"We become what we think about." ~ Earl Nightingale

Welcome to Sacred Ruminations

I hope you'll look around & leave comments
then visit me at my new blog ...

Giraffe Journal

and/or website ... Labyrinth Journal
both self-hosted at WordPress
where I publish as myself
rather than under a
pseudonym.

I've not had much time for posting or blog visits, but if you're interested I hope you'll find time to check out my new blog, Giraffe Journal or my Labyrinth Journal website ... both self hosted at WordPress.

Thanks for your visit and have a delightful day ;--)
Hugs and blessings,


Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Belatedly BYBS#4 & almost Wordless Wednesday

ALMOST
(This makes #27 for me and you'll find
#28 at Small Reflections today)


Now you see it
(the post behind the deer)

Now you don't ;--)

Do you have old photographs like this?

I'm not finished yet, but
look at the amazing transformation thus far!

Yes, I'm aware it's Wednesday (not Sunday) ... but I'm 'catching up' and I'm almost Wordless today as I share the latest thing I learned in my Photoshop Elements class. I'm feeling grateful for the learning opportunities available in today's world and delighted to be blogging as time permits. FYI ... I signed up yesterday for the intermediate class to follow this one later this summer and will most likely take the advanced class after that. Retired life is good indeed!

For the 4th time thus far ... (albeit belatedly)


Find others participating
in Wordless Wednesday this week

and for those who 'Blog Their Blessings'
check the BYB Sundays Blogroll near the bottom of my sidebar
here at Sacred Ruminations or click on the logo above.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For those who participate in Sacred Life Sunday
click the logo below:

~ ~ ~

Thought for Today
"Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back." Chinese Proverb

22 comments:

Mitchypoo said...

Really cool what you can do in photo shop. I've wanted to get it to create blog buttons. Happy WW!

Karen said...

Ooooo....neat! This is going to be fun!

Betty said...

Amazing what has been done to those two photos. Thanks for sharing that, Virginia.

Head Gaggler said...

Great job with Photoshop. Its such a great tool!

Mike Golch said...

Storyteller,thank you for this great idea.too bad I do not have photoshop.

Susan Demeter said...

I love what you've done with the photo restoration so far! Definitely a blessing to be able to obtain these skills :)

Anonymous said...

I do have old photos that look like that! All red tinted and yucky. Now I really will have to learn how to do this stuff.

Momisodes said...

Your new tricks are so cool! I love it :) Looks like you are a very fast learner and are on your way to being a photoshop pro ;)

Anonymous said...

It is amazing what these programs can do...

SandyCarlson said...

Storyteller,
Thanks for the Blog Your Blessings and WW posts! I appreciate both.

Isn't it wonderful what scanners and computers have done for the family history?

Gypsy at heart said...

Good job! Better than new....

http://wanderingwonderinggypsy.blogspot.com/

maryt/theteach said...

storyteller, great job you did with the two photos! I find that even though you know how it's still hard to do it, right?

storyteller said...

Mitchypoo – This new version has tools that do things so much easier than in previous versions of the program! I’m hoping to learn to create blog buttons too ;--)

Karen – It’s been fun from the beginning, though I must admit I was lost for a little while yesterday and wondered if I was over my head already. Fortunately, everyone seemed to be struggling and the instructor gave us lots of time to practice using the new tools … so by the time I left I felt ‘current’ however I intend to practice a bit this afternoon in preparation for tomorrow’s class.

Betty – The best part is that I did the ‘repair’ work myself … all in class yesterday morning using the new tools introduced at the beginning of class. I’m sure with practice I’ll be able to do even better in the future.

Head Gaggler – Thanks! I feel like there’s lots of potential to be explored and am thrilled to be getting direction rather than playing with the tools by myself, using ‘Help’ screens that really only help if you know what you’re doing already.

Mike – It’s a program you can purchase. I’m hoping to get a break on the price because I’ve already paid top dollar for three earlier versions, but methinks it’s worth the money regardless.

Sue – Thanks … and I couldn’t agree more about the software and training feeling like a blessing in my life right now.

Vixen – I spent about 10 minutes on the girl’s photo above. I saved the photo as an ‘edited’ version … keeping the original to start over whenever. It uses up memory to store duplicate photos, but makes it possible for me to refine my skills as time goes by. I’ll probably dump the 1st revision when I save the 2nd one, but hang on to the original indefinitely while I’m ‘practicing’ skill acquisition.

Sandy – Methinks it’s way to early to think of myself as any kind of ‘pro’ because there’s so much more to be discovered and refined. The tools are wonderful but since I’ve not used an external ‘mouse’ for decades (preferring to use the touchpad on my laptop) … the hand-eye coordination leaves quite a bit to be desired currently.

EllenB – Amen to that! I’ll never look at a photo the same way again realizing how easy it is to ‘manipulate’ things digitally these days.

SandyCarlson – I felt frustrated that I missed the BYBS/SLS post this week here and intended to catch up on Monday … but you know what they say about ‘the best laid plans’ … so I opted to do it today. That leaves OSI undone however … but hopefully I’ll be able to combine it with Haiku Friday somehow. If not, maybe I can find a way to combine the Week 12 and 13 prompts?

Gypsy at Heart – Thanks, but not better than new just yet. With additional time and practice … maybe ;--)

the teach – Amen to that! I have to keep reminding me to R E L A X because it’s easy to become tense while focusing my attention on using the ‘capture’ tools especially. The nifty thing is that the instructor shows us multiple ways to accomplish the same goal … so we have options from which to choose as we work.

Molly and I just returned from a walk. It’s lots warmer today than yesterday … (definitely warmer than predicted this morning) … so I’m using my ‘cool down’ time to respond while I rehydrate myself. Molly, of course, is stretched out on the cool tile floor (see Sunday's Camera Critters post at Small Reflections for a ‘visual’ if needed) after getting a big drink! I suspect she’ll leave me alone for a while at least. Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts. I hope you’re all having a wonderful Wednesday! If I’ve not been to your blog today, I’ll do my best to get there later on to see what you’ve shared.
Hugs and blessings,

Raven said...

Very cool. Amazing what you can do and they don't look like they've been messed with. Awesome.

Sai Hijara - Ferraris said...

Lovely photos....and wow, you can really transform the photo huh? Gosh, I always let IT Guy do it for me...I think I need to learn! LOL

Whatever said...

(In a Geoffry Rush like manner, akin to Pirates of the Caribbean) getting yer blessin done on Sunday is more of what you'd call...a guideline.

What computers can do with images these days is pretty amazing --- and that's just still images!

Joyce said...

Very nice work, indeed. :)

Mary P Jones (MPJ) said...

Wow! I would love to take that class!

Unknown said...

Isn't it fun making photos look better. ;) I like covering stuff up and making older photos look prettier. :)

storyteller said...

Raven – Knowing what I do already, I suspect that I’ll never look at a photo the same way again ;--)

Mariposa – Since I have no IT Guy to do things for me …(and because I enjoy such challenges)… learning to do these (and other) kinds of things is a necessary pleasure ;--)

Whatever – Guidelines work better for me than rules … so thanks. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the possibilities as we learn how to use additional tools.

Joyce – Thanks … I’m certainly enjoying it all.

MPJ – It’s pretty cool! Today we learned to fix dog, cat, and human eyes by ‘copying and pasting’ from a ‘good picture’ to a flawed one and moved on to ‘cloning’ missing parts of images in photos.

Lisa Marie – Yes it is fun! I stopped by Staples today and bought myself PSE 6 and will probably load it onto my laptop tomorrow to play with.

Thanks to all of you for visiting and taking time to comment. I’m not sure when I’ll share more of what I learned … but I will get around to it as time permits. I’m running out of time to do One Single Impression’s prompt for this week so tomorrow’s Haiku may be about that … or not. I hope you all had a delightful day. It’s just started to rain here … with thunder and lightning so I may turn the computer off. Apparently there are mudslides and flash flooding occurring … and a few minutes ago a tornado touched down around March Air Force Base in Riverside County, just north of my sister-in-law’s manufactured home so I’ll need to check in with her. Strange weather!
Hugs and blessings,

Geraldine said...

Great photo redo! I'm assuming that's you, what a lovely young lady you were in the photos.
Thanks for visiting MPP too.

www.mypoeticpath.wordpress.com

storyteller said...

Geraldine – Visiting was my pleasure. I’m sorry to disappoint, but actually … I have no idea who the girl in the photo is. Her image is just one of many provided by our Photoshop Elements instructor to teach us different techniques … so I don’t know any of the individuals in any of the photos I’ve shared here or at Small Reflections. Thanks for checking out my blog and leaving your comment here and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Hugs and blessings,