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

Download a brush set

Just occasionally you may feel like having something a little different to play with in the form of brushes - or you may want to download a ready made collection of cloud brushes instead of creating brushes from your own photos of clouds. Whatever the reason I will help you to understand how uncomplicated it is to get and install them.
First find the brushes.
I simply type into the Google Search "Photoshop brushes" and you would be amazed how many links appear - and most of them offer free downloads (the brushes AND the download are free). If you need a specific shape - such as clouds, then put that into the search too "Photoshop cloud brushes" and that will find the specific brush sets that you can visit. Each of the creators of brushes let you see what they have before you download them - there are usually a few examples shown.
I have just searched for "smoke" to find brushes to put steam on a cup of coffee or add smoke to a shot of a smoldering log. That is a brush I would not be able to make myself. I found my smoke here but I am sure there would be lots of excellent sites I could have gone to.

 I could add just a little steam for a "not too hot" look....

 Or I could give lots of steam - it depends on how much I erase from the single dab with the steam brush.

Lets concentrate on Clouds, since that is what I have been showing up until now. This is a good site to go and chose some. There are dozens of other sites just as good. Click on the link below the set you would like to download.
The file is in a Zip folder and will go into the download folder you have put aside for all things you save from the computer. Do set a special folder so that you know where to find your downloads! In your browser go to Options then to Tools and (each browser is different) somewhere you will find an option similar to this.

I realise that most people put everything in "My Documents"  (now called "Libraries"!)but I go straight to one of my three drives and create my folders there. You do what you feel comfortable with - but deciding on your location means you will always know where to go looking for your downloaded pictures, programs, music, etc.
Back to our clouds - click on the Download button or link to get the brush folder.

The name of the brush folder will be shown on the pop up download box - this is important because just sometimes there are other things that can be downloaded on the same page and they are not what you want. (They pay to be on that page, they are a form of advertising). Click Save File for your cloud set.
If you feel like getting a few different brushes before you close your browser, go for it! I found some flames and some swirly brushes for borders! Now close the browser and open your Windows Explorer and find the folder where your zip files have been saved.
Right click on the folder (can you see that the folder has a zip?!)

In the pop up box that appears click Browse and find the download folder (the same folder that the zip is in) and click Extract.
Another folder will be alongside the zip folder, left click on it to reveal what is inside.

If, like me, you have quite a few things in your download folder already it might be clearer to make a new folder and drag the zip folder into it. If this is confusing information, ignore it!
When you click on the unzipped folder the brush is an ABR file or else it looks like in my illustration above, it depends on whether you have chosen to view as Thumbnails or as Details.
Right click on the brush or the ABR file and Copy - do this by holding down the Ctrl and letter C at the same time.
Now you have to put the file into Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.
Follow the route I have taken - it is the same for either program.

Now all you need to do is open your program and use the brushes.
Always put a new layer over your image before using the brush, that way the cloud can be moved or it can be made larger. If you paint a cloud and have used the largest brush size and it is still not large enough, use the keyboard and Ctrl+T to bring up "Transform" Then you can drag the corners out to enlarge your cloud or even distort it by squeezing in the sides and stretching the top or bottom.
Apply another layer if you want to add a different shaped cloud. You can add as many layers as you like and as many clouds as look natural.
Once you have finished and everything looks good, Flatten the image and save it.
Have fun with your brushes!
AJ

Make your own cloud brushes

It may seem obvious - but first you need to take a few photos of isolated clouds!
Here is one of mine (you could download it and try with this photo if you have none!)

Step 1. Convert to black and white.

In Photoshop Elements there are a few options you can scroll through. Select the one that will give you the blackest looking sky.
In Photoshop the treatment is a little different, Click on Image>Black and white and use the sliders for Cyan to darken the blue sky to jet black.
Step 2. Clean up the sky using a soft edged brush and black. Get as close to the cloud as you can without obliterating any part of it.

Even though my blue sky looks smooth and even, when it was converted there was quite a lot of white through the black of the sky. That would show if the brush was created without painting over with black.
Step 3. Take a look at the default brush panel. Are the brushes white on black?

Absolutely not! So the next thing to do is invert the colours.

Click on Filter > Adjustments>Invert  Now you have a black cloud on a white background.
Step 4. Crop the cloud as close as you can

Take care that you do not cut any of the faded edges of the cloud or a hard line will show when you apply it in a picture. Leave a little space around the cloud.
 Step 5. If the cloud image is too large you will not be able to turn it into a brush so we need to resize it. If you follow these steps and find that your longest side is 1000 pixels or less you will not need to do any resizing.

All the steps for resizing are illustrated here. Follow the numbers sequentially.
Now we are ready to change this baby into a brush.
Step 6. Click on Edit>Define Brush.

Step 6. In the pop-up box, write a name for your brush.

 Done!
Now you are ready to use your new brush.
Open a picture that needs a cloud and click to add a new layer - the button on the extreme left of the Layers Palette.
Change you color swatches from what ever colors they are to black and white (I prefer to use cream and black because I find white to be too dazzly)
Click on the brush tool and scroll to the bottom of the brushes and click on the very last one - it is the one you have just created.

Now give one click on the sky to apply the brush.
If you do not like it, undo and resize the brush and click again.
The cloud can be moved once it is applied because it is on a layer. It can also be made less bright by sliding the Opacity from 100% to a smaller percentage.
Here is my cloud.

If you find any of these images too difficult to read, click on them and they will open larger.
There may not be many times you need home made clouds but for those few occasions when Nature does not provide the best backdrop, you are ready!
AJ    joanren@gmail.com

Changing skies

Australia (and other countries!) can have the most beautiful blue cloudless skies. I love those days! Mind you, sometimes the photos taken on those days would be so much better if there were a few clouds to add interest to that emptiness!
For those occasions when I find a photo that the eye is pulled into the blank emptiness at the top, I have made my own clouds!
Perhaps I am doing this tutorial the wrong way around - I am going to show how to use the cloud without showing how to MAKE the clouds! I will do that next time.
First I have a picture taken in the Northern Territory.

This is a very important landscape to the aboriginal people of this area. The eye is drawn right through the picture into the blue of the sky. A couple of clouds would stop that happening and allow the eyes to linger longer over the landscape - can you see the face on the rock profile? See, you looked right past it!
Make a blank layer to go over the picture.

If I show you this often enough, you may be able to remember! The grey and white squares in the layer that is called "Layer 1" indicate that it has no colour in it at all, it is transparent.
Imagine a piece of clear cellophane laying over the page of a book, that is how this layer is, you can see through it and all below is unchanged by it in any way.
We shall "paint" clouds onto this layer - and you do not need to be an artist to be able to do this. It is really straight forward.
Before getting to this stage I would suggest that you search for and install a set of "Cloud brushes".
The instructions on how to install the brush set in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements are given to you by the brush designers. Not only have I downloaded a couple of different sets of cloud brushes I have also made my own and this is what I will show you how to do in my next tutorial.
The next thing to do for adding clouds to a sky is to click on the brush tool.

After clicking on the tool, click on the brush set at the top - if you haven't changed your brushes recently it will read "Default brushes". From the drop down box, select the set of brushes that contain the clouds. I have three different sets of cloud brushes but I have selected the set I created myself.

Click on the picture with your brush (you are on the layer so you cannot spoil anything).
When I clicked on my photo I discovered that the brush was much too big for my needs so I had to reduce its size. To do that I held down the Ctrl key (Command for Mac users) and dabbed repeatedly on the left square bracket key, next to the letter "P". The brush I had left sitting over the picture and by using both hands on the keyboard I could watch to see the cloud shape reduce in size until it looked as if it was small enough for me to use. When the cloud brush is hovering over the picture there is a rough outline of the shape.
I had left a big imprint on the layer when I first clicked with the brush.
Delete that layer and create a new one. Delete the layer by clicking on the garbage bin at the bottom of the layers palette and then clicking "Yes" when asked if you really want to delete the layer. Click on the Add new layer button again (like in picture number 2) so you have a clean layer for your new cloud size.
Before applying the brush we need to set the colour for the clouds. White and black would work but take a good look at clouds - they are not pure white. They would be really dazzling if that were so.  Click on the foreground colour of the two colour swatches at the bottom of the tool bar and in the colour selection box that appears chose a yellow colour - slide a little further down towards the red so there is a warmth to the yellow. You will need a sample from the light area. Here is where I took my sample.

The background colour swatch can be black or dark grey - it gives the shadows to the cloud.
Now click only once on the sky - after using the outline as a guide to positioning the cloud.

Although the cloud is dabbed at 100 per cent opacity this strength can be reduced in the layers palette to more transparent. It looks quite natural, doesn't it?
Because this cloud is on a layer it can be moved. Change the tool to the Move tool (hit the letter V on your keyboard, if you like short cuts!) and move the cloud across the sky.

Take care that the cloud is not put over the top of trees or buildings. If that happens you will need to erase using either the erase tool or by using a mask and painting out the cloud.
When you are happy with the placement of your cloud go to Layers>Flatten image (on the Menu Bar).
Now, off you go and find a set of cloud brushes and give a little character to those empty blue skies!
AJ                joanren@gmail.com

Removing an object from a photo

A few days ago I attended a demonstration of Corel Paint at which participants were shown how efficiently the program removed an unwanted object from a picture. "I wish I could do that" was the comment by one of the people who accompanied me. Well you can! That is, you can if you have Photoshop Elements!
I have version 9 so I can show you with that - version 10 is out now and the process will be just the same, I am sure.
I have a photo in which there is a stack of "witches hats" that look completely out of place.

 This is a closer look at that pile of witches hats.

 Get the spot healing brush - you may need to hold the tool button down to get it.

Some of the tools have a little black arrow in the corner, this means there are more tools hidden underneath that can be revealed by holding the cursor down for a couple of seconds.
Now go to the top of the screen to the Menu Bar and click to put a spot in Content Aware

Paint over the object that you do not want in the picture - you do not have to be too careful.

Paint all over the object so it is covered with the grey - do not stop or lift the brush, keep on going.

When you stop the object will vanish!
Have a try, you will be amazed!
AJ        joanren@gmail.com

Against the light

With a point and shoot camera - which is what most people are using - it is not easy to take good photographs when the light is behind the subject. Yes, I know there are quite a lot of controls hidden in the menu of the camera - but how many people actually use the menus? I can answer that! Very, very few. So I am going to give  you a little hint on how to get a better result in strong light.
Our on-line group has "windows" as one of the topics this month and with that in mind I have taken a couple of shots.
For this I used my Samsung NV4, which is a very simple point and shoot camera. I took a photo out of the kitchen window with a vase of flowers on the table as my main subject.
Aiming to get the framing I wanted this is what I managed to get.

The camera has manage to get the view through the window perfectly! The flowers look terrible.
By aiming the camera down at the flowers - I held the camera high and tilted it down - I could half hold the shutter button to ensure the flowers were brighter, then I moved the camera down so that it was framed exactly as the first picture and this is the result.

Neither of these photographs have been manipulated in any way - and most people do not want to do complex photo editing. So depending on what you want to feature, the foreground subject or the background you need to tell the camera where you want the light sampled. It is sampled at the same time as the focus is set and the same way - by holding the button half pressed down.
Be sure that when you sample, as I did, by holding the camera with the subject out of position, that the camera is exactly the same distance away from where you move it to to finish taking the picture. If the distance changes then the shot will not be in focus.
Backlighting does make photography difficult and the best way to get good lighting on a subject is to have the camera between the light source and the subject but sometimes that is not possible. Always take more than one photograph in difficult lighting situations and do not delete your images until you have them on your computer so you can see them more clearly.
AJ      joanren@gmail.com