Artistic Photo Edit of Sunset Coast Shoreline Oregon USA

Recently I was looking around at Public Domain Photos and found one that captured my eyes. (Reference http://pixabay.com/en/sunset-coast-shoreline-oregon-usa-51574/ werner22brigitte)

At first glance I thought this would be a great image to run through my abstract photo art process so I gave it a shot.

I really didn't care for the results so I set it aside and slept on it. 

When I woke up I still did not know what I wanted to do with this edit so I started playing around with my editing software. The following artistic images are the results of playing around with my software.

As a photographer I’m sure many would prefer focusing on the detail of the original image. I know I was looking at ways I may have made this a better photo had I taken it. But taking time to create a totally different and artistic image can be fun also.

If you have Sunrise or Sunset photos that you would like to see with an artistic edit send me a message and let’s discuss it further. I have worked with other photographers creating artistic edits before and it’s something I really enjoy doing. 

Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!

BTW ... On Twitter I am @TMSphotos ... I am always willing to connect with photographers.

You are also welcome to follow my Blog here. I try to share knowledge, information and experience of my photography.

"LIKE" my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TMSphotographyChicago

Autumn Leaves After the Rain

Yesterday was one of those days that I had an intent to go to the pumpkin farm to take photos. That quickly changed when my daughter needed to use my car. That's ok though, the morning brought me something to think about.

When I went out on the back deck yesterday morning there were a couple of leaves with water beaded on them from the overnight rain. I thought it would be a kewl photo so I took some pictures shooting straight down on them, the pictures were not as good as I thought they would be.

So as the sun was coming up I saw the leaves in a new light. I took several more images and the edited images came out better than I expected.

Sometimes as photographers we need to look at objects from different views to capture the images we really like. At other times, if time permits, we need natures light to help us out a bit more.

Lessons learned yesterday, I like to learn things and share my knowledge. One of the things I noticed recently is image sharpness. I had taken some photos recently and noticed that with certain lenses I was loosing some details. Keep in mind that there are times I shoot with my old manual lenses. I found that in my camera settings there is a setting that allows me to increase the sharpness. With the lenses I used today I know it helped.

When it comes to editing images I found a favorite of mine is Smart Photo editor. When cropping images I have found that it helps to de-noise the images, I use Topaz for that because of the control I have with it.

I know that there are some photographers that are not in favor of cropping an image and I can appreciate that. On the other hand, I have my reasons for doing specific crops and edits and it makes me happy.

In the long run, don't we all want to be happy with the images we share with others?

Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!

BTW ... On Twitter I am @TMSphotos ... I am always willing to connect with photographers.

You are also welcome to follow my Blog here. I try to share knowledge, information and experience of my photography.

"LIKE" my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TMSphotographyChicago

FACEBOOK PAGES - I'M ANGRY

I'm not sure what is going on at Facebook these days and sometimes I wonder if they even care. See, right now, Facebook seems more concerned with their stock market status than its actual users.

I have a facebook page and I have had it for a while now. As a photography page user I tend to "Like" other photographers work. There are also other photographers that like my page. I'm pretty happy with that. What I am angry about is the fact that I can't see all of my photo friends postings anymore. When I am in my facebook page I used to be able to hit the home button and I could sort between "Most Recent" and "Top Stories." The "Most Recent" selection would show all posts from all of the pages I liked. It doesn't do that anymore and I don't know why.

Aggravating, it sure is! I can't express that enough.

Granted, all technology is in constant change, I can understand that. But when you can't see what others post whether it is a technical issue or an intentional issue then it must be corrected.

Imagine for a minute if Twitter decided what posts you could see from your friends. Would you be a little angry? I know I would.

Anyhow, facebook needs to take some sort of corrective action. If you anger us enough, we will look for options. They do exist. If we go elsewhere, facebook will loose revenue.

MICROSOFT SCAM ALERT!!!

Just received an "Out of Area" phone call from a person who CLAIMED to be a "Microsoft Technical Support Representative." He told me that there was a trojan virus that he wanted to fix on my computer. I told him that he was scamming me.

I told him that my microsoft OS is not even registered with the phone number he called. He went on on on about how he knew my wife, me and my children along with my credit card number. I told him he was a SCAM and asked how many children I had.

He said he will email me a link, I said go ahead, what's my email address? He could not answer that. I told him if he was with microsoft that he would have my email address on file. I said again he was a SCAM! I asked him what version of Microsoft I am using. He couldn't answer that. I told him he was a SCAM again.

I got him all frustrated to the point that he told me he was going to infect my pc and render my computer useless. I told him to go ahead, I'll sit here and watch. He finally hung up on me.

P.S. He could not tell me how many children I have nor how many computers and laptops I am running microsoft on.

TMSphotos Photo Contest

WIN A FREE ARTISTIC EDITED IMAGE

For me, this is not the typical photo contest. I am looking for entries that have the potential for artistic photo editing.

WINNERS receive High Quality artistic edited images of their submitted photo for FREE!

There will be TEN winners! TEN winners and you could be one of them!

Submit your photos to tmspicschi@gmail.com

Submit your photos NOW!

The contest rules are quite simple:

Image Size - 25 MB max due to the limitations of Google email services.

Image Resolution - High Resolution images are needed in order for me to run them through my photo editing process.

File Types - RAW, JPEG, PNG, TIFF (NOT EDITED)

LIMIT - Three entries per person

In return, I will not sell or distribute your original or my edited images.

I retain the right to use the images on my Blog, website or other social media websites in reduced files sizes crediting the photographer on the image.

I will not submit the original or edited image in any contests.

You could win a FREE ARTISTIC PHOTO EDIT !!! 

This $60 value could be yours for FREE !!!

You must submit your images to WIN to tmspicschi@gmail.com

Here are a couple of examples of artistic edits …

Here is an original photo

Here is an artistic edited photo

ENTER NOW !!!

You must submit your images to WIN to tmspicschi@gmail.com

This $60 value could be yours for FREE !!!

ENTER NOW!!!

Expiration for entries is September 28, 2012

Additional Artistic Edit Samples can be seen on my Facebook Page


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=400156866705789&l=baa7d87abe

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=399035453484597&l=46f7b3163d

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.397399780314831.94996.162269090494569&type=1&l=b8e01174db

Why am I doing this? 

I suffer from a brain injury and I do not have the abilities that I once had to travel and take photos. I am a veteran that has had the fortunate opportunity to travel half way around the world before I was 23 years old. I fell in love with photography and still love it to this day.

Now in my mid 50's I am unable to do what I once did so much. As part of my therapy I am trying to do new things. I have been blessed with the ability to make some very interesting artistic edits to photographs. I have been told that I have an eye for seeing things in an image that make a great image even better.

Now, I offer this opportunity to you. I have worked with a couple of photographers to date and I do this because of my love of photography and out of kindness. If you have any questions before you send me an image to edit you are welcome to contact me at tmspicschi@gmail.com

Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!

TMSphotos

2012 Revolutionary War Reenactment at Cantigny - Part 1

Cantigny Gardens in Wheaton, Illinois has always been a favorite place for me to visit and take photographs. This past weekend they hosted the 2012 Revolutionary War Reenactment which is quite an event. The reenactment participants actually pitch tents and spend the weekend at the park doing their best to create an atmosphere of the Revolutionary War times.

I really had been looking forward to this event for a couple of reasons. One, it’s a great time to capture some great photographic images. Two, I have some new photo editing software I wanted to try out.

The participants of this event do an outstanding job of creating a scene of the events around 1776. As you walk through their campsite you get a real sense of authenticity in what is presented. Throughout the campsites you see campfires along with cookware used back in the day. It sure made me appreciate my kitchen. Below are a couple of images of a campfire with utensils.

I’ll discuss more about the photo edits later but for now, as we walked through the campsite you would see a variety of meats and poultry being cooked and turned on their spits for their meals, along with plenty of beans. Since the participants actually stay on grounds of Cantigny and live in their tents over the weekend they also prepare their own meals. Below is a photo that shows the types of items that may have been found being prepared during the time of the Revolutionary War.

Children and adults alike gathered around the cannons on display. There was all kinds of discussion about the armaments of the time and a wealth of information provided to visitors.

Ammunition during revolutionary war times was much different than that of today. In the images below this gentleman was demonstrating the melting and preparation of the lead and pouring the molten lead into molds. It was an interesting process to watch.

I’ve many more photos and story to tell but I will write about that later. I would like to talk a bit more about Cantigny Parks and Gardens. There are year round activities at Cantigny and there are things to do for the entire family. I encourage you to visit http://www.cantigny.org/ and when you are in the western Chicago suburbs plan a visit.

In regards to the photos and the edits I had recently obtained a product from Alien Skin software called Exposure 4. This editing software allows you to take your digital images and give them a variety of B&W or Color film effects. I know that there are a lot of free applications that do this type of editing but I enjoy the outcome of Exposure 4 the best.

Here is a video about one of the features of Exposure 4



Now we all pretty much know that photography did not exist during the revolutionary war but I wanted to give my images an older look with some impact. I chose to edit my images with the B&W - Vintage Calotype - Sepia (no grain or blur) filter. After showing my images to my family they said that they like how the edited images look authentic. I’m glad they like them and I hope you like them too.

There are many more images on my Facebook Page.


Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!

BTW ... On Twitter I am @TMSphotos ... I am always willing to connect with photographers.

You are also welcome to follow my Blog here. I try to share knowledge, information and experience of my photography.

"LIKE" my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TMSphotographyChicago

Candy Corn Photography

I don't recall when, but at some point in time I purchased this Martini glass made of a thick green transparent glass. For some reason I think I used it for jelly beans. But for now I feel the Fall approaching and the Halloween candy is on display at the Walgreens drugstore.

One of the types of candy I used to get on Halloween was Candy Corn. I remember when I was really young, maybe around first grade, I used to bring my Halloween candy home and dump it into a big pile. Next, I would separate my "favorite" candy from the "ok candy" and from the "don't like" candy so I ended up with three piles of candy.

I would try to trade the candy I didn't like with my sister or classmates for stuff I wanted. I would become a bit persuasive about the deals I would make too. I would spruce up the deal by offering two or three of my "don't like" pieces of candy for one of my favorites. If the other person would hesitate the trade agreement I would remind them that they will end up with more candy not just one piece. It seemed that the trigger words "more candy" was pretty effective for me when it came to trading.

In my youth Candy Corn was not a favorite, it sat in the pile of "ok candy" for some time. When I got to eating from the "ok candy" pile it was at the time when all of my favorite candy was gone and my candy trading days were over. My pile of "ok candy" was all I had left to enjoy. It turned out that the "ok candy" was probably the most cherished and enjoyed candy at the time. See, there was not a whole bunch of candy left and I had to make it last until it was time for candy canes at the Christmas season.

Ah but I digress to my youth. While at the Walgreens today I bought a couple bags of Candy Corn. Tossing a couple pieces of Candy Corn in my mouth and enjoying the texture and flavor reminded me of Halloween in my youth. What candy takes you back to fond memories of your youth?

Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!

BTW ... On Twitter I am @TMSphotos ... I am always willing to connect with photographers.

You are also welcome to follow my Blog here. I try to share knowledge, information and experience of my photography.

"LIKE" my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TMSphotographyChicago

Photography of Suspended Rain

It was Sunday, August 26, 2012 and it was a bit of a rainy day. I stayed home and thought about what I could photograph. Initially I wanted to photograph something in HDR. I stepped outside and looked around. The heavy rain had stopped leaving sparse raindrops falling. Then I caught it out of the corner of my eye and it grabbed my attention. It was the drops of rain suspended in a spider web. I decided that this was to be the subject for my shoot.

The deck was wet so I decided I was not going to use I was not going to use a tripod. For this shoot I was going to hold the camera as low as possible, point at the spider web, let the camera do its autofocus and snap the picture. Without looking through the viewfinder and without using the live view of the camera I was shooting blind. I knew I would be using post processing to generate the image I wanted.

In total I took sixteen photos and did some quick edits. Here are some of the images taken edited but not cropped.

To me these are ok images and a bit unique. There was one image that stood out more than the others and here it is ...

I like this image for several reason. I like the green in the background that was captured from the wet grass. I like the effect of the wet deck boards. I like how it all comes together showing the detail in the spider web and the suspended rain in the web. It was an interesting effect.

In the last image I used Smart Photo Editor to get the detail and colors to pop quickly and easily. Smart Photo Editor is one of my favorite go to photo editing programs.

So what could be learned from this photo shoot. One, in certain instances you can rely on the capabilities of a DSLR to capture what can create an interesting image. Two, move the camera around the subject to capture various background effects. Three, you can shoot blind with practice.

I have another photo of  of a spider web on my Facebook Page, here is a direct link to that image
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=396079003780242&l=3635327f04


Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!


BTW ... On Twitter I am @TMSphotos ... I am always willing to connect with photographers.

You are also welcome to follow my Blog here. I try to share knowledge, information and experience of my photography.

"LIKE" my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TMSphotographyChicago

Cousins on the Beach - Photographic Edits

Photo edit for today Friday 8/10/2012

This is the original image for today’s edit. I like what is going on in this image from the colors, to the subjects and to the sunset.

For this image I did a regular edit in Smart Photo Editor. I cropped it a bit and modified the colors. It gave the boys a bit of a silhouette effect and I was looking for that. It also darkened the clouds and water while increasing the effect of the sunset.

I modified the previous image a bit more and added an oil paint effect. Playing a bit more with editing I added a bit of realism to the oil paint effect and got this result. There is something about this edit that I really like.

For this next image I did a straight b&w conversion. I like the shades of gray and the results of the conversion.

Larger images are on my Facebook Page for better viewing.

Photo editing can have dramatic effects on images. It is always good to take great photos and camera effects can be pretty stunning also. Personally I like capturing images and editing them. It’s a bit more time consuming but I have almost endless editing options.

Take some time with your photography, get to know your photo effect options. Take time and learn what you can do with both camera and software photo effects. Before you know it, you may create something you truly enjoy sharing.

Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!


BTW ... On Twitter I am @TMSphotos ... I am always willing to connect with photographers.

You are also welcome to follow my Blog here. I try to share knowledge, information and experience of my photography.

"LIKE" my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TMSphotographyChicago

Craft Fair Photography

Last weekend we went to the Wisconsin Dells for some rest, relaxation and fun. Little did we know that the Taste of the Wisconsin Dells was taking place during our trip but it was. I had my iPad with me so I went online to get a schedule of events. On Saturday and Sunday they had a craft fair going on too. First thing I thought of was to bring my camera.

As usual I took plenty of the typical family and tourist photos as we walked through town, but I was really looking forward to the craft fair on Saturday. When we got to the park there were tents set up all over, we did our typical stroll through and from time to time something would catch my eye.

When I saw this I thought of a slogan to go with it ...

Anytime is a good time for fishin'!

As we walked on I saw this ...

Now let me take a moment to explain something. I know that the people that create these crafts intend to sell their goods at a craft fair and do this with the intention of making some money with their talents. Before I just go taking pictures of items in their tents I politely ask them if I can take a picture.

When I took the image above I was asked why I want to take a picture. I told the kind lady that we have a number of wine corks in a collection at home and I would like to make something similar with my photography and she said I could take the photo.

Sometimes there are things that are just a little funny that strike my eye like the images below.

Continuing along there was a tent with these very well crafted butterflies. Again I asked if I could take a picture and the gentleman said yes you can. Next he thanked me for asking. I told him he was quite welcome, it's better to be kind and ask than to be rude and assuming.

Then there was the Nutman. People couldn't help but walk by and ask "How much are your nuts?"

 Then I saw some more pictures to take that were slogan worthy.

Duck Duck Goose!

What are you lookin' at?

Really!!! You gotta take of picture of me doing THIS! 

Come on now! GET OFF MY BACK WILL YA?

This was a good weekend for me when it comes to photography and ideas. So when you travel carry your camera. Now there were some shots that I took using an iPhone. Just doing a bit of knowledge research. Anyhow, it pays to be kind! Don't forget that. If someone says "No" respect that, be kind and move on.

From this venture I thought of a couple of crafts I might be interested in doing myself, not to sell but for my own enjoyment.


Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!


BTW ... On Twitter I am @TMSphotos ... I am always willing to connect with photographers. You are also welcome to follow my Blog here. I try to share knowledge, information and experience of my photography.

"LIKE" my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TMSphotographyChicago

Isle of Capri, Italy - Photograph to Art - Digital Editing

Last month on my Facebook page I posted a photo, but before I display that image I want to take a moment to talk about digital editing. Technology these days is always changing, I don't need to tell many of you that what we buy today can be old technology in a week and sometimes less.

Many of us have watched digital photography just explode by leaps and bounds from cameras to software. Besides photography I really enjoy editing photos. I try find new software that is useful to me to make my images different.

Let's take a look at a photo I took many years ago while on the Isle of Capri in Italy.

This image was not taken with a high end camera. It was one of those compact digital cameras. While walking in this area of shops I saw this and thought to take a photo of it. I like the photo as is but I decided to play around with this image to see what I could create. So let's take a look at an edit I made of this image.

Compared to the original, this edit brought out a lot more in the image. I thought to myself that it looked pretty good and I posted this to my Facebook page.

Recently I found a different software that makes photographs artsy. My Grandfather was a magnificent artist. I did not catch that skill in the passing of the genes. What I did get was his ability to photograph and his skills in architecture and engineering drafting.

I have always wanted to learn to take an image like this and create a painting. Well, I simply don't have the time. Nor do I have the talent or patients to create my own art. Thanks to technology though I was able to take the image above and create the following artistic versions.

These images gave me an idea of what an artist could do with my photo. The great thing is that I don't need to be an artist to create these.

The next thing I did was played with the contrast and black levels of the image to create the next image.

Then I brought this image into the software I am testing. The next few images are what I was able to create.

I like how simple editing can change the whole effect of the artistic rendering. To me, this adds to the my ability to enjoy my photography in a whole new light. Who knows, someone might be interested in purchasing this stuff down the road.

I encourage you to take time to experiment with various photo editing software from time to time. You may stumble upon something you will really enjoy.


Enjoy Life, Take Pictures!


BTW ... On Twitter I am @TMSphotos ... I am always willing to connect with photographers. You are also welcome to follow my Blog here. I try to share knowledge, information and experience of my photography.

"LIKE" my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TMSphotographyChicago

See my work for sale at http://tms-photos.artistwebsites.com/