Beyond Layers

Another 52-week online project I'm participating in this year.

NOTE:  The Comments section is right at the very bottom of this page, not after each photo!

August 20 to 24 - Pieces of Me - Scavenger Hunt

This week, Kim has us on a Scavenger Hunt relating to "Pieces of Me", with two topics to photograph and display here daily - ten in all for the week.

Monday:

Fav Chair - Here's the LaZ Boy where I spend my spare time, mostly reading, sometimes watching television but always on the lookout through the large windows onto our garden (great view of the tree hydrangea) for rare and not-so-rare bird sightings.  As you can see, the sun pours in all afternoon so the awning has been out most of the summer, during daylight hours.  It's comfy, cozy and a wonderful place, even in the heat of summer, to just chill out.

I used a Topaz filter on the image and then Kim's pumpkingrunge texture, as well as an OnOne frame.

On my feet - Well of course, it's my comfy"mock" crocs.  Never without them, inside (pink) or out (green).  Straight shot with another OnOne frame, a desaturated layer with some colour brought back in with a layer mask and Kim's aurora texture.

Tuesday:

Your breakfast:

The mailbox:

Wednesday:

Kitchen faucet:

Your front door:

Thursday:

Currently reading:

A light fixture:

Friday:

Fav beverage:

Through your window:

July 20 - About the Blur

Kim showed us how to achieve a depth-of-field blur using a gradient on a mask, over a blurred copy of an image this week.  Her subject of the week was fences so I combined the two and came up with this one.  I added a warming filter 85 layer and also a 'vanilla' coloured layer to both warm it up and soften it too.

July 5 - Colour Storyboard

This one is pretty self-explanatory, with swatches of colour taken from the large image and displayed at the bottom of it.  A pretty result and nice exercise.

June 28 - Polaroid

This week, Kim challenged us to create a polaroid-effect photo and to use one or more of her textures on it.  I used her "ugglovesepia" one with a photo taken at a friend's tea room.  Also incorporated her lesson on gradient text which I think looks really pretty on this photo.

Polaroid frame from fuzzimo.com

Apr 14 - Beautiful

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and many other truisms are brought to mind when you hear that word.  But Kim has opened up an even better appreciation of the fact that we're all beutiful, in one way or another.  Her wonderful brushes that express this are great and I used one of them to add something to this photo of what should be beautiful spring blossoms that have been hit by a frost and unfortunately won't open to their full potential.  I think they're still beautiful anyway!

Kim, you can see I used one of your brushes and I also added an "I Am" texture layer - love it!

Apr 9 - Now You

Kim has asked us to put ourselves in front of the lens this week, something not all of us are comfortable with - and I'm one of them!  Decided on the spur of the moment to just do it - and here's the result...

...warts and all.  I've never posed for a portrait before with no makeup, hair a mess, and nothing suitable to wear but of all the self portraits I've taken, this has got to be one of the less awful ones.  But here we are, sitting around, putting in time before we head out of Florida early tomorrow morning for our home in Canada.  As usual, the car is packed as far as it can be, everything's washed, dusted, vacuumed and sorted - what are we waiting for?!  This may be the one and only time I will 'put myself out there' like this so enjoy (?) it while you can.  All my imperfections show up in this shot, twisted  nose and mouth, wrinkly neck - gosh, what a sight!  At least the 'finger in the light socket' hair look I had until I washed and curled (?) - tamed would be a better word for it - my hair this morning is gone after a swim in our friends' pool on Saturday.  Maybe a smile would have been better than a smirk...?  Kim, don't say you weren't warned and to anyone else viewing this, my apologies if you had a fright!

April 1 - Pastel

Rather than desaturating the image, Kim showed us how to use Adjustment Layers to reduce the saturation and hue of a picture and this is my result.

Colors - March 19 through 24

Saturday:  Rainbow

Well, here it is folks.  A collage of all things colourful that I hope you like.  Had fun finding the images and putting them together.  What a fun week!

Friday:  Red

While living in Midland, Ontario, we visited this historic site in nearby Penetanguishene that has been turned into a summer theatre.  Originally storage barns for lumber to be shipped through the Great Lakes, this main one has been painted a gorgeous red, typical of farming barns in the countryside.  I have made a tight crop on this image and applied a Topaz Adjust 5 Painting - Venice filter on it.

(You'll notice I'm still stuck on the architectural detail... but watch for tomorrow's Rainbow submission!)

Thursday:  Blue

This was a little fishing shack we saw on our trip to the Maritimes - in Prince Edward Island, to be precise.  (See, I told you I was an architectural detail freak!)  Used a Topaz Adjust 5 Simplify filter on it and that's all.

Wednesday:  Pink

This is a photo of the tower at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida.  It was built in the 1920s and features the wonderful pink marble you see and that I love.  The tower itself holds a carillon that plays on the hour and the gardens in the park are a joy to behold.

I treated this one to a Topaz Adjust 4 Vibrance filter and then added one of Kim Klassen's textures called Shine to add just a touch more pink to the whole image.

Tuesday:  Yellow

There are many shades of yellow in this image, taken inside the Canadian Parliament building, ranging from sunshine yellow to golden.  I'm an architectural detail photo freak so this one appealed to me as my submission today.  No adjustments made to the shot, just a crop.

Monday:  Green

Our project this week is to post a different-colored image each day of the week.  Here's the green one for Monday -  a peaceful woodland walkway, slightly marred by a fallen birch tree - did anyone hear it when it fell...?

I used a Topaz Adjust 5 Vintage Grunge filter on it before adding one of Kim's textures called, appropriately enough, Layers.

B&W

I used the B&W converter in Elements for this image, let some of the pink in the roses show through. Added KK's Cherish texture on a separate layer on Soft Light with lowered opacity. Applied a Topaz Adjust 5 French Countryside filter to the original as well.

Storyboard

We've been provided with a 7-opening template to create a storyboard.  Mine is of Toronto; hope you like it!