Painterly Edits 1 -Introducing Waterlogue

Version 1 (All edits done on iPad)
This is the original photo. (Gosh I was even too lazy to crop this… in the end it didn't matter.)

This is my first edit in Waterlogue, setting - Normal.

My favorite watercolor painted look is with line drawing added. You can nearly achieve this look with the Industrial setting. It didn't have much 'wet' action on the paint though.

This is the way I typically do my watercolor line drawing edits. I'll take the original into iColorama and choose Style>Edges, and pick one of the presets to get a black and white drawing with the size lines and amount of lines I want and save it.

Then I'll open up both edited photos in Image Blender. The painted version on the bottom. (Second photo above.) The line drawing on the top. Change the blending mode to Multiply so the white will disappear leaving only the lines. By default it sets the opacity at 50%. So you may need to increase it. If you want to mask out some of the lines, that is possible here too. I masked out some of the edges.

Version 2

I took the original (first photo above) back into iColorama and found this great color under Style>Sketch>2. So I just had to try it in Waterlogue.

I used the Industrial setting to achieve this.

Very similar results. The only drawback in Waterlogue is that you won't have control over the line drawing. But a similar effect is achieved with just one app.

Sunflowers by Snapseed

I just can't get enough of sunflowers, ever.
Or Snapseed for that matter. It is my go to app to crop and 'tune', sharpen or play.

This basically my original shot, slightly adjusted and ready for playing. (It was a stormy evening.) I always save it, then play around.

This was my first edit, a desaturated version that I also saved to play around with. (Pretty sure it was edited in the Drama section.)
These next edits were from the color original. (Retrolux filters)

This one I can't remember which one I used.

But the last two were done with the desaturated original.

This last one is my favorite. I love how the light leak made a partial frame around it.

Sunday Sunflower

Happy September to you!
My absolute favorite Sunflower photo this season. And from my iPhone no less.
I tried to recreate my steps. This is as close as I could get.
I first edited it in DistressedFX to give it some slight texture. Dove, Whispers then slightly darkened.

Then moved it into Pixlr Express+. Effects>Subtle>Roxy There may have been more. I worked that app over pretty good that day. It's full of goodness.

I'm planning on a canvas print for this one. In fact I should go order it right now.

Have a blessed Sunday and a most awesome Labor Day weekend and get some rest!

Amarillo by Instagram

Let's just say 'I' made a trip to Amarillo last week. Hubby had been there all week with one change of clothes and I won't even go into that.

The last time I drove up there (for similar reasons) was just 5 weeks ago. It's such a boring trip, even if you're a photographer and especially if you can't stop. So I entertained my self with my phone taking pictures. This time it was much easier to shoot them with the Instagram app and crop and edit while driving. (Did I really say that?) Those 2 hours just flew by. I even tried out the new video feature. I had to try several times because I was trying to time it to a certain part of a song. It's currently 110 pictures back on my Instagram feed, just before the watermelon photo. (Not sure how that got stuck in the Amarillo shots.) My Instagram
At least we can drive 75 MPH.

You can be 'close' to Happy in 3/4 of a mile.

Probably the most interesting shot from the first trip. You can see why this drive is boring. I may have to make one more trip in the next week or so. This time driving back by myself, and if I have the time will take my big girl camera and make a few stops along the way.

These two were captured just this past trip. Road Instagram had lost it's appeal to safety. So I only shot a couple.

This was actually edited lated in DistressedFX.

It became a challenge to click at just right time while looking at the road. I suppose this is like 'shooting from the hip'. I'll call it shooting out the window.

Instagram Tip: If you set your phone in Airplane Mode it will not be able to load the photo onto your Instagram feed. Go ahead and try like normal, it will say failed. CHeck to make sure it's in your Camera Roll and the go back to Instagram and you can click to delete it. It can always be uploaded later.

The fun really started that night at Fire Slice Pizza. We met up with friends, Barbara and Jeff. Good wine, strange Belgian beer but good, awesome salad with homemade croutons from rosemary focaccia bread. Most awesome pizza. I just remember it had bacon and cilantro and who knows what else on it. And the best service in town. They even display photography and art from the locals. My kind of place.

I was able to give my friend some Instagram lessons. Too fun. She's off and running now. I've pondered teaching an iphoneography class locally. We'll see if I really need to add that to the load.

This was just the beginning. 

Stay tuned for a Saturday on Sixth Street, the old Route 66.

Linking up with Helen at Weekend Walks.

1 Photo 30 Apps Number One

The first in a series of iPhone edits. I'll be using the same photo and will process it in a different app each time.

First up, PicFX.

 This is one of my favorite apps. It has a ton of filters, from classics to bokeh and light leaks. They can all be rotated and the opacity lowered. You must click the Add Layer icon to stack effects.
The recipe is:
Vintage>Faded
Grunge>White Grunge rotated twice 60%
Black Grunge 60%
Urban>Lomo+ 40%
Original photo:

A Promised Poppy

I promised a little info on a photo I posted on Facebook last week. I nearly forgot because of my iphonography obsession as of late.
I'm linking up with Texture Tuesday at the Cafe. Join us this summer for the Free and Easy Edition. Just use at least one of Kim's textures on a photo and link up.

I started with a lightened versioned of my SOOC shot.

First I added a sharpening layer using the Highpass filter, set on Overlay and masked to reveal the sharpening on just the flower.

Added kk_sonnet2, Softlight 90%, masked away most, but not all of the words from the petals and stem.
Added kk_Partings, Overlay 100% and masked it partially off to reveal the petals.
At this point, I didn't like the way the buds looked in the lower right corner.

Adding a blank layer above the Background layer and using the Clone Stamp tool,  I cloned them higher and nearly off the page.
I also touched up a few spots with the clone stamp tool in the upper left.

I had so much fun with this I did another.

The Peony Chronicles Day 6

Strength can be most delicate.

f/9.5 1/250s 800 ISO Canon 100mm Macro, Kim Klassen texture, Teatime Multiply 55%

f/2.8 1/250s 100 ISO Canon 100mm Macro

Original photo below. The shading was done in Lightroom. A preset from 'Lightroom Presets' The Baby #4. (I'm not promoting them, in fact they haven't looked good on most photos I've tried to use them on.) The background 'fixes' were done in Photoshop using the clone stamp and brushing with color.

Transformed, yes?

Hill Country Road Trip

A quick road trip to see the wildflowers in Central Texas was how we spent our last Saturday and Sunday.
The bluebonnets were few and far between but this scene made up for it. Taken with iPhone5 and edited in Snapseed. Unfortunately I can't remember what ap I used to get the 'yellowness' I tried to recreate several places and nothing looked familiar. I need a better system for recorded that kind of info. (or less apps, NOT.)

This one was actually edited in Photoshop.

Taken with my Canon7D and edited in ACR and Photoshop

We also stopped to taunt some wooly sheep. Did you notice the 'guard' dog? He blends in quite nicely. They got nervous and started running away until hubby started making noises. Then they had to stop and stare. They were quite hilarious to watch.

This looked interesting as we passed by so hubby obliged me and stopped. (He has become more tolerant of my photography obsession since I had 2 photographs recently get into juried shows and one actually winning an award.) I set my camera on the HDR setting for this. Processed in Snapseed.

The town of Winters boasted a very interesting agriculture museum (I have lots of pics for another day). There was an old hotel that we got to wander through and several unique old buildings. One was a privately owned with a few partial broken windows that enabled us to see the treasures within. Several very old scales and tons of goodies. The man next door said the owner intends in a few years(when he retires) to turn it into a working original blacksmith shop. How cool will that be?
In Ballinger we stumbled upon a 'vintage' flea market. It's held every quarter at a different city in the area. I found the coolest, strangest old camera. Which reminds me, I need to google it and see what it actually does. More on it later. I'll leave you with this shot of an old adding machine that I processed in Haiku HD and Image Blender. Blender makes it possible to layer 2 photos or a texture and change the opacity and blend mode. So awesome.

Linking up with Lissa for Walk and Click Wednesdays

The Pansies of Roxi's Studio

I had a blast playing with this pansy shot from my iPhone in several apps. First the basic edits in Snapseed and 2 more.

(this I wasn't so impressed with)

Then we moved on to Picfx. Many layers of play. Lots of different looks.

After I added three layers of bokeh, I was really starting to like it and played more.

 I added the dark grey top and bottom in Square Ready to this black and white. I could now hear Deco Sketch calling. More play. This app takes some getting used to and playing around with to learn, that's for sure. But I like the effects you can get.

 I went back to the first simple one and decided to add text in Over. You can do several layers of text in Over now. Looks like something one might see in a magazine.