ABV Photography

Friday, August 7, 2009

Fix it Friday - I ♥ Faces

Click on the i ♥ faces fix it friday button above to visit their site.

I'm still learning the ins and outs of photoshop CS3, and have yet to really do anything with it that I am proud of. I've heard from several people that once it's in your head it becomes one of the easiest programs you'll ever work with, but at this point, it's a nightmare. With that in mind, I used the web based photoshop flauntr.com for the edits today.

Isn't this the sweetest little face you've ever seen? The minute that I saw this photo, it lifted my spirits back to a time when my younger brother and I would visit my grandmother, whose garden was more beautiful than my prose could ever do justice. She watched us closely when we let the screen door off of the kitchen squeek open to reveal the backyard garden nestled into the long yard framed by Louisiana pines.

One day we thought that it would be a humble gesture to pick a bouquet for my grandmother. A symbol of our love and gratitude. We shuffled from plant to plant, tree to tree, picking and pulling and in hind site, causing massive destruction, when we looked up to see our grandmother with a switch from one of those old Louisiana pines.

Without a beat, we began to apologize, hoping to filter out any frustration and avoid what she thought she might be doing with that pine switch. But with her beautiful grandmotherly smile, she said: "You boys look like little cherubs out here in the garden."

Thanks for stopping by, make sure to go back to i ♥ faces to see all of the other edits which I am sure are much more beautiful than this one. And keep checking back here, I plan on adding several pictures this weekend. Til next time, have fun out there!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Fix it Friday - I Heart Faces

Click on the fix-it friday link to link back to the i heart faces blog

This is my very first post, and my very first time playing along with the i heart faces Friday fix it challenge. I have always loved photography, but have been focusing on other passions lately. This blog will be an extension of my interior decor blog: Color Outside the Lines but will concentrated on my photography, and the fun weekly challenges from i heart faces.

My new camera is a Sony a200, and came as a kit with a 3.5-5.6/18-70 lens. Most of my pictures are straight out of the camera, but when I do use a program to help with editing, I'm using (mostly) a web-based photoshop program called flauntr. I also have the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Photoshop, which I am in the process of learning, and will hope to gain some knowledge from the many very talented photographers I've already met on blogger, and hope to meet soon.

The challenge from the i heart faces team this week was to "fix" this already fantastic image of "Southern Belle":

When I saw this image, I immediately thought of a sort of storybook flashback. Perhaps a woman in her early 30-s, about to make the commitment of marriage, her busy and hectic New York City life so different from that of her North Carolina upbringing. As she steps down from the red leather seat of her horse drawn carriage, her father standing in the distance, her mind flashes back to a younger, simpler, and "slower" pace. I imagined that this might have been the remembrance photo she and her father might have visualized:

I thank you so much for joining me on this adventure. If you'd like to check out other i heart faces entries to today's fix-it challenge, make sure to visit their blog. And if you haven't checked out my interior design blog, (which also focuses on gardening, design television, and more!) you can view it here.