Hey gang,
Happy Valentines Day! I hope you all are lovin’ it up with those you all love today! This has been the sweetest Valentines day for us because our little boy is finally at that age where he really is so cute about it. He’s in love with the girl next door (they are both 5, mind you, so we’re not too concerned yet…) and his teacher, and one of his instructors at Tae-Kwan-Do and a few others. What can I say, he’s a regular Romeo. We’re enjoying it, and I made up this little shirt for him in the spirit of all things lovely, which he wanted to show off this morning. But the first picture I took turned out like this:
In an effort to jazz it up a bit, I turned it into this at first:
But then, I decided I liked it better in this black & white version, which is now sitting in a frame in our entryway.
I cut a video showing you exactly how I did each, but wouldn’t you know it, something went wrong, and I just don’t have the time or patience to re-cut the whole thing this morning. So here’s a quick recap of the post-processing.
First image: Shot in RAW and applied my “Seashell” preset from my Storyteller’s collection to it. Opened in Photoshop & applied a little Lens Blur around the edges. Then I applied the texture “Balance” from the freebies found here and removed the texture off of my subject entirely. Easy Peesy.
Second image: Applied “Black & White Crafted” from Storyteller’s in ACR, opened in Photoshop and then applied the same texture I used in the first image, and removed it from my subject. Applying a colored texture to a Black & White image – especially a subtle texture like “Balance” – is a great way to add a little definition and interest to your black & whites while still retaining it’s overall Black & White feel.
Important note: You don’t necessarily have to use my products to create these looks but if you choose to, please note that the Storyteller’s presets are for RAW shooters only. If you don’t know whether or not you are a RAW shooter, chances are you aren’t one yet.
***Quickie Meatless Update***
You all crack me up. I think I received about 10 emails regarding my last post – Meatless Mania! – and one comment. I typically get more comments and fewer emails. And the funniest thing is that you all were asking me (in your emails) to keep you updated, so here goes. Yes, I’m still “meatless” but I did try to eat seafood this weekend and became ridiculously sick. Yes, I’m still losing weight. Yes, my energy levels are still crazy high. No, I did not realize I was joining yet another “Dark Side” (man, I’ve gotten pretty dark this year….) and, once again, there is absolutely no political motive whatsoever behind my meatlessness. It’s purely for health reasons, and for me at least….it’s been SOOOO amazing. I will do another, more extensive update about it soon but honestly, I could write a book on the subject, which clearly you all may not want to read. Or maybe you would want to, but only in a secret, quiet and non-public type of forum. Smiles.
Alrighty gang, I’ve got a very excited little boy to pick up from his Valentine’s day party at school and I’ve got to figure out how to get the mass amounts of sugar out of his teeth before his dental appointment this afternoon.
Hope you all have a super-happy hearts day! XOXO – PB
by Patti
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