Playing With PhotoShop

My aunt shared some roses with us and I took a photo of a blossom.  My flash went off by mistake and I got this photo with my iPhone.  It darkened the background and gave the rose a somewhat porcelain look and turned the other roses green.

Here's the actual rose.

I tried the watercolor effect first on Photoshop.

Then I tried the poster edges.  It gave it a sort of pen and ink look to it.

 This Photoshop filter is called plastic wrap.

Then I tried the crosshatch brush strokes.  I rather liked this effect the best.

Art says he likes the original rose best.  I think it's fun playing with the different media effects.  One of these days I'll have to get my brother over here to teach me a few more tricks.

My Brother, the Photoshop Genius!

I've been busily scanning and organizing my photos. Here's an original photo of my mother and aunt on the island of Molokai in 1931 at Kalaupapa where my grandfather was ministering to many of the victims of Hansen's Disease (leprosy).


Most of the photos are yellowed and faded.


The scanner was able to autofix the photo, but it was still rather faded with unsightly ink seepage.


So... I asked my brother for his expertise and LOOK what he did on Photoshop! I am so blown away!

My Brother: The Master Photoshopper

My brother has tried time and again to teach me to use Photoshop. His hands move the mouse in fluid motions and he transforms photos effortlessly. He works for the Honolulu Police Department and he uses his talents quietly without fanfare. In this day of super technology he often has to go to court and testify that photos have not been altered.

The only problem is he doesn't realize that everything he tries to teach me goes right over my head. It's like my first year of teaching first grade when I realized that children had to be taught how to sit properly in a chair, how to hold a pencil correctly, how to walk in a straight line, etc.

When he opens a layer on Photoshop and tells me I can do this magic thing or that magic thing, I'm awed. Then he opens another layer and I'm stupefied. "It's easy," he says. However, the moment he leaves and I try to duplicate it, I haven't a clue. There's too much to learn, too much to remember and it's frustrating. I'm going to have to corner him someday and write down everything he says.


When he saw that this photo had a glare from the sun it took seconds for him to correct it.


Then I could use it on my post. If he had more than the 10 minutes he gave me because he needed to get home after the Marathon, I'll bet he could have taken 20 years off our faces, too.

thelaughinghousewife couldn't see any difference between the first and the second so I thought I'd add this photo which I did myself. I turned the photo into a cutout.



Here's a photo I thought I'd have to delete.

With a few clicks on something or other he was able to lighten only parts of the photo and bring back color on other parts. How the heck did he do that?

Then there was this photo.


He's told me that the important thing is not for me to know everything now. It's for me to know that it's possible and that I can learn to do it.

Arrrrghhhhhh!

I wonder what I can cook for him to get him back here to give me another lesson.... hmmmmm....