Double Exposure Experiment

I love the dreamy look of some of the photos I see lately that use in camera double exposure .   I know my camera is not able to do this but still there MUST be a way to get this look with layers.  Here is a little experiment I did using an image of some asparagus pods.    I chose it because it had a nice soft effect already, not to much clutter in the background.

I used my macro lens when I took this shot.  Just an outside shot, nothing special for exposure or settings, just trying to get points of interest with the stems and berries. 

I started in Elements 10 with two images of the asparagus and one image I set to a size .25 larger than the other.  This was the bottom image.   The normal size image I layered on top and reduced opacity down to about 68%.  An interesting thing happened with I did this.  I got the dreamy background but the for front pods held their clarity!   In fact it sorta enhanced them so they appear a bit more dimensional.  

The only other thing I did to this was to adjust some light after it was done using levels and the bottom layer I had a watercolor filter applied.   I love this little test and if it would quit storming I would go outside and take more flower photos and play with this again.

Paints

This weeks challenge in Beyond Layers group with Kim Klassen was to create a little mini photo studio.  I want to get some foam core boards to make a couple sides for background but for now I am using a long strip of freezer paper pinned to the wall that drapes over a small cabinet and it allows a seamless background.  For this image I added a muslin fabric to lay the watercolor pallet on and the strawberries.  After some adjustment layers I used Kim's texture Revolution and Poetic, added a couple decorative brushes and a bit more adjustments.  Enjoy ~

Fun In The Sun

I entered this cool photo in the monthly theme contest at Better Photo.  It has right now Editor's Pick which pleases me.  It is not the traditional kids playing in the summer sun and water like most that have been sent in.  This is a man painting the Santa Cruz lighthouse in December!  The day was so lovely and warm for this time of year on the coast and you just gotta enjoy the lady on the bench taking a snooze.  I am guessing its his wife who is enjoying the sun in her own way.  So I treated this with a light watercolor wash in spirit of the painter and his canvas.

Birds!

I got to digging around some of my photos that desperately need worked on and found this great sea gull from our visit to California in November 2010.  Santa Cruz boardwalk has an abundance of willing models who love nothing more than posing for the camera.  Processed with textures.

Unlike the Seagull these little siblings come regularly to my birdbath and have some growth yet.  The parents are almost black with blue wing tips and a few spots on the chest.  I have no idea what they are but they are entertaining!  Processed with dry brush.

The Cat

This is actually a watercolor I painted!  Its my very first and I wondered what would happen if I played around with it in a digital way with textures and layers.   Here is my Old World Cat in a grunge sorta way.  I really like it!   For more on its work you can visit my sister blog http://alteredwhimsey.blogspot.com/
and I show you beginning to end.   I think this would print out on watercolor paper and look amazing!  Enjoy!

Layers and Layers

Yikes, this is not what you were expecting I would guess, but its about layers today.  As I ventured into more textures and layering in my photography I began to want to try similar things with the little Artist Trading Cards that are being swapped and traded by the thousands daily.  I have never been much of a drawer but I seem to be able to work along the lines of playful whimsy and here is an example of Elven Ride.  Its drawn on the 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch card and then done in washes of watercolor, many layers of watercolor!  And then layers of pencil and layers of pen and you can just get crazy with layers!    The more layers the better it looks.  SO among my photography I will be showing some of these great little ATC's.  This was traded the minute it was posted for trade.  Have a multi layered day!

For Scorpio

A beautiful type of hummingbird moth I found at an overgrown lakeside. Its tweeked in Photoshop with a watercolor effect and Haiku.