Shattered Glass with Clarity = Altered Image

Today I am using a photo I took of a shatter glass section from my backdoor fiasco.  I took with Camera+ and used macro mode to zoom in.a section of the piece I liked.   You can see it has texture but really appears a blah color beneath the glass and edges not very well defined.  Could use as texture in a digital collage. I  used light blue cardstock for background.  This is the type of image I say...."what if I tried this app" or filter.  I got some real surprises.  Just using clarityin Camera+ app completely changed the colors.  See Right image. I even tried invert filter in PSE which changed to all different colors of orange and yellow. The right image would make a great background for a greeting card, but, do not want to think about how much ink it would use.  The photo on the left is the original taken in shaded area on deck  The image on the right has just the clarity filter in Camera+ applied.  Then in PSE 11 I used auto fixed Lighten & Darken plus sharpened to the max which defines the shards of glass better.  Who would think you could make something out of nothing at all. It really looks like an abstract painting.

#4 Rust Dumpster

Rust #4 - Dumpster   I love that the base color of this dumpster has a turquoise background but painterly effect. When I took the image I thought this looked like finger projections but after seeing on the monitor, feel this looks like some dancers with streaks of rust color being their costumes. By sharpening the rust areas, it also gave more digital noise (grain) to the background.  
iPhone 5C Camera+ Edited in PSE 11 Cropped, Exposure, Sharpened
I tried experimenting with color variations. The right image I decreased red. - more altered art.     

Rust Image #1 Dumpster

Last Thursday I was in downtown Greensboro and saw  rust splotches various places on a dumpster.
I spent at least 1/2 hr taking images of these because of textures and designs. I knew when I was taking the image that I would want to be using some apps or altering the images--just in case I ever get around to making digital collages.  So, this week I will post a rust image every day.  Some I used the native app or Camera+ and I did not take notes, don't remember if I did HDR or not since it was an overcast day but it is usually the default setting. Some I was showing my husband various filters and the program did not save a copy.  So, you do have to be careful about destructive editing.   The left image was clarified in camera in PS Express and I am not sure what filter I applied to get the colors. This image was rotated 90 degrees as I liked that composition better.    I can't show the original but you will see others with a muted turquoise background.  The image on the right I rotated to the right another 90 degrees, sharpened and then in PSE 11 I changed enhancement in color variations the color by decreasing red highlights x2 which resulted in blues and greens.which reminds me of a churning sea.      

Autumn Maple Leaves - Backlit Rankin School

Today is the first day of fall.  Some of the leaves have a hint of color in Greensboro, NC, especially some maples.  It can be difficult to find them at iPhone level to get a close up.  One of my favorite things to do is to let the light shine from behind the leaves so you can better see the various colors of the leaves, plus the texture and the veins.  I stopped at an elementary school in my neighborhood. The Left image was taken about 4:30 PM EDST.  Camera+ HDR.  Edited in PSE 11.  Played with lighting, brightness, saturation and decreasing green in color variations. The Right image was cropped to a square and then posted on Instagram.  I had selected the "Hudson" filter.  I guess I like the Instragram one better because the red veins stand out more more texture. It was also a lot less work than  editing with sliders in PSE 11.

Shadows from Railing Sculpture at GSO Arboretum

Another image from the GSO arboretum.  I liked the pattern of the leaves with the flourish effect from the railing sculpture but could not figure out how to get more of the sculpture itself and the shadows that were cast on the footboard.for a reflection.  I thought it was an interesting design.  It was taken around noon on a bright sunny day.  I played around with filters in PSE 11 and like the note paper one with the white background which is on the right. Probably I could this pattern as part of a digital collage.

Winter Texter - Foliage CU + Artistic Cutout Filter

Another texture taken of some winter plant foliage (close up) in a container. I do not recognize this plant. I thought it would make a great background when I get into doing digital collages.Original does not have as much depth.


 I cropped, adjusted midtones & highlights, sharpened and then applied artistic cutout filter in PSE 11. Other filters also showed interesting effects. 

Ice Pattern 1 - Variations with Post Processing in PSE 11

I managed to capture a few ice designs on my iPhone the last few days...brrh!!   Difficult to push the buttons with gloves in place. The intention was to try playing with some post -processing adjustments. The darker blue less distinct pattern is the original image without editing.  It was late eveing and very slippery to attempt the shot--thus the blue cast which I did not really see when I captured the image.


The right image was a lot of different filters in PSE 11 and you might not be able to tell it originally was texture from ice patterns.  It ended up looking black and white. It took about 6 different filters/adjustments to obtain this effect.   Step 1.  Adjust Brightness and Contrest.  Step 2.   Lighten/Darken Shadows.  Step 4. Sharpen  Step 4. Change to B & W.  Step 5. Pencil Sketch Effect - Line Drawing. 6. Low Key



The image lower left I just changed light/dark sliders and did a moderate amount of sharpening to get the texture and lighter color I wanted. 

Let Mardi Gras Begin - Altered Image with Air Plants (Saturated Film Effect)

Today starts Mardi Gras. I was going to do another 'selfie' with beads and a mask but I have a few days to post that and still be in the Mardi Gras celebration timeframe. When I was at the NC zoo a few weeks ago, I took a photo image of the air plants. I like their texture.  So, today I played with the saturated film effect in PSE 11 and it reminded me of the garish colors associated with Mardi Gras.  I also like the varieties of them on archways at the DBS Botanical Garden in Belmont, NC.  

Lighted Dog Christmas Outdoor Decoration

Day 2   Today I picked an image of a lighted dog outdoor Christmas decoration. It was taken with the Native Camera app, no tripod, lighting was from within the decoration, and no flash was used.. There are 2 images. The original image (Left) which I cropped and adjusted the shadows & highlights to my liking in Photoshop Elements 11. The 2nd adjustment of the  image (Right)I really pushed the sharpening to the maxm I kind of like that image better because of the texture even though considered an altered image. At least I did not have to worry about the dog moving or a stupid facial expression.