, but he did not show.  I went to ask  where he was, and they said he had about another hour on his next case and then would be down.  I did not think I was going to make it that long. I was going to be dead with hypothermia by that time.  I was truly a popsicle.  I began in earnest to get Warren awake so we could step outside in the 100 degree weather and thaw.  At 4:30,  I experienced warmth...we were going home.  Oh, it was soooo good.  I was still wearing my sweatshirt when I went to my Pilate class at 6:30 and I was just beginning to feel warm.  A word, to the wise if you have to wait at the hospital... wear your long johns and take your winter coat.

We are in our third day of post-op.  His leg is still bothering him, but not in the same way.  We are hoping and praying it is only due to the trauma of the surgery.  My friend, Marge, brought us a wonderful dinner of soup, salad, homemade whole wheat bread, apricot cobbler, and Blue Bell ice cream last night.  Thank you, Marge, it saved my day which is another story that I will tell on a later date.

Beginning of the 4th Weekend

So much to do and so little time.  Our home is about to be invaded with people--my people, my sons, and all their family.  I am so excited.  July 4th to me is be better than Christmas.  It is a time when all my sons migrate back home and for a few days I get to bask in the joy of their presence.  It is a mom thing.  Nothing thrills me more than seeing, touching, experiencing, and savoring time with my sons.  When the four of them get together it is just like the old days with digs, competition, wrestling, games, jokes, and plenty of sarcasm.  I love it all because they are hilarious.  I wish I could remember all the lines and write it down.  It would be a best seller for sure.

This morning I was reciting to my husband all that I needed to get done before they get here.  He said, I would have had no problem getting to it all if I had not had my nose stuck in a book constantly for the past 23 hours.  Yes, I must confess that is what I have done, but it isn't all my fault.  My daughter-in-law, Laurie, told me about this wonderful, hilarious book, and she let me borrow it.  It was all and more that she said it would be.  So I HAD to get it read and I did.  I finished it this morning.  It is by Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, http://thepioneerwoman.com, From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.

This is the cause of me being so behind.

Seeing I am pressed for time, I must go.  I have a class to teach after which I will taking my little lady, Jane, to a doctors appointment to get the results of her P.E.T. scan.  I pray it is clean.

More on the activities of the 4th later.
I love you all who take the time to read my blog.  God Bless America!

At least I got some cookies made.

Erynn going off the unseen diving board.

She loves the pool.  Now if I could get her  to turn loose of her nose and swim.

Light

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." John 1:4

"While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." John 9: 5

Jesus...light of the world.  What are some of the qualities of light?
1.  It conquers darkness.
2.  It makes things grow.
3.  It provides warmth.
4.  It exposes.
5.  It is the source of energy.

Last week my photography lesson was on white balance or types of light.  The camera has the ability to take pictures in different types of light...sun, shade, cloudy, incandescent, and  fluorescent  to name a few.  If the lighting is wrong, the pictures will turn out with a yellowish or blue color cast, so getting the lighting right is important.  For that particular picture, there is only one correct light and it brings life to the subject.

As I think of Christ,  He is the only correct light.  Discovering that correct light=LIFE.  Christianity is the only religion with the one true light.  Other religions may think they have the correct light, but their life will soon show the error.   I think that is pretty wonderful.  As a photographer, I want all my pictures to show the glory of God.

We studied the different kinds of light in my photography class and their effect on a photo.  Erynn patiently posed for me as I took a picture with each setting on my camera.  There are some that look pretty good and some look horrible.  I found this exercise to be very interesting.  My favorite is the flash and least favorite the incandescent.  I was surprised the flash was so true to what I was seeing.  I never use flash and no, the flash did not go off.  It can be used when a flash is attached, but in this case there was not a flash used. We are not allowed to use a flash in this class which I like.  The flash makes a picture look flat and lifeless and that is not what I want.  So today, be in the light.

Thank you, Erynn for posing for me.  Isn't she so gorgeous?