Colourising and Blending Layers in Photoshop

Blending layers is one area wher I have not had much success in understanding what can be done, however I took some more photographs of the weather which has hit us this week. Very cold and trees covered in hoar frost.

This gave an opportunity for a few shots along the local canal, here is one from a road bridge looking straight down the canal.

There was not a lot ofcolour in the shot because of thet light conditions, especially in the sky. So I thought that it was a good image to plat around with. My first thought was to desaturate to turn it into a B&W image, a little mod to the contrast and brightness gave:

Not much of an improvement really, so what would happen if I tried to increase the colour, or even alter the hues:

Looking even better, but that sky is impervious to anything; there just isn't anything there to work with. I then added a new layer which I flooded with a "sky" blue colour. I pulled the transparency back to approx 50% and it gave a very acceptable sky. BUT the rest of the picture was hidden behind a semi-transparent blue layer, altering the colour, creating a lack of contrast and even looking out of focus thru the new layer.

What to do? Well I knew that laters could be blended but had never really tried out the combinations. Time to play! I hit first time on the multiplcation setting ( it was at the top of a drop down list) and it seemed to cause the new layer to vanish or become invisible over all existing pixels. Voila, a blue sky added to an unchanged image. Sheer luck, but now I have a reason to learn the why's and wherefores of blending options. Here is a composite of the four "final Images":

The first is the desaturated image, the next three are the original, and two with edited hues plus the top layer (50% transparency) and blend method set to multiply.

I still have much to learn about this great tool!

If you want to see more images from this cold spell, browse over to Redgage, I am using this site more and more because it pays for visits to your content. The amount depends upon how active you are and how much you promote your content on the site. Why not start your own account? It may not make you rich in a hurry but remember the tortoise and the hare.

Pictures in the snow

It snowed today in the UK, a slight smattering where I live but the first of 2013. I had my breakfast and then for a walk with my camera to fetch a morning paper. Got some mixed results but here are a couple to wet your appetite.

There are more on Redgage for your perusal and the weather forecast is for more, heavier snow tommorrow. If it happens, then I will be out again with my camera.

kaleidoscope images from paintshop

I have been playing with paintshop ( I am positive I will get to understand all those features in time) to create kaleidoscopic images from photographs.

Here are a couple I  think I can share:

The last is the real colour, the others are edited to give a spectrum of colours. The original was a photo of the red leaves on a pieris plant. I found a tutorial on the web somewhere but lost the URL. I think I am going to have to do a write up for myself before I forget how to do it - which is quite possible.

All the above and the next example are posted on Redgage, a site where you can pick up the odd dollar or two from sharing your content.

This last one was created from a photo of a skyline in the canaries, the name of the island escapes me for a moment but is immaterial. Because the center was empty, I copied the layer after I flattened the image and then reduced the copy to fill the center, simples!

Why not visit my profile on Redgage and see some more of my photographs. And many more besides.

Reindeer at Ross-on-Wye

My wife and I (sounds regal?) stayed at the Royal Hotel (said so!) in Ross-on-Wye just before christmas. A smashing hotel and we enjoyed a three night stay, with a night at the theatre to see, "She Stoops to Conquer" by Oliver Goldsmith. It was an amateur production but a very enjoyable performance of this classic play.

On the Sunday, there was a christmas market in the narrow high street, I am not well up on these things but my wife said it was one of the best she had been to. A mixture of stalls from the local (independent) shops and craft stalls. In fact the town had a very interesting mix of shops with many independent shops with few of the impersonal large chains. Overall a very enjoyable experience over the three days.

Luckily, we did not experience any of the flooding which the previous weeks rain had threatened. The hotel was never in any danger anyway as it is on the highest part of the town above the river.

An imposing view of the hotel, taken from a road below the town walls.

A view from our hotel room, overlooking the old town walls. The swollen River Wye can be seen in the distance. It does a major loop and flows nearer to the hotel to the left in this photo.

Another shot from the bedroom, taken in the early hours of the morning.

One of the little thing which made the christmas market so enjoyable was the presence of a pair of six month old, baby reindeer. These scored a hit with many of the mom's and small children and formed one of the centre-piece's of the day. All together now, "Aaahhhhh!!!!, just look at those baby antlers!"

More pictures from this weekend waiting to be posted in the near future.

A Visit To Puzzlewood

Reputed to have given J R Tolkien ideas for the woods in middle earth, the fabled land of the Hobbits and their friends in "The Hobbitt" and "The Lord Of The Rings". A number of films and TV prgrammes havae been made there including the BBC TV programme "Merlin"

It is a strange wood with incredible rock formations which are covered in moss, ancient and fantastic. It has been turned into a visitor attraction in the Forest of Dean in the UK. One very rainy day recently we made a visit to this fantasy worl and of course I took my camera. The following photographs show some of the rock formations:

The last photo is a cropped photo showing a rock which looks like an alien skull - well it does to me, perhaps too much Star Trek. But then it is one of my favourite programs.

The thinking is that the gulleys, etc, were created in the limestone by undersground rivers; and that the combined action of erosion and roof falls, etc has exposed the caves so formed to the elements. But whatever the history, it really does give a feeling of old age and fantasy when wondering thru the paths and over the bridges. We will definitely be going there again in the summer.

Autumn At Baddesly Clinton

Baddesly Clinton is a picturesque medieval moated manor house and garden owned by the National Trust in the West Midlands, UK. (see the National Trust on Faceboook).

My wife and I payed the place a visit last week , of course I took the camera along to take a few autumn photos. These are a few of the shots I took.

I think it's a field mushroom, but I wouldn't take bets ............

Leaves on the water of the moat, oh and the duck waddled into shot before I realised.

Leaves waiting to fall from an oak tree, took this from underneath although it looks as if it is on the ground.

A shot from the road into the nearby trees / hedge. Hoping to paint this one - have you seen my blog, painting with John.

And finally for now, I noticed this window for the first time (been to Baddesly mant times in the past). It was lit from inside and hda never seen it like that before. It is a window on one of the out buildings and never really looked at it closely. Looks good though.

Nothing special, but just a small selection form some of the photographs taken on a very cold November day.

Bonfire Party, Halloween

This year as usual we ran our Halloween celebrations over until november 5th, Guy Fawkes Night in the UK. I took a few shots of the fire (in a brazier for safety and convenience) and the carved pumpkins.

The fire (spitting sparks) and the pumpkins in the background, above which you can see the solar lights on a holly tree - just about see anyway.

We were able to produce colours in the flames by throwing pine cones on the fire which had been soaked in chemicals, e.g ccopper salts to produce blue, potassium salts - purple, cadmium - orange, chromium - green.

My own work

made by my eldest, using a drill for the teeth!