Sunrise with Jackson

I get up early every morning to let Jackson out, and sometimes my breath is caught by the beauty of the sky.... So, my submission for Texture Tuesday this week is a photo I took of the sunrise this morning.  (I posted a similar photo here).  Hard to improve on the original, I must say! Hold your mouse over the image to see the version without textures.  Hannah of Honi-Soit was kind enough to guide me through the process.  I couldn't get it to work at all week, but it seems to be working fine this time.  Thanks again, Hannah, for taking the time to give me a hand with this!

Processed with Kim Klassen's "Serendipity" (color burn @50%) and "Yesteryear" (color burn @40%)

I started playing around with the blending modes, and I really like how this version reminds me of a nighttime seascape:

"Serendipity" (color burn @50%) and "Yesteryear" (difference @100%)

Gratuitous Jackson pic

I am looking forward to some photo ops later this fall -- and I'm especially thrilled because my husband has decided he wants to get back into photography, too.  We are taking a class from Digital Photo Academy at Grand Central Station next month, among other things.

But for now I've been immersed in my quilting, and it is wonderful to be back at the sewing machine.  I also attended a wonderful workshop in NYC on art journaling techniques with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and Nathalie Kalbach, and started another online course on text and collage with Jane Davies....not to mention that I am heading off to Houston for Quilt Festival in a week or so!  I will have to remember to take a few breaths here and there.

It's all relative, you know

I was going through my photos from the World Wide Photo walk again (...yes, I know I've used them a lot lately), and I decided to use this one for my Texture Tuesday submission.  

It struck me that I am older than this car, but the state of Connecticut has classified it as an "antique."  Hmmmm..... what does that make me?

I used Kim Klassen's "Scratches" (soft light @100%, and again @39%, plus one inverted layer on soft light @44%), "Thursday" (overlay @100% and color burn @25%), and "Yesteryear" (color burn @38%)

A workman who was here the other day told me that my house is "older than electricity!"

First I converted the photo to sepia in PSE, then added "Mayzee" (overlay @74% and color burn @33%), "Scratches" (color burn @38%, soft light @40% and multiply @70%), and "Canvas Back" (soft light @49%)

SOOC (I cannot get the mouseover code to work, much as I try!)

Yet for all that, I feel like a spring chicken...I guess it's all relative.

Red

OK, one last shot from the World Wide Photo Walk, and I promise I am finished.

processed with Kim Klassen's "Golden" (overlay @50%) and "Warm Grunge" (soft light @100%)

It just fit so nicely in today's Texture Tuesday theme:  Red!  

And because one just isn't enough (textures are kind of like potato chips....), I looked back at my shots from this summer and found these.  

Think of it as a last hurrah before the cold really sets in:

Kim Klassen's "Ugg Love" (soft light @100% and color burn @100%), "Scripted Autumn" (screen @100%, brushed off raspberry and leaves, and multiply @100, brushed off center only), plus various vintage graphic elements from the Graphics Fairy

"Word" (soft light @100%, screen @100% brushed off rose, and multiply @100%) plus "Warm Grunge" (multiply @55%) 

This was done for my texture averse family: Only one layer of "Ugg Love B&W" (screen @100%) with a layer of the original photo on top set to multiply @100%

Don't forget to check out Kim's cafe and see what everyone else has to say about "Red!"

Lines and patterns

I've enjoyed Kat Sloma's introductory Finding your Eye class because it has started me thinking about why I take photographs.   Last Sunday's photo walk in Kent (part of the 2011 Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walk) was perfectly timed; without consciously thinking about it, the images that I captured that day illustrate the motivations I identified in Kat's class.

Today I'm showing you the "lines and patterns" theme.  You can see the other shots I took that day here.

More from my world wide photo walk...

Kent, Connecticut.  For a small town, there sure was a lot to see!  

This group of shots I took last Sunday on the 2011 Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walk seems to have a motoring theme:

WW Photo Walk, continued...

I promised I'd post more shots from the Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walk in Kent last weekend.  These were taken at the old railway station.  There are a few more groups of images that I like from the walk, and I will be posting them in the next few days.

You will notice that there is not a single texture on any of these shots!  I don't know how I held myself back....

Well, yes I do.... it's called "no time to play."

Gratitude

The theme this week at Kim Klassen's cafe is "gratitude." Please make sure to visit Kim's site and check out what inspires gratitude in everyone else!

I am so grateful for the internet community, and the ability to link up with so many like-minded souls around the world to share our struggles and triumphs in the arts (and every other field under the sun).  I am grateful for the creative tension that this community inspires in me.  There is a constant push-pull in my energy, between reading other blogs and gathering inspiration -- and actually creating my own art.  Both are necessary, but finding the balance is vital.

I participated in the Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walk this weekend. Our walk was in Kent, Connecticut, and despite all the predictions of steady rain, it was a perfect day.  I took lots of pictures of whatever caught my eye as we wandered through town.  As I edited my shots, I learned a lot about the kind of stories I like to tell with my photography (although the light bulb went on only after I waded through hundreds of really bad images.... ). I was grateful for the gorgeous weather and for the fact that such a beautiful town is nearby!

I used textures on the first few images here -- I think you either like textures or you don't.  My family (in general very nice, intelligent people) just do not understand them, and 9.9 times out of ten will prefer a photo without the textures.  Sometimes I think they can't really be related to me; even my artsy youngest daughter preferred these shots in their pristine state:

Processed with Kim Klassen's "Warm Sun" (overlay @100% and multiply @47%) and "Word" (multiply @75% and color burn @50%)

SOOC

I first ran a Coffeeshop blog action on this shot, then added Kim's "Crackerjack" (linear burn @25% and multiply @100%) and "Serendipity" (overlay @100%)

SOOC

Processed with "Word" (soft light @100% and 2x color burn @100%) and "Crackerjack" (overlay @100% and color burn @80%)

SOOC

This barn reminded me of the one on my grandfather's farm when I was a little girl, although my mom will probably disagree.  Still, for a minute there it transported me back to Southern Maryland and the delicious smell of tobacco drying (not to be confused in any way with the disgusting smell of tobacco burning.....)

Several sub-themes emerged from the day.... I guess you can tell that this one was "old wooden things."

I'll post more soon!