This was fun... I think these turned out so cool!!
All photos taken with my Nikon D3000 using telephoto lens to soften the background and enhance detail.
Above is a pot of Iris on a flat headstone. Taken in Sacramento Old City Cemetery in March 2015.
I used Photoshop Elements 11 and make a duplicate background layer and then added a watercolor filter. I then changed the opacity on the watercolor layer to about 60%...basically until I felt enough of the back ground was through to add detail.
Next, I added a Layer Mask to the duplicate filter. Using the brush feature, I went over certain areas with the brush to further bring through the background to enhance shading and add more depth.
I like it!
Next up is...
This is another photo from my Sacramento Old City Cemetery visit.
This one I did very similar to the first.
I created a duplicate background layer. This time I chose the Pastels filter and manipulated it with the sliders until it looked interesting to me. I did not make it at all transparent this time.
I added the Layer Mask to the duplicate layer and then used the brush again. This time, I went over the entire Robin to bring it through and make it clearer. I left just a bare edge with the Pastel filter; I've learned the hard way when editing photos that if you err on the side of grabbing part of the background, it's very noticeable.
So Pretty!!
Last for today is this coy horse...
I loved this horse when I was out walking about Gibson Ranch County Park one day. I have another photo (that I will post below) in color and he is just a gorgeous, different looking equine.
After I had taken a couple photos (I always take at least 4 of the same subject haha), he turned a little and angled his head like this. Posing for me, but playing coy. However, there was one problem. He has a slightly unattractive redness outlining his eye. It was way more noticeable when he tilted his head like this. But loving the pose, I tried to save the photo.
I chose the Sketch filter and then selected Pen and Ink. There are four color choices and I chose black (obviously). Again, I just played around with the settings until I got it where I loved it.
This was the easiest to edit.
Here is the same horse, in living color.
xoxo
