Exploring Photoshop’s Text Tool

At the museum outdoor theater

I’ve not worked with the Lynda.com tutorial learning Photoshop’s basic features. I get impatient to do something more tangible with the images I already have. Learning for me comes in fits. I settle down to learn slow and sure then explode into acts of spontaneous creation that sometimes leave me dissatisfied for being so undisciplined. I guess I’ll need to be more accepting of my energy cycle while still trying to mold and bend it when I can. This is from Scott Kelby’ Down & Dirty Tricks for Photoshop 6.

The Challenge of Outdoor Light

At the Fountain

I do a poor job mixing work with pleasure. The idea yesterday was to spend time outdoors. Shooting was an after thought. So I put the D7 on automatic and basically took snap shots. Occasionally a photo comes out of the blue, especially since Arron is such a good model. I keep saying this and may say it forever: plan each photo, manually adjust for exposure and depth. Okay, next time.

Sprinting on the Canon EOS D7

I took my Canon EOS 7D on a test drive today. Arron and I walked the backyard of the Indianapolis Art Museum and when we got hot checked out the air-conditioned exhibit halls half of which I had not seen since the renovation was completed last year. I started to take pictures and soon Arron was grabbing the camera and shooting, too. Before I knew it the 16 Gb card was full! 18 MB files quickly fill the CF card but we did shoot 616 photos. Here’s Arron sprinting down the wooded path above the canal that runs between the museum and the White River. The image is straight out of an André Techine movie! I reduced the size down to 15%, the resolution to 72 dpi. It is uncropped.

Magic Lasso in Collage

This is from Scott Kelby’s tip on instant collage using the gradient tool but I ended up not using the gradient tool. Instead I magic-lassoed Arron’s image from another photo and pasted it on a separate layer in Brittany’s photo. I feel guilty for skipping the step-by-step tutorial but finding it fun to finally start using the more powerful Photoshop tools!

Colorizing Grayscale Images

After dillydallying for years I am getting resigned to the incontrovertible fact that to edit photo images the way I want to I have to take the time to learn the techniques slowly and correctly. This is my first attempt colorizing a grayscale image using Photoshop. I have yet to learn to use the selection tools so this is my first use of the magnetic lasso tool. I have the rest of the tool palette to learn so to encourage myself on the long drudgery I am rewarding myself with down-and-dirty tricks from Scott Kelby’s arsenal.