Nature’s Sketchbook – Photo Art Blends 4 (#49), This is Life 6 Scrap.Words

Three weeks ago today I set out on my first international adventure. I was traveling to Guatemala for a week-long mission trip, with a group of women that I had never met (save my great aunt JoAnn, AKA my travel buddy). Nervous? Check. Excited? Definitely. After two very early flights, a race through a very big airport, a wait in a very long customs line, and a forty-five minute drive in a very bouncy van, I had 5 new friends and found myself in a very different world. During the next seven days, we were exposed to the realities of poverty; but within the cornstalk walls and dirt floors, we found an unbelievably strong and hopeful people. I walked away from this experience with a completely different outlook on life: no matter what pain, inequality, despair, or fear that might face you, there is always hope for a better and brighter future.

And with that, I will share with you some snapshots I turned into Photo Art Blends using sets 1 and 4. When traveling somewhere you know you may never have the opportunity to go again, it is so important to capture images of important places, people, and moments. Even though we were constantly on the move and busy soaking in the entire experience, I made sure that I always had my camera with me (Canon SD790 point and shoot). Always. Simply because I knew that when I returned home, having these photographs to look back on would be a wonderful reminder of my time spent in Guatemala. AND so I could make pretty things, of course.

Nature’s Sketchbook – Photo Art Blends 4 (#8)

Nature’s Sketchbook – Photo Art Blends 4 (#18), Whispers of Time (word art)

Nature’s Sketchbook – Photo Art Blends 1 (#13)

Nature’s Sketchbook – Photo Art Blends 4 (#40), Simply Faith 7 Scrap.Words

Nature’s Sketchbook – Photo Art Blends 4 (#45), Nature’s Sketchbook – Photo Art Blends 2 (#8)

Nature’s Sketchbook – Photo Art Blends 4 (#15)

Nature’s Sketchbook – Photo Art Blends 4 (#10), This is Life 4 Scrap.Words

Hope you’re feeling inspired to do the same with your travel photos! Now go on, enjoy this beautiful Sunday.

Rachel

Recent photo shoots have once again confirmed why I so love autumn…it’s all in the light. At this time of year the sun rests lower on the horizon for more of the day, offering many opportunities to capture gorgeous images. Light is key.

Here are a few of my favorites from my latest, showcasing different angles of filtered light. When I used backlight, an assistant often held a reflector, bouncing that beautiful illumination back into the subject’s eyes.

FYI…all images shot with a Canon 7D and Canon 35mm/1.4 lens. But, with lovely light you can capture great images with any camera.

See a fun golden light photo boost how-to on the blog here.

And, of course I had to scrap some of these! The portrait style frames in Scrap.Frames 12 made for a quick layout.

michelle shefveland. fresco 1 papers, fresco 2 papers, scrap.frames 12 (frame clusters), buttons & blooms pak

Happy shooting!

Michelle and team

michelle shefveland. instagram photo

Hi, this is Donna Gibson again, here to share some of my favorite photo apps. Disclaimer: I’ll only talk about apps in conjunction with iPhones, but there are many apps available for other smartphones.

The most popular, and my go-to sharing photo app, is Instagram (also available for Android users on Google Play as Michelle shares above). It’s a free photo-sharing app (and now the basis of a hugely popular social network) that is quick and easy to use to edit [slightly] and post photos. I stalk it daily, specifically looking for photos of my grandchildren. =)

Here’s a photo I took this morning with my iPhone 5 when I walked the dog:

Here’s the same photo of the tree after running it through Instagram (sharpened, boosted the colors, cropped, and added a border):

donna gibson

There are scores of apps available to edit iPhone photos. Besides Instagram, I often use the following five photo apps:

Snapseed. This is my go-to app for editing photos for Instagram, because it offers so many options (many more than Instagram), and it’s easy to use.

PhotoToaster. This is my second favorite app for editing. At first I didn’t use it as much as Snapseed, because it wasn’t as intuitive for me. The more I play with it, the more I like it. The edits are non-destructive, and you can go back and change any earlier edit at any point before you click Save.

FxPhotoStudio. This app with its 194 filters lets you play with your photos and get creative! You can also layer multiple effects. Here’s an ordinary, unedited photo I took this morning while walking the dog:

Here’s the same photo after I simply cropped it and added a filter, both with Photo Studio (no other editing done):

donna gibson

I chose this filter because it looks like the scene is drenched in the early morning sun, and it will impress my family that I got up so early to take a walk.

Diptic (Android version here). This app allows you to combine two, three, or four photos into a single image. It has 52 different layouts into which you drop your photos. Here’s a Diptic layout with four photos of my gorgeous grandson:

Not a one of these four photos was sharp, because my grandson is so active (even when he’s sitting). Collages are a good way to take the focus off individual photos that are less than stellar.

Fuzel Pro. This is another app for combining more than one photo into a single image. Fuzel Pro has more options than Diptic. It allows you to make collages incorporating different shapes, and it includes various filters, effects, and borders. It’s also good for creatively presenting just one photo, like I did here:

The border, frame, and text were all added with Fuzel Pro.

While you’re editing and posting photos, don’t forget scrapbooking! All of these apps help you enhance your photos so that they’re ready to include in your digital scrapbooking pages. I’m scrapping more and more with photos from my iPhone than with ones from my Nikon 3100, because I take more photos with my iPhone, because my iPhone is with me at all times. I no longer miss those every day moments that make the best pages. Cottage Arts has all sorts of templates and quick pages to make your scrapping easier, as well as our super fun calendars like the cd case version below.

michelle shefveland. instagram photos. 2013 CD Case Calendar

And, here’s the Cottage Arts’ Phoneography Pinboard for even more inspiration!

pinterest

Wishing you much joy as you take your photography to a new and fun level, just by using your cell phone!

Donna Gibson, Creative Team

supplies here

Using more of my golden light images from our garden taken this summer, I created this quick blended collage using vintage paper Click.Masks 30.

FYI…camera specs: canon 7d, tamron 28-75mm/2.8 lens, iso 320, f/3.5, shutter speed: 1/100 second, shot at 8:50 pm on june 13, 2012 in central minnesota (sunset that day was 9:01 pm)

Below is a shot of the Layers Panel (in Photoshop Elements or Photoshop) and how all of the layers are blended together to make this layout.

Also demonstrated on this piece is another use for our Photo Art Blends 3. As shown above, we blended #04 (30 – 12x12s are included in this set) into the mid-striped Everyday 15 Paper using Hard Light blend mode at 55% adding color, texture, and a photo tranfer-like edge. We also decreased the Saturation a touch on the Photo Art Blend (shortcut: Ctrl+U or Cmd+U on a Mac).

To learn more details about how to use our creative Click.Masks see how-tos on our blog here. Our Photo Art Blends each come with a PDF step-by-step tutorial with sample recipes.

Happy blending! Michelle and team

michelle shefveland. shot with HTC MyTouch4G cell phone. editing how-to below

As autumn approaches, warm golden light images are on my mind. Lots of idea sharing below, plus a fun tip on how to easily give your light-filled photos a boost in Photoshop/ Photoshop Elements.

We are fortunate to have a summer retreat with a big sunset view over a lake. Each evening I am in awe of the unique gift presented to us. And neighbors often witness me running out to capture the skies, with whatever camera I can grab first…be it the cell phone, point and shoot (Canon S95), or Canon 7D…any one of them is fabulous at capturing skies and sunsets. So I’ve shot lots…and lots of sunsets.

Here are a few tips I’ve learned along the way (all images shown were shot at our lake place over the past four years with various cameras)…

Set your camera to cloudy white balance for vibrant, warmer hues. Or increase the saturation on your cell phone camera settings.

Add people for interest. When looking at the whole scene, your camera will naturally silhouette figures in the foreground, as well as trees and grasses. This is because the sky is SO much brighter and the camera thinks there is a lot of light. Our family likes to have fun being silly. This shot below captures that characteristic. Tip: when shooting movement in such low light settings, bump up your camera’s ISO to increase the shutter speed.

shot with canon 7d

If you are focusing/light metering on your subject and you want them silhouetted, you will need to adjust your exposure compensation very low and depending on the light in the background, it could be up to -2 EV. This is really trial and error because the light levels change quickly during a sunset.

Try different angles, lie on the ground, get high on a hill, move to the end of a dock, shoot in front of trees or grass, etc.

shot with canon 7d

Experiment with blur and moving the camera. See more ideas and tips on abstract blurs on our blog here. If you have an image stabilizing lens turn that function off, as well as any image stabilizing setting on your camera (even cell phones have this feature).

shot with canon 40d in june, 2009. iso 125, shutter speed .4 seconds, set on tv mode

shot with canon 40d in june, 2009. iso 200, shutter speed .6 seconds, set on tv mode

Play around with varied levels of sunset. Often the most vibrant hues are about 15-30 minutes AFTER sunset, as shown above. And, beautiful sunflare is easier to capture with the sun higher in the sky as below.

shot with canon 40d in june, 2009

Get out on the water itself…in a kayak, canoe, boat, whatever. You can reach out and touch the reflections, as in this black and white water lily image shot right at dusk.

shot with canon 40d in june, 2009

Our little editing how-to today will use two simple shots from a cell phone camera, demonstrating how anyone can achieve this type of image. No need to have a big DSLR. Light, composition, and subject matter are key. Editing done in Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, however, most versions of PSE, PS, and Paint Shop Pro would all follow similar steps.

My current cell phone is a HTC MyTouch4G Android system. Love it. With an 8MP camera, it also has touch screen focus and light metering…amazing. I find I now try to automatically do the same on the back of my Canon 7D! Sure, it is nothing compared to a DSLR, however, it is always with me and when using light to my advantage, the results can be quite spectacular.

We use DropBox to automatically transfer cell phone images to my computer system where we have easy access to use them in our digital artwork.

This image was shot at Munsinger Gardens, St. Cloud, Minnesota (overlooking the Mississippi River) on September 14, 2012 at 6:48 pm. Sunset was 7:05 pm. I like the shadow play and light hitting the cobblestone path. But it’s quite drab and cold, as shadows close to sunset are very cool. Let’s boost it a bit.

Open Adobe Photoshop Elements

Open  Photo (File>Open>Browse system for Dropbox folder)

Now for the super easy effect.

Use shortcut D to set the color chips to their default of Black and White.

Make the foreground color chip a bright orange. Click on the color chip and enter color number F55714. Click OK to set color.

Add a Gradient Map adjustment layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient Map) to the Layers Panel.

It will look pretty weird at this point…no worries!

Now, simply set this Gradient Map to Soft Light blend mode.

Ta da! That’s it.

Here’s the before and after. A nice subtle, realistic transformation.

Now let’s see a bit more of a dramatic change.

This image was taken in central Minnesota on July 13, 2012 at 8:48 pm. Sunset on that day was 8:58 pm. It had just started drizzling with the sun peaking out of the clouds, making for dramatic colors and light. All I had on me was my cell phone camera and it didn’t let me down.

I followed the same editing steps as above, however, set the blend mode on the orange-white gradient map to Color Burn at about 40% opacity. Play around with the opacity as Color Burn is intense.

Note: One thing to be aware of is cell phone camera photos are often noisy in the shadowy parts of the image (as of 2012). I reduced the noise (Filter>Noise>Reduce Noise>play around with settings) and added a duplicate layer of the image. To this duplicate I applied a small Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur>1-2 pixels). I set this blurred layer on Soft Light Blend mode.

So that’s all there is to it! Play around with shooting and editing sunset shots and see how creative you can be!

As added inspiration, see our golden light loves Pinboard here.

Golden Love element tip: Experiment with Color Burn or Linear Burn blend modes with our elements to give them a boost when paired with autumn hues (as done on the layout below).

everyday autumn elements, fresco 2 papers, click.masks 32, this is life 5 scrap.words

With instagram and our Photo Booth Strip Templates, I tried to instill in the collage below the peace of being able to experience such beauty.

michelle shefveland. frame blends 2, off the beaten path 13 papers, photo booth scrap.templates, letting go pak (hinges), words to live by

Here’s some modern art I just made using some sunset images of golden autumn leaves with our new ShapeBlends geometric templates. So fun. They come with a PDF step-by-step tutorial, so you can easily get similar dramatic results!

michelle shefveland. shapeBlends 1, everyday autumn elements, fresco 2 papers

Happy golden light shooting! Michelle and team

We all love free, but what I love even more is when we can also re-use something instead of throwing it away. In this case, I found some bark lying in our yard that fell off a large branch. Hmmm…so pretty, but how to use?

poppy blend: photo art blends 4

Just so happens that a 4×6 photo blend nestles perfectly inside. No fastener, tape, or glue needed!

lady slipper blend: photo art blends 2, this is life 4 scrap.words

We also had a wire grate accent and decided to showcase a few photos using magnets since the wire is magnetic (and hot-glued buttons to the magnets) . Love how easy and economical this was!

See our Pinterest Pinboard showcasing other frugal wall art ideas using digital art and photos.

Happy printing! Michelle and team

With summer here in Minnesota, we changed up our wall art/home decor and added some seasonal photo art blends printed as 4x6s around the house…for less than $.20 each it’s a steal!

Here are some virtually free display ideas:

Tape makes a great temporary hanging method, allowing frequent changes …Washi Tape is even better!

photo art blends 5. art canvas by kelly rae roberts. large abstract painting by michelle shefveland

Or a little vintage shelf picked up at a yard sale…for this, I simply cropped a 12×12 collage to 4×6.

Another 12×12 photo art blend cropped to 4×6 and hung on a photo clothesline (at Alyssa’s apartment)…

photo art blends 3 (cropped), this is life 3 scrap.words

Old canning jars make pretty art vessels, shimmering in the light…

michelle shefveland. 16×20 art canvas printed by 44 sign company, photo art blends 4

A more extravagant (yet equally as frugal) piece is the stringed button hanger Rachel made me for my birthday. This is one of my favorite art pieces and super fun to rotate images! It just takes string, lots of buttons, a twig, some hanging clips, and patience to create!

michelle shefveland. photo art blends 2, this is life 4 scrap.words

michelle shefveland. photo art blends 4

See our fall version here.

See more Get it Printed ideas here.

Happy printing! Michelle

scrap.frames 24, photo art blends 4, this is life 6 scrap.words

Hi all! Just ran across this great resource for all of us wondering how big we can print our digital photos. The post focuses on iPhone images, but pertains to all photos from all digital cameras.

LifeInLofi is an informative photography blog, and this post in particular offers helpful tips on upsizing your photos with cell phone apps, Photoshop, or other software.

Check out their blog post here!

Note: photo above taken with 8 MP MyTouch 4G cell phone camera. Edited with Photoshop using two different photo art blends from set 4…one with colored bokeh and one with texture.

Happy printing!

Michelle

down on the farm 2 papers, elements, & art journal cards, click.masks 31, in my garden danglies

Lots to share today! With our 12 new art downloads, we’re celebrating summer in North America, along with vintage art geared towards farming, gardening, sewing, and nature. Here are some of the new products and how our team played with them (Sale ends Friday…newsletter details at end of post).

See layout details in our gallery here.

rachel shefveland. photos by michelle shefveland. down on the farm papers, elements, & art journal cards, click.masks 31, in my garden danglies

One of my favorite photography/scrapbooking subjects is food, either straight from the garden or farmer’s market or as a finished dish. The past few years we’ve made a concerted effort to eat as much organic and raw foods as possible, making for some beautiful (and cooperative) models!

Here are a few tips on how we like to capture life in the sharing of food (click to enlarge):

• Take advantage of beautiful dawn or dusk light when photographing your garden. Celebrate light and bokeh in these shots!
• Shoot from above for optimal focus and to beautifully capture a finished dish.
• Use natural light when at all possible. Flash often makes food less appealing. Set the food by a window or shoot outside in light shade.
• Use unique backdrops such as a wooden stump, concrete, old veggie crates, chipped paint old door. Be creative!
• Avoid a shallow depth of field when shooting at eye level, as the main focal point food subject should be in focus.
• Stock up on food props at thrift stores, yard sales, antique shops. Vintage linens, wood cutting boards, antique china, old silver are all great finds!
• Show the preparation and serving of food.
• Add people to the scene. The food is the focal point, but I like that I’m in the image as it’s my birthday.
• Celebrate color. Here we paired a garage sale rag rug find with our strawberry harvest.
• Use your hands as a storage vessel!
• Show food right out of the oven on worn cookie sheets. Love this image, mostly because of the aged metal.
• Have a sense of humor. This was our first year’s raspberry yield!
• Document the whole process with photos…from growing, picking, cleaning, preparing, etc! Then share the story…here’s a two page spread of berry picking day. scrap.templates 36, simply friendship pak
• Most of all, let your own creative energy guide you to do your own thing!

My food crush blog is Cannelle et Vanille. Her Basque heritage is evident in her passion for food and family traditions. Love!!!

Check out our healthy eating food photography/recipe Pinboard on Pinterest here.

See more of our food photography on my photography site here.

FYI…with summer in full swing, our What’s New newsletter went out Thursday morning this week. Check your inbox for our sale, new inspiration, and subscriber special offer. Sale ends Friday, June 29th.

Happy creating! Michelle

iPhoneography Pinboard

Hello! I’m fascinated with my cell phone camera and know many of you are, as well. It’s with me at all times and is fabulous for capturing the every day. Here’s a digital layout using a recent shot straight out of the MyTouch 4g of our Valentine’s bouquet. Love the softness.

michelle shefveland. plum haze pak, love fresco papers, painted daisies

FYI…we use Sugar Sync to transmit our cell phone images wirelessly to our computer network.

In the last post we shared info about an on-line Photoshop class offered by Susan Tuttle. She’s also an avid iPhoneographer, having won awards for her evocative self-portraiture. In her recent first place win I was introduced to a wonderfully grungy iPhone app, Scratchcam by Luna’s Edge. $1.99 on the iTunes store. Gotta love the price point of apps!

susan tuttle

Detailed how-to’s are available on the Scratchcam site but most camera apps are pretty intuitive.

Wow. Deliciously wonderful scratches, grunge, color, and texture. Love!

Other loved iPhone apps are Instragram, Hipstamatic, Camera+, Photo FX, Photo Toaster, Vintage Scene, TtV Camera. This list grows each day as this craze continues.

There are many sites dedicated to iPhoneography and reviewing iPhone camera apps. A few favorites are:

iPhoneography

Life in LoFi

the Beginner Lens

iPhoneography Central

the Modern iPhoneographer

Android user??? Unfortunately, at this time Android photography apps pale in comparison to the iPhone market. Let’s hope that changes soon. My favorite apps are Camera Zoom FX, Vignette, Pano, and Picsay Pro.

See my iPhoneography Pinboard for more images using Scratchcam and other iPhone apps.

Happy shooting! Michelle