Stand up straight!

I deliberately took a photograph with my point and shoot camera of high rise buildings so I can show you how to correct the distortion that usually happens with the wide angle lenses these cameras have.
Here is my original photograph.

I have not bothered with any corrections at all, this is exactly as the picture came from the camera.
Because I am looking slightly upwards to include the top of the nearest building it has made all of the buildings look as if they are leaning away from me. When we look at buildings without the camera we are not aware of this being a problem but when you have an edge to a picture the distortion is really evident.
If you have either Photoshop or one of the versions of Photoshop Elements you will be able to follow my instructions on how to stand these building up straighter.
On the menu bar click on Filter and on Correct Camera Distortion (I am using Element 9 so the exact placement for Camera Distortion may be different for CS)

Make sure that the grid is visible because it really helps when trying to get the sides of the buildings straight. I noticed that when I made the right side of the large building line up with the grid that the base of the building was narrower than the top so I left a slight angle.
Further correction can be done using Free Transform

The buildings have been made a little squatter with the corrections that have been applied so they need a little more height given to them.

Take care that you do not apply too much height!
While the nodes of Free Transform are still around the picture put your left index finger on the Ctrl key on your keyboard and click the mouse onto one of the corners. By holding the Ctrl key you are able to move any one of the corners individually.

As you can see from the illustration above I moved the bottom left corner and the top right hand corner. As I moved each of those nodes I kept an eye on the main building to make sure my correction was not going to pull it over too much. It did need a little correction.
All that remains to be done is to flatten the image.

You may not have noticed but when the camera distortion correction was applied that the image became a "Layer" and that after that all corrections were being done to a layer. The image cannot be saved as a "jpg" until it is flattened. It must be flattened before you try to save it.
Here is my picture with before and after together.

You may be able to copy my first image and follow what I have done in your own Photoshop or Photoshop Elements program.
AJ

Fresh is best

I am about to prepare our evening meal. After washing and de-stalking the tomatoes and running the lettuce under the tap to make sure there were no creepy crawlies I realised that most people have to rely on the supermarket for their vegetables. Instant reflex - grab a camera!
First the Tiny Tim tomatoes that have self seeded and grown with very little assistance from anyone.

The location is not glamorous - I am not an expert at photographing food (just eating it.). As you can tell, the tomatoes are sitting on the edge of the kitchen sink!
Even better - the lettuce. This variety of lettuce leaves is called "mescalin" there are about five different sorts of leaves with different leaf shapes and colour.

The reflections at the back are because the colander the leaves are in is in the stainless steel sink. Rather effective!
And here is the garden. Colin is the major operator in the veggie plot - I just grow the seeds and plant the seedlings!

He does all the digging, fertilizing and watering. It is his little domain (I wont let him in the flower garden except to dig out things I can't manage!)
And here is what we have planted.

 I took this from the upstairs veranda from beside the bird feeder. There is no point planting carrots when they are so cheap in the shops - and they don't like growing in clay soil anyway. The same goes for some of the other vegetables that grow in abundance so that there is a glut  when they come in.
We do like the home pickled beetroot so I am always planting new batches of them!
Now to go and eat that lettuce and some of the tomatoes!
AJ

The Little Wattle Bird

Again the Little Wattle bird has been singing out to be noticed and this time I had the foresight to put on the 50-300mm lens so that I could get a bit closer to it.
Mind you, I do get rather frustrated when the bird keeps to the opposite side of the tree to me! When I am gardening it is right above my head and bold as brass. It just doesn't want the camera!

Now as I said in a previous article, I cannot see a "wattle" maybe it is hidden under feathers! I love the way the bird is stretched out and alert on the top of the garden stake! It had seen another bird in the garden.
AJ

Giving a bird a new background

The blue skies of yesterday were replaced with almost pure white today when I took the camera out to see what was around. This sunless sky is actually perfect for taking portraits but is not really conducive to birds on branches photos! My aim was to capture a nice photo of the Little Wattle Bird but while I was waiting for the Wattle Bird to cooperate and move around to the side of the tree where I was set up a different feathered visitor arrived.
With so much brightness around it, finding the correct exposure was hit and miss for a while. I used full manual because the presets for Aperture priority were not working the way I liked!

1/25sec f/10 ISO 200

Now if anyone knows what this pretty bird is - I would appreciate you telling me!
The brilliant white of the sky really detracts from the image so I determined to change it for something more suitable. While working on the picture I decided that I should go back and make a snapshot of each of the steps so that I could share them with you - just in case you would like to do this with one of your own photos.
The first thing I did was go into my folder of "skies" - within that folder I have saved skies from every time of day and sky condition and should I need something a different colour I would change the white balance on the sky! So my collection, although not used every day of the week, is very useful.

Here is the sky I chose. It is a sky that would suit a sun-less subject such as the one I have of the bird.
Using Photoshop Elements 10 I double clicked on the picture of the bird to make it the active picture and went to Image>Magic Extractor.

 The picture opens in a new working area. The tools are on the left as in the usual work zone. The top tool is the one you use to mark what you want to keep. The recommendation is to put spots on the subject but I have much better success with drawing lines so that all the different colours are touched.
The same with the background - I make a few squiggles - more if there is more detail in the background.

Preview is clicked (top right!) to see if all I want is included and there are no transparent bits where I need opacity. Then "OK" to make the extractor do the work.
When the picture appears back in the main area of Photoshop elements I select all -  Ctrl+J - and copy it to the clipboard - Ctrl+C. Double click on the sky to make that the active image and paste from the clipboard - Ctrl+V.

To get the bird and the branches looking as clean as this on the new background it is necessary to do a bit of tidying up. I did this using a mask and brush tool.

The Layers palette is on the right of the screen. Click the square box with the pale circle in the middle to apply a mask to the layer. (Actually I took the screen shot at the wrong moment, the layer should be highlighted, not the background. Sorry about that. If the layer is not highlighted the mask will not be applied) When you get a mask the foreground and background colours change to black and white. You will need black as the foreground colour to paint onto the white mask.
Zoom in VERY close to do your cleaning up - and use a soft edged brush, not a smooth edged brush. That way the subject will blend gently into the background and not look like a cutout that has been pasted there.
Finally, the bird was sharpened (not the branches that were in softer focus) and the image was flattened and saved with a new name.

If you have any problems following these instructions, ask in the comments and I will try to help.
AJ

Sunshine and more sunshine

When the skies are blue and the batteries are charged, I cannot resist going outside and capturing a photo or two. Sorting through the stuff I had pulled out of the garden near the steps at the entrance to my home I found four Daylilies that were tangled among the native "iris" plants so I had to replant those and water them in before I could start snapping! It wont be long before my garden has recovered from my brutality and is filled with leaves once again! I scattered some of the sedum around - it is a ground cover that is very attractive - it doesn't flower. (I think it is called Sedum! That's what I have been calling it!)
Looking around to see the source of a very strange bird call I couldn't help but notice the flower head of the Alexander Palm.

All kinds of birds enjoy eating the fruits of the palm tree. The bees come in first and are almost deafening with their buzzing around the tiny flowers. (slight exaggeration!) Then the small berries are formed, these are a light creamy colour and they must be delicious because honey eaters as well as fruit eaters come and sample them. There is a greenish coloured bird, about the size of a pigeon, that has red eyes and a shortish tail, which is called a Fig Bird and it is very partial to these berries.
But the noise I was following was today coming from the Calliandra - I call it the pom pom tree! The noise was from the Little Wattle Bird.

The Little Wattle Bird is very territorial and very domineering - it will not allow any other bird to come to this tree. I find it quite entertaining watching as the Blue Cheeked Honeyeaters or the Mickey Miners or whatever visiting birds zip in an out of the many thin branches trying to keep out of the way of the squawking Little Wattle Bird. The Wattle bird usually wins the day and the visitors leave empty beaked!

Although this bird is called a Little Wattle Bird, in my opinion is doesn't have a wattle (Droopy skin on the sides of the head - think of turkey) But I have seen other wattle birds that DO have wattles. Perhaps on the Little Wattle Bird the wattles are there but very small!
Both these photos were taken with the 18-55mm lens - I always seem to have the wrong lens on!
AJ

Keeping "at it"

The garden bug has bitten hard - I find that I just HAVE to get out there and dig!
The garden bed beside the front steps is always in shade so plants that suit those conditions have been put there and have done very well. So well in fact that the area was completely overgrown.
Over the top of my fleecy jacket (the mornings are still quite cool) I pulled on my garden shirt. This is a workman's safety shirt that was stolen from my son's wardrobe! It keeps me reasonably clean!
Fortunately the house is not on a main thoroughfare so no one ever sees me in the garden!

The aluminium plant is a good filler but it had become more than prolific - it had buried almost everything. There is a strappy leafed plant that has dainty little white iris-like flowers that also multiplies energetically and needed pulling out.
It was a bit like working in the "Secret Garden" - I was finding all sorts of plants underneath the overgrowth!

These are new Daylilies struggling to be seen. Now I know they are there!
By the time I had finished pulling stuff out I had a heap of rubbish to be turned into compost almost as big as the heaps I had created yesterday!

The wooden planter box was against the steps and contained a leafy climber but it the climber is too difficult to control so I scraped the tendrils off the brickwork and trust I have managed to remove it all! The planter disintegrated when I pulled it from the position it had remained in for years! (It had a black pot inside that contained the plant - you can just see it among all the rubbish!)
Now the garden has been cleaned up I can plants other daylilies to join the ones that are there already. There are also clivia and bromiliads and a couple of azalea bushes in there - oh yes, and a "prince of orange" which is quite showy when in flower. All shade lovers.
AJ

Creating a mess

It has been a while since I have added anything to my blog - so to rejuvenate things I have changed the appearance of it. I have become rather annoyed with the  black background and the small area in which the text is displayed. I hope that this new appearance is more appealing - both to you and to me!
Changes are happening in my front garden too. Everything grows very fast here in the subtropical area of Southern Queensland. Trees especially! I have plenty of shrubs in my garden that seem to have "taken over" and swamped the smaller plants and ferns so yesterday I went out with shears and snips and created havoc! Good fun! (I can hardly move this morning, though.)
When I stepped outside and saw the mess that I have to clear up I took my camera out with me. I can show you the disaster zone!

So you can see what I have to do this morning! The plant in the top picture was actually quite easy to prune - the stems or branches are easily snapped so I found it much quicker to put one hand at the place I wanted to break the branches off and with the other hand, pull the branch or collection of branches, towards me. It didn't take very long at all. Putting the stuff into rough heaps took longer!
We have a pretty shrub that is called a "snowball bush" that loves to be pruned and will grow thicker and much more attractive when cut severely. This is where the secateurs came into use and why my hands are quite sore today!
When plants grow so easily it does make me wonder why most of the gardens in this city are devoid of them! The majority of gardens have only lawn and a couple of trees or shrubs. I love colour and the best gift from a visitor is not a box of chocolates, but something I can put in the garden!
AJ