Editing with Layers

Lately I've been loving pictures that have texture. (This basically means that the original photo was, in a sense, "merged" with a photo of some sort of texture. Like so:)

(photo from: http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-10/psd-vintage-look-layers-tutorial.html)

See the paper texture? Awesome, right? Well duh, of course!
This kind of edit can be really cool when used on a portrait, so, being extremely eager to try it out for myself (and rushing into things yet again), I snapped a few quick self-portraits and took a shot at it with photoshop. On my own. No help whatsoever.
.....and, well.....I needed help. And lots of it! I did finish the edit, but it's not exactly my best work. See for yourself:

Yeeahh, so it's not the best ever. It seemed to me that there was just something (or several things) off about it, so I went to the critique section of the main photography website I use (http://www.soaphoto.com/lounge/critique/critique_main.asp) and asked for some pointers. A lady by the name of Birgitta  (who, by the way, has a very cool testimony: http://www.soaphoto.com/album/journal_view.asp?jcode=6353&datetime_vc=20100324&uid=kobresia) helped me out and pointed me towards a tutorial she had written on just such a subject. So, knowing that there was much to be learned, I went to the web page a read the tutorial.

As it turns out, Birgitta is totally awesome at this kind of edit, and she taught herself! I grabbed the same photo I had used for the first edit and got to work. After searching for some good textures (which I eventually found on www.textureking.com), 1-2 hours later (hey, it's a learning process!), I had finished this:

Much better, yes? I though so, anyway. This looks much more professional vs the first attempt....which, in my opinion, looked like a 10-year-old edited it on Picnik. Haha in any case, I was very proud of it. I do indeed look forward to using more textures in the future. Let's just hope I dont go overboard!

The Doll Files: Prologue

Soooo...I'm starting a new project! I want to get 50 pictures of this one artist model that my lovely friend, Hannah, gave me, so I'm calling it 'The Doll Files'. I'm going to have to get creative with props and such; I have a few ideas so far but it's going to be a stretch go get 50 disticntly unique photos, so I'm hoping that using one main prop for that many different pictures will force me to think out-of-the-box and become a better and more creative photographer. That's the theory, anyway. Well, plus I think it will be a lot of fun.

I'm hoping to suprise myself with what I come up with!
The only rule I have for myself so far is that the same doll must be in each of the 50 pictures in some way. Anything goes- B&W, major editing, floral stickers, whatever- the goal is simply to get creative and become a better photographer.

I think this may also help me to take better photos of people in the future too. At the momment I kind of suck at them, but maybe working with a poseable and workable model like this will give me experiance that I can use when taking photos of real people.

Anyway, to sum it up, I'm praying that this project will turn out really well and make me a better photographer in the process. Here's hoping!

My Trip to Duke

This past Friday I had the oportunity to wander around the Duke University campus and take pictures; it was great! I felt a little out-of-place at first, being 3 years younger than the average college freshman and all that, but once I found my way around and started taking pictures I was much more relaxed. My main subject was the chapel, a towering church with minor buildings that wind their way all over the east campus, its an absolutely gorgeous building inside and out. I could only get good pictures of the outside though, because the indoor lighting was really warm and I only had a sony point-and-shoot camera with a slow shutter-speed. Hence, most of my indoor pictures are really blurry because my hand moved to much and the shutter was to slow to catch a good image.


I guess the students aren't used to seeing a high-school sophmore chasing squrrels around the landscaping, though, 'cause I got some pretty weird looks. The squrrels weere so friendly though, and one let me get up close; how could I not take pictures?
I guess my camera shutter did not feel very sociable that day though, because it scared the poor critter off. Fooey!